Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Christian Disbelief and EFT

Recently I had this question pop up on one of my author’s boards: “How do you deal with Christians who are resistant to EFT? I am not a Christian, but I have met people who seem afraid to take responsibility for their own wellbeing and development. How do you address this?”
I would love to answer this question!

Often Christians are fearful, like everyone else, of what they don’t know or don’t understand. We in the West are conditioned to believe that God heals us through doctors and medicine. And sometimes God heals supernaturally. The body is a mechanical machine and it must be treated as such. There apparently is no in-between.

Back in the 16th century, when Rene Descartes was alive and active in his philosophical thinking, he concluded that much of matter is simply mechanical. He supported a dualism that mind and body were completely separate, and those parts did not interact with each other, except at the pineal gland where there could be some intersection.  Touch was the only true “sense”, according to Descartes. http://www.philosophypages.com/hy/4h.htm

This philosophy was at complete odds with Eastern ideas which teach our body and our mind is a cohesive unit. Each part influenced the other and each was integral to the functioning whole.

Due to this 16th century thought Western medicine until recently has view the mind-body connection as non-existent. The body was the body; the mind was the mind and each was treated as separately existing. If one had a physical disease, the state of our mind had little to do with the disease itself, or the healing process. The idea that a physical illness was the manifestation of an emotional (mind) problem was near impossible to fathom.

This thinking is rapidly changing, meaning that Eastern ideas of how our body heals was correct all along, and these new ideas are making rapid inroads into Western medicine. The mind-body connection exists, as our whole body works in unison, not as separate parts as Descartes suggested.

It is new science, and most of the disbelief of Christians can simply be addressed by explaining that EFT is all physiology the way God created us. I use Scripture to address their concerns, too. Too many Christians figure if something has Chinese medicine in it; it follows that some Chinese religious belief must be mixed in there, too. This isn't at all true.

Many universities are now doing amazing amounts of neuro research, and I try to keep up on that as much as possible, and use it in my new articles, blogs, and upcoming books, as well as incorporate it into my EFT classes. Internet searches will bring up hundreds of research articles around this subject. Most of it is fascinating reading.


You & I know people heal when they are ready to heal. If they are satisfied to be where they are, afraid to think outside the box, try something new, we can pretty much guarantee not much healing is going to happen!

Saturday, April 23, 2016

EFT & Memory Fragmentation for Practitioners

This article outlines several important facts for us as we tap with trauma victims.

Trauma tends to fragment memories, totally distorting what actually happened. As an EFT coach, none of this matters. I always say truth in trauma is irrelevant. It's all about perception and that perception becomes the client's truth.

Our job is to go with whatever the client brings to the table to tap about. Truth or perception, it all has to be neutralized, if the client is to heal.

Remember that "trauma capsule" we discussed in class? The author talks about it in the latter part of this article. A client may remember what happened before the trauma and what happened after the trauma, but little is remember DURING the trauma. All the memories of the trauma specifically are often hidden away and buried by the subconscious in that "trauma capsule".

It is a protective mechanism. The trauma was too severe and too awful to actually remember.

In the end the details of what actually happened don't matter.

So, again, tap whatever the client brings to the table. Be thorough with all the different aspects. Dig, if you must, to find all those sensory specific details that lock this trauma in place. Ask tons of questions, too, if you feel the trauma needs further clearing.

Once this is thoroughly accomplished, you will have changed the client's life forever. It really is akin to a miracle!

Questions? Fire away!

Remember, EFT is not a substitute for medical help. Take personal responsibility for all of your personal emotional and physical needs.

Sherrie Rice Smith, R.N. (ret.)
Certified EFT Practitioner             
Author "EFT for Christians" (2015)
www.EFTforChristians.com

EFTforChristians@gmail.com

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

How Much Healing Guts Do You Have?


 When I go into a group of hurting women like those in some support group where their spouses have died, or the spouse has abandoned them for another woman, I hear that same mantra repeatedly, “I want God to heal me through and through. I’m so done with feeling hurt.”

As the group moderator continues to lead them week after week through EFT clearing, it is interesting to watch the varied reactions. Some women open up quickly, easily, baring their souls to one another; others are more reticent, holding back, waiting for the just the right time to let loose of their own personal story.

All of that is good. People heal at a different pace, and even if a woman isn’t saying a word, but continues to tap with her fellow group members, there is a good chance God is healing her, too, in a more subtle way. That way is called “Borrowed Benefits.”

Decades ago, EFT founder Gary Craig, realized something “energetic” was happening underneath the surface of the group to whom he was speaking when he had a client up on stage, tapping with her/him.

