Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)

I was recently coached by another coach, Judith Wentzel (USA), using EFT or the Emotional Freedom Technique. The focus of the session, which was meant as an exercise and an introduction to EFT, was to get rid of the food cravings that you often experience as a result of tiredness, frustration, stress, boredom, etc. - and therefore, in the long run, to lose weight. It was quite interesting to be guided by Judith through the process, which consists of tapping a series of Chinese acupuncture points on the face, neck and hands. In order to follow the process on the phone, I had received a picture with the tapping points beforehand. At the same time, I had to repeat a prepared sequence of sentences, which were in fact a kind of hypnosis.

It was amazing to see that, after having repeated the process only twice in approx. 45', I didn't want to eat the sweat that I had right in front of me on the table. During the following days, I noticed that I had gained a better control of my appetite and that I experienced more distinctly the feeling of satiety.

One session is certainly not enough to lose the few (many!) kilos I wish to lose before the next summer - although I did lose 1 1/2 kg in the following days. But I certainly believe in the efficiency of EFT, which combines, as mentioned, the tapping of acupuncture points and what I thought at first was guided hypnosis, but it is in fact an emotional release through acknowledgement and acceptance.

After having experienced it on myself, I thought that it is certainly a technique that can be used in the context of expatriates, particularly in the few months before the departure and in the first months of adjustment, which are quite often extremely stressful. I also think that there also excellent opportunities to use EFT in the context of entrepreneurs, who also have to deal with very stressful situations at time, and to reinvent themselves and their business on a daily basis.

For my part, I certainly want to learn more about it in the future - for myself, and also as a technique to use with clients who are expats and/or entrepreneurs.

If you want to practice immediately with a coach that has already been trained in this technique, you can contact Judith Wentzel directly. Judith also has a blog here.