By Dr. Patricia Carrington

It is all too easy to walk away from an EFT tapping session too soon, just because you feel “a little better”.  This happens all the time and results in many people failing to get full benefit from EFT.

How can you make sure you will keep going with EFT when you feel you want to pull back from doing it for some reason, even when continuing might bring you a much greater benefit?

How can you ensure you will keep doing a sufficient number of rounds of EFT even if you feel you are “so much better” that you want to stop, even when continuing might actually benefit you more greatly to continue?

One solution is to address your own reluctance to continue with EFT, by addressing this reluctance right within an EFT statement.  Some examples could be wording such as:

"Even though I want to stop doing EFT now because I feel so much better (“somewhat better” etc.), I choose to benefit from continuing with EFT until my Intensity Rating is way, way down. " etc. 

“Even though I want to stop doing EFT now because I’m feeling so much better, I choose to benefit enormously from tapping for 5 more rounds." (Or similar wording).

This strategy will work best of course if you are working with an EFT practitioner or someone else who can remind you to do this.  It takes an unusual amount of objectivity to recognize the necessity to deal with your own resistance to continuing an EFT session unless another person reminds you.

I find it an excellent idea, if you are doing EFT alone, is to adopt what I call “The Rule of Five”.  This is an agreement with yourself to keep on tapping for at least 5 consecutive rounds of EFT, even if you are now "feeling better" –– unless your Intensity Rating has already come down to a “1” or a “0”.

Adopting this simple rule helps you avoid the excuse that people doing EFT so often give to themselves (without realizing it of course), that since they “feel better”, they don't need to continue doing EFT in that session.  They decide they’ve gotten enough out of the session if their Intensity Level has come down, say, to a “4” from a “9” or “10”), or whatever.  They don’t “go for the jackpot”, and by not doing so they can miss much of the value that EFT has to offer.

In my clinical work, I have found that people who stop doing EFT prematurely often do this when there is a core issue at stake that they are somehow reluctant to face. Often this core issue is hiding beneath a less threatening issue on which they are consciously tapping. They simply don't want to "open up a can of worms" as the old saying goes.  They don’t want to deal with the deeper issue and would rather settle for modest gains, so they stop doing EFT at this point. This can be an insidious trap because we can easily fool ourselves with it.

A relative of mine adopted

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the “Rule of 5” because she tended to run into resistance when doing EFT and often stopped as soon as she noticed any good results.  She finds that she benefits from EFT much more if she forces herself to keep going despite her resistance, and tap on the issue at hand for at least 5 more consecutive rounds. She tells me that she has achieved some of her most impressive EFT breakthroughs using this approach.  What has happened is, she has learned to simply ignore the little voice in her head that persuasively tells her, "I feel better now so that’s enough," and this is paying off for her, beautifully.

Does this mean that when you find yourself "stuck" at a certain intensity level –– that is, not able to move down at all –– that you should just keep tapping on the same issue, using the same wording for 5 sequences in a row?

Of course not.  That would not be useful since success with EFT often depends upon wording inventiveness.  Here is the best way to use this valuable strategy:

Tell yourself that you will not settle for just “feeling better” when doing EFT and that, unless you have come down to a “0” or “1” in your Intensity Rating, you will not stop doing EFT until you have completed 5 additional rounds of it. 

You can tap on your reluctance to continue if you like, as described earlier, but the main thing is to DO the 5 rounds!  You may be amazed at what will happen at this point.  If you make a commitment to yourself not to settle for anything less than 5 rounds of EFT (or coming down to a “0” or “1”, whichever comes first) you can often break through a resistance that was stopping you in your tracks.  When you do this, EFT will be much more productive for you.  You will have pushed through the excuses that were blocking you, and can find yourself coasting easily through subsequent rounds of EFT.  The results will certainly be better and last longer.

EFT Master, Dr. Patricia Carrington

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