Dr David Feinstein – Donna Eden | How Energy Psychology Can Transform Our Lives

David Feinstein, PhD, and Donna Eden are well-known and highly respected authors and practitioners in the field of energy healing. Their latest book, Tapping: Self-Healing with the Transformative Power of Energy Psychology, provides a comprehensive but accessible account of how we can all benefit from acupuncture tapping in our lives, from dealing more effectively with everyday worries to overcoming the challenges of deep-rooted trauma.

Energy Psychology: A New Practice with Ancient Roots

Energy psychology intertwines Eastern mind-body philosophies with Western psychological and therapeutic techniques. Critical to energy psychology is the belief that stimulating acupuncture points is the driving feature of a psychological protocol that provides rapid physical and mental health benefits.

The use of acupuncture points has been described in ancient texts on Chinese Medicine. Current research shows that stimulating specific areas of the skin triggers a release of chemicals and electrical signals to the brain, spinal cord, and muscles that produce beneficial effects. The most popular energy psychology protocol is known as the Emotional Freedom Techniques, or simply EFT. EFT combines elements of cognitive therapy targeting unhelpful thought patterns with somatic stimulation in the form of tapping on acupuncture points, simply using one’s fingertips. This combination is designed to ‘supercharge’ the potency of each method, leading to benefits far beyond those when either is used in isolation.

While this relatively new approach remains controversial, peer-reviewed clinical trials supporting its effectiveness have passed the 200 mark, and its popularity, acceptance, and applications are rapidly expanding. Clinical psychologist David Feinstein and internationally renowned spokesperson for energy medicine Donna Eden are a powerful driving force in making energy psychology techniques widely accessible. Their latest book, Tapping: Self-Healing with the Transformative Power of Energy Psychology, reviews the theory and evidence base for energy psychology and, most importantly, provides a practical guide for using tapping in our everyday lives.

Who Can Benefit from Energy Psychology?

The authors intend their text to be relevant to therapists and their clients, but the primary benefactors will be individuals seeking more powerful self-help tools. Confronting our inner demons is never going to be easy. Using tapping as a means to better manage longstanding negative emotions involves acknowledging them, engaging with them, and accepting them. Memories cannot (and should not) be simply erased. Energy psychology provides us with the tools needed to gain greater insight and control over how our memories affect us in the present[1].

Deep Change Takes Time

Readers are encouraged to actively engage with the content as though undertaking a self-paced training programme, as opposed to merely reading a text, if they wish to make lasting changes to their lives. While many benefits can be rapidly achieved, the authors emphasise that deep change takes time., They offer guidance for the detective work required and provide plentiful real-life examples of rich rewards gained by ‘test drivers’ who self-applied the methods in the book. While readers can readily undertake tapping alone, the programme can also be completed with a partner, others, or in a group setting, allowing for shared reflection and support.

The Tapping Protocol

A round of tapping has four phases that are further divided into 12 steps. This entire sequence can, however, be carried out in a couple of minutes, and once readers have gone through it a few times, they will become automatic. The steps are presented in a linear order, but we are advised that, in practice, movement back and forth between the steps will be easily navigated.

In the first phase (preparation), the reader is invited to think about an uncomfortable memory or thought and rate the discomfort it evokes. The authors then walk them through a simple ‘set-up’ process that prepares the psyche for the desired changes. The second phase involves tapping on a dozen acupuncture points, a few seconds on each point, along with other simple procedures for engaging the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Brief phrases such as ‘This fear of elevators’ or ‘Feeling more confident’ are stated out loud along with the tapping.

These two phases are known as the ‘basic recipe’ in EFT and are often highly effective in themselves. However, humans are complex beings, and we carry complicated histories. Phase 3 of the tapping protocol allows for an adjustment of the approach according to individual needs – in other words, the development of a personalised, self-directed approach. Phase 4 is focused on testing the results of these endeavours, usually by bringing the unpleasant memory or situation back into mind and giving it another rating of the distress it causes. The thoughts and feelings that emerge during this internal assessment determine the content for the next round of the protocol until the sense of distress has been completely eliminated.

