***What is Meridian Tapping?

“Tapping” has taken the world by surprise and is now performed globally. However, what exactly is “meridian tapping”?

The Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology accepts “tapping” as a word that can describe the process of manually tapping rhythmically upon, massaging, or holding a meridian or acupuncture point as part of a specific protocol included in one or several of many accepted energy therapy or energy medicine modalities. These include the following:

• EFT / Emotional Freedom Techniques: can be applied by anyone, including yourself, although often best results come from starting out with a seasoned practitioner who can help you clear the deepest emotional issues.
• NET / Neuro Emotional Technique: is facilitated by licensed physicians and other health providers who have been specially trained and will treat the emotional, chemical, toxic, structural causes of your problems.
• TAT / Tapas Acupressure Technique: can be applied by anyone, including yourself.
• TFT / Thought Field Therapy: once was limited to an exclusive few, now offers training for anybody.
• AK / Applied Kinesiology: usually applied by chiropractors and other health providers and can be learned by anybody via the Touch for Health program.
• CK / Clinical Kinesiology: a specialized form of AK usually performed by chiropractors which includes focus on allergies, glandular rebalancing, among other things.
• Acupuncture: is performed by licensed professionals, and although it usually applies needles to the meridian points, some practitioners also use pressure and other electronic devices to stimulate the meridians.
• Acupressure: can by applied by anyone, including yourself.
• Energy Medicine: includes many of the above energy therapy modalities plus much more information on how to keep the energy of the body in balance.
• and, there are other modalities that also fall into the category of “tapping”.

The most well-known form today of meridian tapping is EFT/ Emotional Freedom Techniques, created originally by an engineer, Gary Craig. His easy-to-learn protocol is so popular because he has given it freely to the world to learn and apply, and is based on the work of his predecessors and their techniques:

• Dr. George Goodhart, a doctor of chiropractic, is known as the Father of Applied Kinesiology, AK, as he first concluded that kinesiological muscle and joint movement reactions related to the energies going through or impacting the energetics of that musculature. He was a founding member of the International College of Applied Kinesiology/ICAK.
• Dr. John Diamond, a psychiatrist, is known for his work in Behavioral Kinesiology and for over thirty years he has written many books and given treatments and workshops worldwide. He is a member of ICAK.
• Dr. Roger Callahan is a clinical psychologist who developed TFT, Thought Field Therapy, a process using specific algorithms to identify and treat symptoms. This technique is becoming more accessible to more people now.

The form of meridian-based therapy most taught to and applied by licensed physicians is NET/Neuro Emotional Technique. This was created by Dr. G. Scott Walker, a chiropractic physician, and has been taught through structured seminars to Medical Doctors; Doctors of Osteopathy, Chiropractic, Naturopathy; Psychiatrists and Psychologists, Acupuncturists, among others. Dr. Walker and his chiropractor wife, Deb Walker, are both members of ICAK and follow in the footsteps of Dr. George Goodhart applying the basics of AK/ Applied Kinesiology blended expertly with five-element Acupuncture. NET provides several protocols that allow the practitioner to ask the body whether its symptoms are based on emotional, chemical, nutritional, or structural imbalances in the over-all energy system. The body then goes on to identify the specifics about when the original emotional issue occurred, what substance is toxing out the system, or which homeopathic or nutrient will best support healing. It is a very complete technique that goes right to the causes in order to support the rebalancing of the body, and meridian tapping, holding, and re-balancing is applied by the practitioner on the patient or client.

For more information on these tapping techniques there are a variety of resources available under each of the modalities mentioned here. Also feel free to contact the author if you have questions.