Finally, Mr. Craig decided to run a small experiment of sorts. I won’t get this story’s details exactly right, and there are many variations of it out on the internet, but he had the entire audience write down on a piece of paper at the beginning of the conference all the issues that were bothering them right then and there.  Mr. Craig then told the attendees to put the paper away for the duration of the seminar.

On the last day of the conference he asked for another volunteer to come up on stage for a tapping demonstration to be done by him. Apparently no one raised their hand. At last, he asked the group to take out that paper on which they all had written the list that bothered them and take a look at it. It was right then that Mr. Craig realized the reason no one volunteered. He immediately saw that most of the issues written on those hundreds of slips of paper had been resolved while each attendee tapped along with the client up on the stage. That amazing occurrence was dubbed “Borrowed Benefits,” and we see it routinely in every single group or classroom where tapping goes on.

There is a physiological reason why it happens, but I don’t believe that was discovered until long after Mr. Craig figured out the concept.

God put in us something called, “Mirror Neurons.” These neurons are a particular type of brain cell that fires when we see an action performed. To a certain extent it is imitation. We sneeze; someone else in the room sneezes. We grab our glass to drink; another person does the same. It might even account for why a 2 year old wants his friend’s truck to play with right now, or the concept of a mob getting out of control during a sporting event. We learn by watching others, but more importantly we heal by doing the same thing.

It appears mirror neurons give us the ability to empathize with others and they give us the ability to interpret facial expression in others – we intrinsically understand what a frown means, or was that understanding learned from another, but interpreted by our mirror neurons? This reaction seems to be automatic, not something we put any thought into.  

Two locations in the brain where these neurons have been observed are the premotor cortex and the inferior parietal cortex. There are theories that these mirror neurons help with bonding between people, and that the mirroring intensifies over time.

Let’s get back to the gals in the room talking, and hopefully tapping, about their problems.
 I often challenge people around me to think about taking Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT or tapping) a step further.

Maybe this article will motivate you to consider doing this, too.

All of us, me included, love to whine and complain about all of the awful things other people have done to us over the years. So and so did this and so and so did that to me, and “it ruined my life.”  I hear it all the time.

As we tap, God neutralizes the emotional impact of whatever awful things have happened in our lives, and forgiveness begins to set in, resulting in peace within our soul. I want to toss out a challenge.

What happens if we turn the table and ask God to point out to us where we went wrong – where we ourselves hurt someone else, inadvertently or intentionally?

That suggestion often sends the roomful of women into a buzz of conversation. “What? I was the victim. What are you talking about?” as they look incredulously at each other.

“I’m serious,” I reply, “Who in this room has the guts to ask God what they specifically did wrong to hurt someone in their life.”

This idea takes some intense thought and rumination. It is self-incriminating. This is where the meat hits the bones of Christian confession and repentance.

Can you ask God that question?

Frankly, it took me a very long time to do it. I cannot ask you to do so without me first trying it, can I?

I didn’t like at all what I heard from God. I’m not going to list all the sins I have committed in the past that hurt others here, but I will tell you it was an illuminating conversation with God.
Should you truly want to heal from top to bottom and from inside to the outside, try asking God that particular question.

My guess is He will require of you what He required of me. I had stuff to repent of, and it is the best thing that ever happened to me short of learning how to tap!

It cleared my soul and spirit. It repaired my relationship with my Savior. To date, God has not required me to go to any of the people He told me I hurt and ask their forgiveness. Sometimes God requires that, and if He does of you, please go do it.

Often we know in our hearts our intentions toward someone were wrong, but that person never picked up on it as you meant it. God often doesn’t require us to ask forgiveness for those things because it would mean we would probably hurt the person in the explaining what we did and what we meant to do. We would cause more pain in the apologizing and asking for forgiveness. It’s our own guilt He wants us to deal with.

So, back to my original question: How much healing guts do you actually have? Are you willing to go that extra mile with God, and allow Him to show you where you went relationally wrong? Instead of us always complaining what others did to us, are we open enough to be told and to understand what our behaviors and words mean to others?

Only you and God can figure this one out. I simply offer it as a suggestion as an advanced technique you can use for further clearing with EFT.


God bless your tapping!

Sherrie Rice Smith, R.N. (Retired)
Certified EFT Practitioner
Author EFT for Christians (2015)

Saturday, April 2, 2016

Is EFT for You?

Is life just not going where you expected it to go?

Does God seem so very far away?

If you are on this page, it is not by accident. God just might be talking to you.

EFT could well be the answer you have been looking for all these years!

It really does work.

There are Christian practitioners out there waiting to help you break through your pain/bad habits/issues, allowing you to become what God has planned for you to be!

Call me today. Let me find you the help you have been praying to find! Take the first step.

Sherrie Rice Smith, R.N. (Retired)
Certified EFT Practitioner