Tapping for Worry, Anxiety, and Post-traumatic Stress

The authors explain that worry, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) represent a continuum of distress characterised by differing levels of fear. Fear is one of our most basic and important emotions, given that it is essential for survival. But fear can be maladaptive. At the lesser end of the continuum, we have worry, which we all experience to varying degrees (from individual concerns, including work stress, relationship issues, and money problems, to global challenges such as climate change, poverty, and crime – the list is endless). In the case of PTSD, extreme fear is experienced in the absence of a current threat, and our innate ‘flight or fight’ response is always primed for action, having a debilitating impact on the individual.

Tapping has the power to overcome these deeply rooted fear responses, and to reduce unwanted and excessive worry, anxiety, and even extreme trauma reactions such as PTSD. Based on the tapping protocol described above, the authors present a strategy for dealing with excessive worry. Again, the focus is not on removing awareness of the causes of the worry but on reducing the emotional hold it has on us. The book also addresses the increasing incidence of anxiety worldwide and cites compelling research evidence along with case studies illustrating the benefits of tapping for a range of specific issues, including social anxiety, panic attacks, and test anxiety. 

The traumas that lead to PTSD are often life-threatening and extreme, and they can happen to anyone. They might include a traffic accident, an armed robbery, a house fire, or a natural disaster. Bessel van der Kolk, author of the bestselling book The Body Keeps the Score, has established three key ways in which PTSD changes the brain, and these enduring physiological changes are part of the reason that PTSD is notoriously difficult to treat. Yet remarkably, tapping, particularly when used by professionals as part of a trauma-focused intervention, can help reverse each of these changes in the brain and alleviate the core symptoms of the disorder.

Confronting the Metaphorical ‘Black Dog’

Another continuum the book addresses runs from sadness at the widely experienced side of the continuum to deep chronic depression at the extreme end. Here, the authors start with the importance of accepting sadness as a part of life and channelling this emotion toward making constructive and positive changes. Taking the tapping protocol as the basis from which to work, the reader is guided through embracing sadness, reflecting on its meaning and function, and making choices to enable growth.

While occasional low moods and sadness are a normal part of the human experience and can ultimately be constructive, depression can entangle and trap the human spirit. It can be pervasive, persistent, and debilitating. The causes of depression are complex and generally involve interactions among multiple factors, including genetics, early life experiences, and disrupted brain chemistry. Energy psychology provides a potent yet non-invasive alternative to biological interventions such as antidepressants, which the authors acknowledge may still have their place. As with PTSD, serious addictions, and other severe psychological challenges, the authors encourage readers to use the methods in the book along with professional support. What they offer are both energy psychology practices the person can take in between therapy sessions and guidance for the therapist in combining tapping with the best practices psychology has to offer for treating the condition.

Energy Psychology in the Aftermath of Disaster

The history of humanity is punctuated by disasters – hurricanes, flooding, famine, terrorism, war, pandemics… and much, much more. Despite the huge scientific, medical, and social advances of the 21^st century, disasters not only remain part of life, but they are occurring with greater frequency, and our continual exposure to them via television and social media is itself a source of underlying fear and anxiety.

Several humanitarian organisations worldwide have adopted energy psychology as a frontline response to disaster. Tapping can be used as a ‘psychological first aid’ intervention by emergency workers to reduce the immediate stress response. It can also be used to manage the emotional aftermath when the immediate danger has passed, but reminders of the event (‘triggers’) continue to activate extreme stress reactions. Finally, tapping can also be used to heal complex, deep-rooted psychological wounds that stem back to childhood experiences and re-emerge due to the recent trauma.

Interested in Finding Out More?

This is only a short introduction to ways in which energy psychology can make a real difference to our well-being and happiness. We have discussed how tapping can provide a simple but effective self-guided intervention for day-to-day worry and sadness and how it can provide an incredibly useful adjunct to treatments for more serious psychiatric distress. However, we have not covered the rich and detailed case studies provided in each chapter or how to use the tapping protocol in detail. Tapping: Self-Healing with the Transformative Power of Energy Psychology is an insightful and thought-provoking read that may well change your life for the better.