Tapping

Tapping Plot Summary

Introduction

Sarah sat in her therapist's office, shoulders hunched, tears streaming down her face. "I've tried everything," she whispered. "Traditional therapy, meditation, even medication. But whenever that memory surfaces, I'm right back there—frozen, terrified, unable to breathe." For years, Sarah had been haunted by a traumatic car accident that left her with debilitating anxiety. Despite her best efforts, the mere sound of screeching tires would trigger an overwhelming panic attack. That day, her therapist suggested something different—a technique combining gentle tapping on specific points of the body while focusing on the distressing memory. Sarah was skeptical but desperate. As she began tapping while recalling the accident, something remarkable happened. The tightness in her chest loosened. The racing thoughts slowed. For the first time in years, she could think about the accident without being consumed by fear. "It's still there," she explained with wonder, "but it feels distant now, like it's just a memory rather than something happening all over again."

Chapter 1: The Neurological Foundations: How Tapping Rewires the Brain

When Robert first came to therapy, he could barely speak about his military service without dissociating. Three tours in Afghanistan had left him with severe PTSD, making civilian life nearly impossible. Nightmares kept him from sleeping, hypervigilance prevented him from enjoying public spaces, and emotional numbness was destroying his marriage. "I'm not really here," he explained during his first session. "Part of me never left the battlefield." His therapist introduced him to a tapping protocol specifically designed for combat veterans. Initially resistant, Robert agreed to try it after learning that other veterans had found relief. During their sessions, Robert would tap on specific points while verbalizing the most painful memories—the ambush that killed his friend, the sounds and smells that still haunted him, the guilt of surviving when others didn't. After each tapping sequence, his therapist would ask him to rate his distress level. Remarkably, the intensity diminished with each round. After six sessions, Robert reported sleeping through the night for the first time in years. By the twelfth session, he could talk about his experiences without being overwhelmed. "The memories are still there," he explained, "but they don't control me anymore. It's like they've been filed away properly instead of spilling out everywhere." Most significantly, he began reconnecting with his wife and children, gradually reclaiming the life that trauma had stolen from him. What makes energy psychology approaches like tapping so effective for trauma is their ability to address both psychological and physiological aspects simultaneously. When we experience trauma, our nervous system becomes dysregulated, creating a persistent state of fight-or-flight that conventional therapy often struggles to resolve. By stimulating acupressure points connected to our body's energy meridians, tapping appears to send deactivating signals to the amygdala—the brain's alarm system—allowing traumatic memories to be processed without triggering the full stress response. This creates a window where emotional healing can occur without retraumatization.

Chapter 2: Trauma Transformed: From Rwanda to Veterans' Healing

In the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, 50 children at the El Shaddai Orphanage in Kigali still suffered from severe PTSD symptoms twelve years later. Many had witnessed their parents being slaughtered. When three practitioners brought energy psychology techniques to the orphanage, the results were extraordinary. After a single tapping session using translators, 47 of the 50 orphans were no longer in the PTSD range on standardized assessments. Even more remarkably, these benefits were sustained on one-year follow-up with no additional treatments. One of these children was a 15-year-old girl who had been only three during the genocide. She had been hiding with her family in a local church when men with machetes stormed in and began a massacre. Her father told her to run and not look back, but when she heard him "screaming like a crazy man," she turned and witnessed him being murdered. For twelve years afterward, not a day passed without flashbacks to that scene, and her sleep was plagued by nightmares. During her treatment session, she tapped on acupuncture points while telling the story of her flashbacks. After just a few minutes, her heart-wrenching sobbing suddenly transformed into smiles. For the first time, she could remember her father and family playing together before the genocide. The practitioner guided her through tapping on several traumatic scenes, and by the end of the 15-20 minute session, the girl was laughing as she shared happy memories of her father. In the days that followed, she reported having no flashbacks or nightmares and could sleep well for the first time in years. Similar results have been documented with combat veterans. In the first high-quality controlled study of energy psychology for veterans with PTSD, 86 percent of the 49 veterans treated no longer tested in the PTSD range after just six one-hour tapping sessions. One infantry soldier who had served in Vietnam was still tormented by nightmares and flashbacks more than three decades later. After six tapping sessions, he was getting seven to eight hours of uninterrupted sleep with no nightmares, and his other symptoms had abated as well. These dramatic transformations reveal how energy psychology can help heal even the deepest emotional wounds. By sending deactivating signals to the brain's fear centers while the traumatic memory is activated, tapping allows people to process these experiences without being retraumatized. The approach doesn't erase the memories, but it does change how the brain and body respond to them, freeing individuals from the grip of the past and allowing them to move forward with their lives.

