Jan 04, 2011
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Monthly blogs entries will include a short video detailing the process involved in each sequential step of the EDANVIR Tapping Protocol which can be found on the EFT tapping handout. This protocol is the same one I use with clients in my private practice.  After the EFT steps there will be additional breathwork, shaking, imagery and color reframing components.

The first step in the EDANVIR protocol to be highlighted in this entry will be “E” for ENERGIZE your tapping issue as demonstrated on the video and detailed here. The initial process begins with selecting a “reminder phrase” that for the purposes of this introduction will be “a terrible emotional trauma from the past.” This phrase is a short easily repeatable “sound bite” that is as specific as possible regarding the trauma and contains at least one emotionally descriptive word.

You will know that you have picked the right phrase if saying it creates some sort of bodily discomfort similar to what you experienced at the time of the original trauma.  This feeling can be quantified using the Subjective Units of Distress (SUD) Scale with 0 being no distress and 10 being the most you can imagine.  It is a subjective estimate of what your body is experiencing when saying the phrase, not your cognitive memory of the trauma.

Bessel van der Kolk, MD, one of the psychiatrists involved in the DSM IV field trials for PTSD, wrote a 1994 article, The Body Keeps Score, which summarizes the psychobiology behind the SUD process. Once you gain access to the energy tied up in the body related to a past trauma, cognitive approaches to healing will become more effective.  To get the best results from EFT, pick a phrase that has a SUD score higher than 5, adding more emotional words if necessary.

Once you have an appropriate phrase, insert it into the “self-acceptance statement” which is a paradoxical affirmation starting with your negative reminder phrase and ending with a positive one.  “Even though I have this terrible emotional trauma from the past, I deeply and completely accept myself.”  On the video, I will be using this generic reminder phrase which you may also use, or insert your own customized reminder phrase appropriate to your trauma.

Some people with a significant trauma history, a lot of guilt or low self-esteem may have difficulty saying the second half of the statement, so another option would be “I wish I could deeply and completely accept myself.”  For children, it may also be more age-appropriate to substitute “I am still a great kid.”  As you become more familiar with EFT, you can customize the entire statement to whatever best fits the situation you are dealing with.

The next step is to find the “sore spot” on your chest to rub while saying the self-acceptance statement.  Place both thumbs in the middle of your collarbones and move downward onto the ribs searching for a tender place in the muscles between the ribs.  Push hard until you find a sore spot. Pick whichever side is most tender and use that one for the “set up” process. As an alternative, the “karate chop” point on the fleshy part of the hand proximal to the little finger can also be used.

Repeat the self-acceptance statement 3 times while rubbing the sore spot deeply or tapping on the karate chop point.  If you make any mistakes in the wording, keep repeating until you can say it the entire way through correctly.  Sometimes the SUD score will go up during this process, as you ENERGIZE the issue and feel what you are tapping into.  This process also treats any “psychological reversal” (internal resistance) that you may have around healing the trauma.

One way of selecting a reminder phrase is: think of an affirmation that would be a positive statement of what you want to have happen in your life, then listen for the inevitable objections from your negative self-talk, which are referred to as “tail-enders” in EFT.  These “yes, but” comments make great reminder phrases. In hypnosis theory everything that comes before the “but” is deleted, so after tapping away the tail-enders your affirmations will work much better.

Once you have fine-tuned your reminder phrase, assessed your SUD score and repeated the self-acceptance statement three times, you are ready to go on to the next step which will be “D” for DESENSITIZE in the February newsletter.  In the meantime, you can start using the whole protocol ahead of time by downloading the handout and reviewing the January 2011 Newsletter which illustrates the use of this approach to healing stress from motor vehicle accidents.

All of the steps in the EDANVIR protocol and the clinical topics will be included in the new book I am writing, Let Magic Happen: Synchronicities, Healing Stories and Techniques of a Holistic Radiologist, to be published later in 2011.  There will also be many other topics and techniques in the book that will not be covered in the blog or newsletter.  I am planning a sequel based on readers’ experiences with the techniques, so please let me know how they work for you.

Please feel free to post your comments or stories below about this first step in the EFT protocol or about motor vehicle accidents from the newsletter. I will screen the comments for appropriateness as moderator of the blog and add my own responses if needed for clarification. You can also follow me on Twitter if you like at LetMagicHappen.  I look forward to an exciting and abundant 2011 for all of us.

Happy tapping and Let Magic Happen, Larry Burk, MD, CEHP