“Tap” away kids’ anxiety in 4 easy steps with “EFT”

“Tap” away kids’ anxiety in 4 easy steps with “EFT”

It’s a fact that we all experience stress and anxiety in our lives growing up (and well into adulthood!). However, for some, a normal response to stressful situations becomes abnormal when the negative emotions and responses don’t go away once a stressful situation is removed.

Anxiety is the most common mental health condition in the country. It is estimated that one in four people experience it in their lifetime. What’s even more concerning is the number of kids experiencing Anxiety or being diagnosed with “Anxiety Disorder”.

Over the years I’ve been in practice, I have seen an increase in the amount of kids coming to me with separation anxiety, school stress, self-image issues, eating disorders and more. Maybe it’s a sign of the times, maybe we’ve got better at identifying it, but at the end of the day, it can leave us as parents feeling helpless as to where to start in order to support them.

Aside from conventional “talk therapy”, medication and familial support, there is a relatively new, clinically proven self-help method that is literally, “at your fingertips”. It’scalled EFT – “Emotional Freedom Technique”. Some may know it as “tapping” – because that’s exactly what it involves!

By now you’re probably thinking it’s a bit woo-woo and left-of-field but what you may not know is there is a growing body of clinical evidence suggesting it can greatly reduce the impact of anxiety (among other emotional issues) in adults and kids alike.

Often referred to as “emotional acupuncture without needles”, EFT is used by therapists, psychologists and millions worldwide to ease emotional distress and clear negative emotions, beliefs and memories and is setting a new tone for how we manage stress in the modern world.

EFT works by tapping a series of acupressure points on the face and upper body with two fingers whilst voicing our issue. This helps to “short-circuit” the fight or flight (stress) response and re-wire our brain to think more clearly about the problem. Sounds crazy, but science proves it works! Tapping has been researched in more than 10 countries, by more than 60 investigators, with results being published in more than 100 papers. (https://www.eftuniverse.com/research-studies/eft-research)

In my experience as a Practitioner, I find kids are quite open to EFT and gain results quickly as they don’t have the same amount of emotional baggage we do as adults. They’re not caught up in the “how’s” and “why’s”, they just want to feel better. EFT works even if they don’t believe in it which is especially helpful for older children who might have resistance to working on issues or trying new approaches.

So how can you start tapping with your child today? Below are the basic points we use. You can either tap on yourself and have them mirror you or tap directly on them with their permission.