Chapter 3: Breaking Free: Overcoming Anxiety and Phobias

Nancy, a successful nurse who was happy in her marriage, had a debilitating fear of heights that severely limited her life. The thought of climbing stairs to reach an appointment filled her with apprehension. She couldn't join friends on hikes in nearby hills, and getting near the edge of a balcony was unthinkable. This fear traced back to her teenage years when a trusted adult had playfully grabbed her shoulders from behind while she stood at the edge of a cliff and pushed forward. Though he held on to her so she wouldn't fall, the incident initiated a terror of heights that had plagued her for more than two decades. After a tapping session of about half an hour, Nancy was comfortably leaning over a balcony on the top floor of a high-rise hotel. Her internal model about heights had been completely transformed. At a follow-up interview two and a half years later, she reported that her fear hadn't returned. In fact, she had developed greater confidence in other areas of her life. During a vacation in Ireland, she had even climbed the 127 steps of Blarney Castle and leaned backward over an 85-foot drop to kiss the famous stone—a feat challenging even for someone without a fear of heights. Emily, a woman in her 20s, sought help for anxieties that had been interfering with her life for years. These anxieties were particularly strong in social situations, where she was terrified of saying or doing something that would get her ridiculed. Working as a salesclerk was a daily torment, and she avoided friendships and dating opportunities. Initially, she attributed these feelings to an incident in college when new friends had laughed at her for expressing interest in a campus football hero. However, using the "Affect Bridge" technique, she recalled a forgotten incident from kindergarten when the wind had caught her skirt on the playground, revealing to everyone that she had forgotten to wear underwear that day. Through tapping, Emily addressed various aspects of this incident—the moment she realized what others were seeing, the flush of embarrassment, the voices of children making fun of her, her anger at herself. Once these aspects were neutralized, the college incident also lost its emotional charge. In subsequent sessions, she addressed situations that triggered her anxiety and the physical sensations that accompanied them. By the fourth session, Emily reported that she had accepted a dinner invitation from a customer and had a wonderful evening. These cases illustrate how energy psychology can rapidly transform fears and anxieties that have persisted for decades. By combining tapping with focused attention on the problem, individuals can reprogram their nervous systems to respond differently to triggering situations. This approach works not only for specific phobias but also for generalized anxiety, social anxiety, and panic attacks—conditions that affect millions of people worldwide and often lead to depression, physical illness, or substance abuse when left untreated.

Chapter 4: Beyond Worry: Cognitive Shifts Through Energy Work

Robert, a bank executive and father of two sons, was tormented by a daily worry that one of his children would develop a terrible illness. This fear wasn't unfounded—his first son, Bobby, had died of a brain tumor at age three. Despite having gone through grief counseling and a support group after Bobby's death, Robert couldn't shake the persistent worry that lightning would strike twice. This fear cast a dark cloud over his life, hampering his ability to fully enjoy his otherwise fortunate circumstances. When Robert applied the tapping protocol to his worry, he initially felt an intense pressure in his chest that moved up through his throat and settled behind his eyes. His fear was rated at the maximum level of 10. After several rounds of tapping, the physical sensations began to diminish, but the emotional charge remained high. As he explored why his distress seemed stuck, memories of Bobby's illness and death flooded back—the moment he realized Bobby's symptoms were concerning, the doctor's announcement about the brain tumor, trying to explain the situation to Bobby, witnessing his son's pain and deterioration. Robert systematically applied the tapping protocol to each of these memories, addressing them one or two at a time in sessions of about 15-20 minutes. Though the memories remained horrible, the tapping allowed him to remember the experiences without reliving their agony. After processing these memories, his worry about his remaining sons becoming sick decreased significantly. He then identified a psychological reversal: "If I stop worrying, it will happen." At a deep level, he believed that worrying somehow protected his children. Through further tapping and an inner dialogue where he imagined speaking to Bobby, Robert was able to express his love and grief while recognizing it was time to move forward. His worry eventually decreased to a level he felt was appropriate—a tribute to how deeply he loved his first child and a recognition that some things are beyond his control. The process required him to face and process an indescribably painful emotional wound, taking a giant leap toward healing it. These transformative experiences demonstrate how energy psychology facilitates cognitive shifts by addressing both emotional and physical components of our guiding models. The approach doesn't just alleviate symptoms—it helps identify and transform the underlying beliefs and patterns that maintain our problems. By sending electrical signals to the brain while focusing on specific issues, tapping creates new neural pathways that support healthier responses and more empowering beliefs about ourselves and the world around us.

