Dr. Stapleton is an Associate Professor in Psychology at Bond University in Australia and in 2019 she was named Psychologist of the Year by the Australian Allied Health Awards. Dr. Stapleton is the world’s leading researcher in Emotional Freedom Techniques which is commonly called EFT or Tapping and has established herself as one of Australia’s leading online Health Professionals. One of Dr. Stapleton’s most significant contributions to the field of mental health was to lead the world’s first randomized clinical trials investigating the effectiveness of EFT. I encourage you to read Dr. Stapleton’s new book The Science Behind EFT Tapping which was published in 2019.

Emotional Freedom Techniques, commonly known as EFT or Tapping, are groundbreaking techniques that combine psychotherapy and acupressure, bringing together elements of exposure, cognitive therapy and somatic stimulation. EFT’s developers see it as being similar to acupuncture but without the needles, and it has been referred to as ‘psychological acupuncture’. As with acupuncture, EFT stimulates various pressure points on the face and body to relieve stress, which then alleviates many psychological-based concerns. EFT is a powerful self-applied, stress reduction method based on extensive research that demonstrates that emotional distress can contribute to illness. EFT can help a range of symptoms or conditions by simply focusing on the issue you would like to address and linking it to an acceptance statement using a simple two finger tapping technique. EFT is a surprisingly easy technique to use and works by stimulating pressure points on the body with this two finger tapping technique which result in a calming effect on the amygdala (the stress center of the brain), and the hippocampus (the brains memory center), both of which play a role in the decision making process to determine if something is, or isn’t, a threat, and in the fight or flight response. EFT also seems to have the same calming effect on cortisol – the stress hormone. High cortisol levels can be caused by a variety of things, including biological stressors, and mood disorders such as depression and anxiety and psychological stress. Clinical trials have shown that EFT is able to rapidly reduce the emotional impact of memories and incidents that trigger emotional distress. EFT has an immediate calming effect and can be used by children as young as 3-4 years old.

EFT on Twitter: @PetaStapleton

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Disclaimer: The information shared in this podcast is not a substitute for getting help from a mental health professional.