Tapping (TFT)

What is Tapping based on?

This therapy was developed 20+ years ago by a psychiatrist in the USA. Inspiration for the development of a new approach came in 1980, when he successfully experimented with finger tapping to treat a woman’s phobia of water. The woman, called Mary, had made very little steps forward after several months of cognitive therapy and desensitization treatments.

With his knowledge of  kinesiology (a holistic therapy which uses muscle response testing to measure the motor response of the central nervous system, to a sensory challenge to determine imbalances in the body) , the psychiatrist tried something different. Because he was aware that Mary’s fear was often experienced as a “sick feeling” in her stomach, he made the decision to tap the acupressure points under her eye, as this is associated with the stomach. This stopped Mary’s phobia and led him to begin looking for acupressure points linked to other issues.

Linking together modern psychotherapy and Eastern tradition, tapping draws greatly on the ancient Chinese customs of acupressure and acupuncture, which highlights an internal energy system. Acupressure and acupuncture are based on the premise that energy flows along a network of pathways in the body and that logjams in the energy system result in anxiety/fear/depression etc.. Each pathway, also called a “meridian,” is linked to its own organ and finishes at a specific point on the surface of the skin. When meridian end points are stimulated through applied pressure (acupressure) or needles (acupuncture) they are believed to remove these logjams, bringing back a healing flow of energy and wellbeing.