Healing ME: the science behind healing Chronic Fatigue Syndrome / ME with the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)

I gained inspiration for this article from some reading I was doing about the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT.) Although what I was reading was already familiar to me, it somehow went deeper, and made me realise yet again the power of this and other energy therapies.

The article I read was focussing on explaining the effectiveness of the Emotional Freedom Technique through looking at cutting edge neural science – how the brain interprets information, the problems that can give us in our day to day lives, and how techniques like EFT can use the knowledge of how the brain works to our advantage to heal us from the “tyranny” of the past.

Often when we are children things happen in our lives which we don’t like, and over which we have no control. For example, a child may stand up in front of the class to say something, get it a bit wrong, and be ridiculed. Whilst this may not seem like a big thing at the time, it can form the basis of years, decades or even a lifetime of finding it hard to present information in front of a group of people, for fear of being ridiculed. If the adult feels the fear of this happening often enough, this fear can lead to physical symptoms, and even illness. (Typically, in my view a chronic illness such as ME / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome comes about partly because of a number of these “repeating” events, or what are sometimes called “images”: reprinting the past onto a current situation.)

In terms of the brain, we make neural connections between in this case speaking in front of a group of people, and being ridiculed. And more than that – if we think about this in advance, and worry about it, we strengthen those neural connections, and make it even more likely that the same event will replay in the same way. And even more than that, if the first “event” occurred when we were 7 or 8, say, then when we are in that state, we actually revert to having the resources of a 7 or 8 year old to deal with the situation.

No wonder it’s hard! We are facing a situation where experience tells us we will be ridiculed, and we have the resources of a little child at our disposal!

However, help is at hand – the Emotional Freedom Technique has been shown to change those neural connections. The process of tapping on specific points whilst being in touch with the corresponding “story” (I get scared of giving presentations, everyone always ridicules me) somehow “releases” that connection – so we are no longer in fear when giving a presentation, no longer dealing with this situation with the resources of an 8 year old – but approaching each new situation just as it is – as a new situation.

So, how does all of this relate to a chronic illness such as ME / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?

It’s obvious how this can help with specific fears, phobias or emotional issues, which is what EFT is (rightly) well known for helping with. But it can also be hugely helpful in the case of chronic physical illness. For, holding those patterns from the past can be hugely disempowering, and can cause us to form a pattern of chronic stuckness which can lead to physical symptoms that are characteristic of chronic physical conditions.

For that reason, I include a lot of EFT in the work I do with clients suffering from ME / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. “Neutralising” events from the past can liberate people from the “tyranny” of the past – and free up energy for the healing process. And because it is a simple technique to use, it can be used outside of sessions with a therapist, meaning that people have a powerful self-help tool to move through whatever is holding them back from being really well.

Speaking personally, I know that working on these types of events from the past has been hugely powerful. I think before I understood how healing worked, I assumed I would just feel more energetic than before – as ME / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is mainly about feeling tired! The reality is that I do have incomparably more energy than before – but it has emerged partly through healing these past “events” – so I feel that I am much more confident in a wide range of situations, which is really empowering.