Chapter 5: Finding Peace: Personal Stories of Radical Change

A woman in her late 30s volunteered for a demonstration session during an energy psychology training. She'd had neck pain and limited range of motion since an automobile accident six years earlier. Though the accident had been minor, she still suffered with only a few degrees of movement to the left when turning her head. Using the Affect Bridge technique, she recalled a more serious auto accident from when she was eight years old, in which her older sister had been driving. As they tapped on various aspects of this earlier accident—the moment she realized a collision was unavoidable, the sound of the crash, being taken to a neighbor's house bleeding from a cut on her head—her pain level didn't improve much. Then she gasped and said, "I just remembered. My sister was only 15 years old. She was underage. That day, I dared her to drive the family car, and we totaled it." Her guilt turned out to be the aspect that held the greatest emotional charge. After tapping on that, her pain disappeared, and she regained full range of motion in her neck. A college history professor shared how tapping helped him during a panic attack. While alone one night, he found himself ruminating on all the terrible things that could happen—from the deaths of loved ones to losing everything in a fire to being buried alive in an earthquake. These horrifying daydreams developed into a full-blown panic attack with heart pounding, shallow breath, trembling, and an overwhelming sense of panic. Remembering that tapping could help with anxiety, he began tapping on the energy points while saying, "Even though I'm having a panic attack, I accept what is happening." After just a few repetitions, his breathing and heart rate began to normalize, though his mind was still filled with anxiety about human vulnerability. He continued tapping, focusing on accepting that loss and death are inevitable parts of life: "It's not on my shoulders to prevent what I can't prevent." This allowed him to go to sleep, and the next day he felt calm, able to savor his good life without torturing himself about what might happen. Jackson, a father of three small children, discovered through tapping that his difficulties with his children traced back to his own childhood. His father, a Vietnam veteran, couldn't handle noise and chaos at home as it unconsciously reminded him of the war. Whenever Jackson and his siblings were excited and playful, their father would respond with agitation and violence. Jackson grew up believing there was something wrong with being excited and playful, and as an adult, he experienced intense agitation when his own children were noisy or having fun. Through an inner dialogue facilitated by tapping, Jackson's adult self was able to explain to his 10-year-old self that his father's rules weren't the world's rules, and that his father's reactions were due to his own trauma, not because Jackson was a "bad boy." This dialogue helped Jackson heal the part of himself that believed noise and clutter were dangerous, allowing him to break the cycle of intergenerational trauma and respond differently to his own children. These stories illustrate the transformative potential of energy psychology across a wide range of issues—from physical pain with emotional roots to panic attacks to parenting challenges stemming from childhood experiences. By addressing both the emotional and energetic components of our problems, tapping offers a path to healing that is often faster and more complete than approaches that work solely with thoughts or emotions.

Chapter 6: From Crisis to Growth: Tapping Through Disaster

In the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, where 20 six- and seven-year-olds were massacred, family members and first responders found that tapping sessions brought them peace and healing "when nothing else does." Similarly, following a devastating earthquake in Haiti, tapping was taught to survivors to help them process their trauma and rebuild their lives. In Kosovo, after years of ethnic violence, energy psychology techniques were introduced to help heal the psychological wounds of war. The effectiveness of tapping in disaster situations was dramatically demonstrated in a study conducted in Kosovo following the war. Trauma relief teams taught the technique to local healthcare workers, who then used it with their patients. The results showed significant reductions in PTSD symptoms, with benefits maintained on follow-up assessments. What made this approach particularly valuable was that it could be taught quickly to local providers, creating a sustainable model for addressing widespread trauma in resource-limited settings. A similar approach was used in Rwanda, where the genocide had left an entire population traumatized. After the remarkable results with the orphans mentioned earlier, the technique was taught to community leaders who could then share it with others. This "train the trainer" model allowed the healing to spread exponentially, reaching people who would never have access to conventional mental health services. One of the most powerful aspects of energy psychology in disaster situations is its ability to be used as a self-help tool. Once people learn the basic technique, they can apply it whenever they feel triggered or overwhelmed. This empowers survivors to take an active role in their healing process rather than remaining passive victims of their circumstances. The approach also works well in group settings, allowing many people to be helped simultaneously and creating a sense of shared healing that can strengthen community bonds. These examples highlight how energy psychology can be a valuable tool in our collective response to crises and disasters. By providing a simple yet effective method for processing trauma, it helps individuals and communities move from survival to recovery and eventually to post-traumatic growth. As climate change increases the frequency and severity of natural disasters, and as human conflicts continue to create traumatic experiences for millions, having accessible, scalable approaches to psychological healing becomes increasingly important for our global resilience and wellbeing.

