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EFT for Educational Use

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EFT for Motor Skills Page 2

By Dr. Patricia Carrington

"Even though I'm afraid of causing an accident, I choose to take my time and make a safe decision."

Together, we worked out this particular Choice.� She was not sure what a viable alternative to her fear would be, so I had to help her with this. You will notice that the word �safety� was used in this set up phrase and in every other one that I suggested she use for her driving problem.� This is because I think it extremely important to introduce that word into the EFT set-up, when helping someone master a skill that truly does involve a safety factor.� It seems unwise to encourage someone to simply accept themselves if they feel anxious at intersections on a highway for example, or to ask them to be calm and confident on the road, despite their anxiety.� Confidence can be misapplied, as can self-acceptance at times, but safety is safe, and I felt this to be our major goal; one to be emphasized in our EFT work.

Daisy tapped on this issue and when she had reduced her initial SUDS rating (her rating of distress on a zero to ten point scale) from an 8 to a negligible number (2 or less), she then identified another aspect of this problem which needed to be dealt with.� She said she found it extremely upsetting when other drivers on the road were impatient or angry at her.

We now changed the set up phrase and took a new SUDS rating for this aspect.� It was an 8 to start with. The new set-up phrase was:

�Even though I'm afraid of causing an accident, I choose to take my time and be safe no matter what anyone else thinks.�

This phrase was extremely useful for her.� She found herself relaxing nicely when I tested her out after using it by vividly describing other drivers honking impatiently at her or yelling at her from their cars.� Following the tapping, she no longer felt pressured and confused when she imagined these people becoming impatient.

At that point, yet another problem surfaced.� She was unsure of her right-away at intersections and this made her anxious and hesitant when she reached them.� The two set up phrases she formulated went as follows:

�Even though I'm not sure of my right-away at intersections, I choose to be calm and levelheaded and make safe decisions.� And;

�Even though I'm anxious when drivers get impatient with me, I choose to be calm and levelheaded and know what to do.�

This last phrase turned out to be extremely important for her because knowing what to do even though other people were impatient with her, had not formerly been in her repertoire.

This was all we did in this first session dealing with her driving.� Fortunately we were able to test out of the results right away.� After she finished the tapping, she drove her Dad drove 50 miles to New York City on the throughway.

According to the report her Dad gave me afterwards, there was a marked change in Daisy's handling of the car after her first EFT session.� She was, he said, much calmer and more collected on the road during the whole trip. Once, when she was slowing down to get off the highway and someone else began to honk impatiently, she was even able to say out loud, "Oh, let them honk!� unruffled as she made her turn.� He identified a definite and immediate improvement in her ease on the road.

But this is not all we had to do.� Before our next session I was in the awkward position of riding with Daisy as she drove.� I noticed something that actually made me concerned for my own safety as well as hers.� She had a tendency to brake too rapidly and come to an abrupt stop too close (within about 3 feet of) the car in front of her.� The abruptness with which she did this was not only uncomfortable; it felt as though she did not have proper control of the car.� The wonderful ease and gauging of distance that experienced drivers have, something that most of us to take for granted when at the wheel, was absent.

When I commented on this (as diplomatically as I could) her father indicated that he had previously advised her not to brake too slowly, because she had been braking a half a half block before an intersection, causing much consternation on the road.� After that advice, Daisy apparently changed her action and began braking too rapidly, which was quite unnerving for passengers in the car.�

Therefore, I found myself in the uncomfortable position of being the one who identified this problem for her and I suggested she might want to tap on it.� Not an easy task, because this is not the usual EFT trainer�s stance. We do not usually accompany our clients around and make suggestions as to what they might improve in their lives. But here, safety considerations demanded I abandon the objective stance and express my thoughts that a skill needed to be acquired for safety purposes, and that perhaps EFT could help her acquire it.

I readily obtained Daisy�s agreement to work on this problem and we chose a place to conduct an actual driving lesson aided by EFT.� We selected a parking lot for her practice.� It was a spot where cars came in and out at intervals, slowly, and where there was some open space to practice in.

Before we started tapping, I talked with her about what I consider to be the ideal way to use the brakes, taking the role of teacher.� I think this is important to note because I discovered that by doing this a skill such as driving can be taught by using EFT as an important addition to the regular training, and that this can bring about some remarkable results.

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