Increasing numbers of hypnotherapists now integrate Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) within the therapy they offer their patients/clients
EFT is an energy therapy based on the premise that what troubles us is not what happens or has happened or may happen to us but what happens to our bodies' energy systems in response to these things.
Among the leading practitioners in this field is London-based hypnotherapist Judy Byrne, a founder member of the James Braid Society, who is an EFT Master - one of only 29 therapists in the world to achieve this distinction.
The James Braid Society was therefore delighted that Judy addressed the society on Thursday the 24th of May.
She has enormous enthusiasm for the effectiveness of these techniques, explaining: "This is the most exciting therapeutic development I have discovered in more than 20 years studying and teaching hypnotherapy, psychology and psychotherapy.
"It has transformed me. It has transformed my practice. And it is a joy to have the opportunity to share it with other therapists."
According to Judy one of - EFT's paradoxes is that it works at both ends of a spectrum.
It can be used to provide sophisticated, sensitive depth therapy for people with serious and often long-standing problems.
But anyone can learn EFT in a very short time and use it effectively for themselves to deal with "stuff" in their everyday lives.
"It is sometimes a one-shot wonder. Often it is not. Many of the people I have trained as practitioners set out thinking they were learning a handy extra tool to use in their practices and found that, over time, it changed the way they work entirely," she added.
However Judy believes that another paradox is that Emotional Freedom Techniques is a 21st century therapy based on both impressive new discoveries about the body's subtle energies as well as upon ancient, timeless insights into the human condition.
"It works on the understanding that what happens to us and what we think disrupt the body's energy system and it is the disruption that causes emotional and sometimes physical pain. So we tap on acupressure points on the meridian system while holding in mind the feeling that we want to be rid of," says Judy.
