Tapping For An Addiction

Healing an addiction with EFT

By Suzanne Zacharia

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One of the frequently asked questions in my inbox is ¨what do you say or tap on for an addiction?¨ The addiction may vary. The more physically, economically, and socially challenging addictions may require a team effort, a physical rehab, or perhaps just liaison with the medical practitioner (unless the medical practitioner is doing the EFT). Having said that, the tapping procedure itself is pretty much the same with any addiction. This is a brief step-by-step guide.

   1. Find out what emotions the addiction is trying to compensate for.  For example, grief, anger, sadness, fear, terror, disappointment, shame, overwhelm, to name just a few emotions. Then ask if there was one incident, even if out of many that involved this emotion which comes up, which would it be. Get this event and it them to zero. Repeat with a number of events. You can perhaps tap one event per session, at the start of the session, or go through several in one session. Whether you do this all in one session or spread out over a number of sessions depends on time, preference, and how many events there may be. For example, if this is a series of childhood abuse incidents involving serious trauma, it could take months or even years. If this is something relatively lighter, it could take one session.
   2. Identify a cravings incident that was followed through. Ask ¨On a scale of 10-0, if you were to relive the incident, on a scale of 10-0, how likely are you to follow through with the urge¨? Tap for the need to engage in the addiction if the incident were relived. Continue doing so until it becomes zero. Repeat with a number of cravings events. You can probably do several in one session. If there are many aspects to each event, you may even not finish working on one event by the end of the session. That is OK. Everyone goes at their own pace. Take one step at a time.
   3. At the end of the session, a positive tapping affirmation is always good. An addiction can really be very frustrating. The addict may be fed up with the compulsive behavior and impatient to get out. Or they may be free from it, but it takes a few weeks to cement a new thought pattern into one´s being, so it is good to tap in a positive statement each day. Some examples include, but are not limited to ¨I choose to be calmly free¨, ¨I am now free from this habit¨, or ¨I choose to live healthily without dependence, easily and calmly¨.
   4. Should any elements of the addiction have been missed or not completely worked on, there may or may not be an unexpected craving afterwards. Should this happen, just tapping on ¨Even though I have this craving...¨ in the situation can help. Other suggestions are ¨Even though I need this...¨ or ¨Even though for whatever reason, I am upset and triggered...¨ or ¨Even though I thought I was over this and feel overwhelmed...¨
   5. Repeat 1-5 until the addiction is firmly and definitely a thing of the past.


Happy Tapping!

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Author's Bio:

© Suzanne Zacharia 2011.  My name is Suzanne Zacharia and I am committed to spreading the word about health options. I believe that the more and better options one has, the more choice there is. And of course, you are advised to consult with your medical practitioner before embarking on any course of alternative, complementary, or beauty therapy. Want to use this article?  You can, as long as you credit me with it and invite your readers to get my FREE "EFT How-to for You" and regular free EFT Tapping script samples in my newsletter at http://www.EFT-Scripts.com - New to EFT? No worries, just get your own copy of "EFT How-to for You" and start EFTing with ease very soon!

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