Tapping EFT For Eczema & Other Chronic Problems

Someone wrote in and asked, "I have tried EFT tapping for eczema which I have had since I was a child and I think its getting a bit better but I'm not sure, do you have an EFT script for long term tapping on a chronic problem such as eczema?"

Here are my suggestions.

There are very few chronic problems which are always felt at the same level; with most chronic diseases, they tend to flare up now and then.

The feelings and the intensity are different over time; and we might think of these feelings as attention seeking behaviour from the body.

With the eczema for example, it doesn't hurt and itch all the time, although there is a background sensation present you can feel all the time if you pay attention.

This has the advantage that it serves as a trigger for EFT tapping treatments, which most other problems don't actually have.

• The itching or burning sensation from the eczema becomes the call to start tapping, to start the EFT treatment, there and then, as a direct response.

This sets up a custom "treatment program" of EFT treatments in self help for the sufferer of the chronic problem. It has a lot of advantages and benefits that people who do not have a chronic problem don't get to experience. For example, the main EFT instruction for "keeping at it" is taken care of as the chronic problem asks for attention every day, or often and repeatedly; so you have many chances to try different opening statements or set ups, and really practice the EFT tapping A LOT.

This is stress relieving; it is a skill that is being learned which can be used for all sorts of other problems too; and the chronic problem *is being responded to* when it asks for attention right away, something that I find very important indeed on many different levels.

There is a HUGE difference in tapping EFT every day (or more than once a day!) over a period of time, and just doing it once for half an hour.

As the symptoms of the chronic problem flare up, and *we take notice* and start to tap, all kinds of different aspects of the problem and how we feel about it become revealed.

• On one day, we might be tapping EFT for being frustrated and angry at the condition;
• on another day, we might be tapping for the physical sensation and the pain;
• or we might tap on the time when the chronic problem first got started;
• or how it now affects our lives, what we can't do any more because of it;
• or on something that always triggers "an attack" or a flare up of the chronic problem;
• or perhaps something from childhood that is related to the chronic problem we experience now;

and there could be many other things besides.

Either way,  this is intensive learning and intensive EFT tapping over a long period of time; a real opportunity to get good at EFT, and also, to get to know oneself much better, how one responds to stress, and sometimes, what this chronic problem is all about, where it came from in the first place, and why it even exists at all.

All tapping we do is good for us; it is ALWAYS stress relieving and always helps to balance the energy system and make us feel better, one way or the other.

Many symptoms of even long standing, powerful chronic problems can be made to be less severe with EFT; sometimes, the entire problem really does go away for good.

We can't promise that is so with EFT and we should not, as not all problems are energy body problems and can't all be resolved at that level; but it is in the daily response to the symptoms, as and when they present themselves, that especially for chronic problems, EFT Emotional Freedom Techniques is an excellent treatment indeed, and one we can use to "answer the call of the symptoms" as soon as we become aware of them.

Now, the next question that always comes along is "What should I say when I'm tapping on my eczema? Do you have an EFT script I can follow?"

There is no EFT script for eczema. Instead of following a general EFT script, you say what you think at that moment, you say what you feel. That is your opening statement and it is more perfect, more useful and more direct than any global EFT script could ever be, and the very heart of why EFT is so successful for so many different kinds of people, and so many different conditions.

This advice applies for tapping EFT for any chronic condition when you feel it is flaring up.

Ask yourself, "What do I think right now? What do I feel right now?" when the eczema starts to itch or burn and you have decided to respond by tapping yourself with EFT.

• My eczema is really annoying me ...
• I hate the itching feeling of my eczema ...
• I wish it would just go away and leave me alone ...
• I don't know why I have this eczema ...
• This eczema really hurts and I hate it ...
• This eczema will never go away ...
• This eczema is my punishment for ...
• I just want this eczema to go away ...
• I want to live my life without eczema ....

Be flexible and learn to LISTEN to yourself; finding out how you really feel and what you really think is such a big part of why EFT is a great, great self help therapy that does so much more than just making you feel better.

If you really can't think of anything, just focus on the feelings of pain or discomfort and repeat the name of your illness as you tap. It's easy, it really is, and no artificial EFT script is required for you to follow.

* See also Three Lines Of Enquiry for more tips on finding your perfect opening statements and creating your own custom EFT scripts as you go along.

In Conclusion

A chronic condition especially gives us an opportunity to really understand how we work, how EFT works.

More than that, I find a great relief in the thought that in EFT, we have an immediate response that is as long lasting and as reliable as the chronic condition itself; EFT does no harm and is in our own hands, and it brings some form improvement that was never expected before.

Silvia Hartmann

Author of Adventures In EFT,

The Advanced Patterns of EFT

August 2010