The First Meeting
When I first met Ariella, who lives in one of the gargantuan buildings in Jerusalem's neighborhood of San Simon, I didn't know what to expect. The woman who opened the door was young, with a markedly gentle voice as she invited me in.
She led me to a room that was decorated sparingly, and featured a simple chair for her and an extraordinarily large and comfortable one for me, the client. It was only when I glanced at the wall and noted her diploma that I realized that Ariella's certification was in EFT - something I had never heard of before.
I had come to Ariella as a last resort. For me the only benefit of years of therapy, had been the opportunity it afforded me to talk about my feelings.
But talking was no longer providing any solace. I wanted results.
It was my friend Elizabeth who had recommended Ariella to me. She was mysterious about Ariella's methods, but she assured me that her sessions with Ariella were the only thing that had helped her through a difficult divorce.
Elizabeth's relief had not only been emotional - there had been physical benefits as well. "After a month of sessions with Ariella, my asthma disappeared," she told me.
The Session
Nonetheless, when I walked into Ariella's office, I was expecting an experience that would be similar to that of a therapy session. So I was surprised when, after asking me for background information for about twenty minutes, she turned on some soft music and told me to lie back in the chair. After guiding me through a relaxation process - which consisted in tensing and relaxing every limb - Ariella then guided me through a meditation.
It was in the second half of the session that the EFT began, though at the time I didn't realize it. For one thing, I had never expected to be touched by a mental health professional, but EFT works by tapping on the meridians that have long been established by Eastern medicine.
Ariella and I sat very close, and she asked me to repeat specific phrases after her, as she tapped my forehead, side, face and wrist.
As I repeated the phrases, the memories that we were addressing were particularly painful, and I couldn't stop the tears. At a certain point, she would also ask me to count to five. I was skeptical and incredulous about this process, which was so totally unfamiliar, but I was also desperate for anything that would diminish the pain of my memories.
After the first session, I came out into the summer sunlight and realized that I was noticing its brightness for the first time that day. That was my first inkling that the process that had seemed so strange to me may have had a tangible benefit.
Throughout that day I felt lighter, as if the pain had been emptied out of me along with my tears. Ariella's calm expertise was a comfort that lasted until our next session the following week.
What Is EFT?
EFT is a very new system which was created by Californian engineer and ordained minister Gary Craig. On his website he writes that he approaches emotional healing "through a decidedly spiritual perspective."
Craig describes EFT as "an emotional version of acupuncture" in which meridians are stimulated with the tapping of fingertips. In Craig's view, the body is comprised of energy - a theory originally stated by Albert Einstein - and that the cause of all negative feelings is the result of a disruption of the body's energy system.
We Don't Have To Suffer
Sara, an acquaintance of mine, told me that she owes her life to the success of EFT. Before she discovered EFT, Sara's state of panic was so severe that it impeded her functioning. The panic resulted from memories of a traumatic experience.
A friend loaned Sara one of Gary Craig's DVDs, in which he demonstrates how to perform EFT without a professional practitioner.
"After I watched one of the DVDs, I ordered the whole series," Sara says. "I practiced what I had seen every morning while walking my dog." This went on for a year, and by the end of the year, Sara was no longer feeling the pain of the memories.
"I think one of the most important things that people should know is that you don't have to suffer," remarks Sara. "After someone experiences a terrible trauma, people will often say, 'that will be with her for the rest of her life.' But that doesn't have to be true. You can't undo what happened, but you can change your thoughts. When you succeed in changing your thoughts, the pain goes away."
Happy Endings
Sara now performs EFT on friends and family, and herself. She has never seen a professional practitioner, but has watched all of Gary Craig's DVDs and claims that even watching someone else achieve healing can have benefits for the viewer.
"I watched a DVD that showed Gary helping someone overcome their fear of flying," Sara explains. "I don't have a fear of flying, but I am afraid of heights. Last year I went up in a cable car and was astounded when I didn't feel any fear." Sara feels sure that her lack of fear was as a result of watching someone else be treated for a similar fear, a phenomenon in EFT called "borrowed benefits."
There have been other benefits for Sara as well, beyond what she had ever dreamed of. "I was always someone who had trouble doing things alone," she admits. "But now I'll go driving on the highway by myself - and that was a huge step for me!"
What I got from EFT is that it works quickly and doesn't foster dependency on the practitioner. I completed four sessions with Ariella, after which I felt ready to take on the world again. Within months, I had found a career that interested me - career difficulties had been a chief source of my anxiety - and met the man that I was to marry. While I can't attribute my good fortune to EFT with complete certainty, I do believe that the positive frame of mind brought on by EFT helped me to find a positive path in life.