A recent visitor to my EFT tapping web site wrote asking me a very important question about anxiety. I thought it was an extremely valuable 'Q and A' and felt that posting it here, would be helpful for anxiety sufferers who where using or considering using EFT tapping.

QUESTION: Does EFT make anxiety worse? I have been using an approach called Faster EFT and after tapping for just a little over a week, I felt my anxiety and panic levels go higher than usual. Why is my anxiety getting worse? Is the point of this type of tapping to make it worse before it gets better? Or, did I just tap into suppressed feelings?

ANSWER: Thank you for your question. I am sorry to hear that you are feeling worse, instead of better. Please do not blame EFT or yourself!

With EFT we can intentionally make something get worse or increase in intensity - However, sometimes it's done in order to find out what other energies or emotions may be underneath it i.e. fear, worry, dread, feeling unsafe etc. Then we need to deal with these other things with the tapping. So, the anxiety is actually a 'doorway' into the real issue.

Also, 'pushing' the energy can bring up what EFT founder, Gary Craig refers to as 'tail enders' which are the underlying limiting beliefs we have attached to the issue. Exposing these counter or limiting beliefs is beneficial because when we find them, we can then deal with them using EFT. A method to our madness, so-to-speak!

However, I feel to have something like anxiety increase in intensity and not have a specific reason or planned outcome for doing it, may not be the best thing. Our subconscious minds main job is to preserve and protect us and believe it or not, anxiety is a way of protecting us... although it's not the most resourceful way (we can come up with new healthier ways by using wonderful tools like EFT).

So, if our subconscious feels threatened by the tapping i.e. don't take this (the anxiety) away from me... it will cause the anxiety to get worse, like it's putting up a fight to exist.

We generally need to approach things like anxiety and panic with a great deal of gentleness and understanding in order to shift it with lasting, long term results. We need to give our subconscious mind a better alternative to keeping us safe or let it know that it no longer needs to keep us safe for that reason i.e. the program it's running is outdated.

The tapping statements and EFT affirmations we use when tapping for anxiety are extremely important! Here is a list of great EFT phrases to help you feel more peaceful and calm: EFT Affirmations

I hope this has helped you.

Blessing and all the best!