Chapter 7: Self-Application: Mastering the Basic Protocol

Paul, a team manager at a midsize business, found himself increasingly anxious about going to work, especially about the team meetings he led. Using the Basic Tapping Protocol, he began by recognizing and accepting that something wasn't right, even though he didn't know the cause. He stimulated energy points while acknowledging his discomfort: "Even though something isn't right at work, I am recognizing and accepting this discomfort." As he tapped, Paul noticed tightness in his throat. After a round of tapping on this sensation, it diminished, revealing underlying feelings of sadness related to one of his team members, Johanna. Though Johanna was effective and well-liked, Paul felt she was challenging his authority. Continuing to tap, he recalled his first job, where he had exceeded expectations but was passed over for promotion in favor of a newer employee—an experience that had been both painful and humiliating. Through tapping, Paul realized he had been projecting this past betrayal onto Johanna, operating from a guiding model that expected to be sabotaged in his job. As the tapping sent deactivating signals to the emotional areas of his brain, his sadness and anger toward his former boss diminished. He was able to dismantle the model that expected sabotage and build a new one that wasn't threatened by someone else's excellence. The next morning, Paul felt his accustomed enthusiasm about going to work and confidence about his leadership role. The Basic Tapping Protocol that Paul used consists of 12 steps organized into four phases: Preparation, The Tapping Cycle, Adjusting the Protocol, and Testing Your Results. In the Preparation phase, you choose your focus, rate your discomfort about it, create a Reminder Phrase to keep it psychologically active, and formulate an Acceptance Statement. The Tapping Cycle involves anchoring your Acceptance Statement, tapping on 12 acupoints while saying your Reminder Phrase, practicing an Integration Procedure, tapping again, and taking a new rating of your distress. If your distress hasn't decreased to your satisfaction, you move to Adjusting the Protocol, where you modify your Acceptance Statement and address specific aspects of the situation. Finally, in Testing Your Results, you mentally intensify the scene to verify that the issue has been fully resolved. This systematic approach allows you to customize the process to your unique needs and circumstances, making it effective for a wide range of issues from everyday concerns to longstanding patterns that have been resistant to change. The beauty of this protocol lies in its accessibility and adaptability. Anyone can learn it, and once mastered, it becomes a powerful tool for self-regulation and emotional healing that you can carry with you anywhere. Whether facing a challenging work situation, processing grief, or managing everyday stress, the tapping protocol offers a pathway to greater emotional freedom and resilience that puts the power of transformation literally at your fingertips.

Summary

Energy psychology represents a groundbreaking fusion of ancient wisdom and modern science, offering a powerful approach to healing and personal transformation. By stimulating specific acupuncture points while focusing on troubling thoughts or emotions, we can send signals to the brain that change how we respond to past traumas, current challenges, and future possibilities. This simple yet profound technique has shown remarkable effectiveness in addressing a wide range of issues, from everyday worries to severe PTSD. The stories throughout this exploration reveal a consistent pattern: when we tap into our body's energy systems, we can transform our guiding models—the internal frameworks that shape how we perceive and respond to life. Whether it's Nancy overcoming a decades-long fear of heights, Robert healing the grief of losing his child, or Rwandan orphans finding peace after witnessing unspeakable violence, the process works by allowing people to process difficult experiences without being retraumatized by them. The approach doesn't erase memories or deny pain, but it does change our relationship to these experiences, freeing us from their grip so we can move forward with greater clarity and purpose.

About Author

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Donna Eden

Donna Eden, a pioneer in the field of holistic healing, is among the world’s most sought after, most joyous, and most authoritative spokespersons for energy medicine. Her abilities as a healer are legendary and her invigorating presentations are rich with audience participation and stunning demonstrations.Since childhood, Eden has been able to see the flow of the body’s energies, and from this clairvoyant ability, she developed a system for teaching others to productively work with their own body’s energies. Eden has taught some 50,000 people worldwide how to methodically and precisely direct energy for health and happiness, using methods akin to acupressure, therapeutic touch, and qigong.Eden is author (with her husband, David Feinstein) of the best-selling book, Energy Medicine, which has been translated into 12 languages, and is a classic in its field. According to Carolyn Myss, “The contribution Donna Eden has made with Energy Medicine will stand as one of the backbone studies as we lay a sound foundation for the field of holistic medicine.”http://www.eomega.org/omega/faculty/v...

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