Question: What about using EFT for children? It seems as though it would be very useful for them – but I can’t see how that could be done.
Answer: You can use EFT for children with wonderful effects; in fact, you can even use it with infants. In general, one introduces the tapping points as a kind of game with children and they thoroughly enjoy and respond to it. It is sometimes introduced to them as a “magic helper”. With children, however, the EFT phrases need to be altered somewhat.
Ann Adams, Director of a rehabilitation center for emotionally disturbed children in Atlanta, Georgia, has been using EFT with great success for children who have such severe behavior problems that the school system could not deal with, and they have been sent for residential care. These are usually children from severely disturbed homes, yet they typically respond with remarkable appreciation to the help that EFT can give them. It enables them to calm down, become more focused and better able to cope with the problems and challenges they face every day.
Ann uses variations of the Set-Up phrase such as, “I’m a wonderful kid (or boy or girl)” instead of “I deeply and completely accept myself.” This often works wonders for these children. If you are interested in using EFT with children, I suggest you read some of Ann’s accounts as well as some of the ways that others have used EFT with children—see the articles on using EFT with children and How to Make and Use a Tapping Toy.
Dr. Patricia Carrington, EFT Master
