Are you wondering how EFT works? If you’re anything like me, you’re puzzled about how tapping on particular parts of the face and upper body while talking about what’s bothering you can possibly help. It all looks a bit odd and seems a bit woo.
However, there is a growing body of science that shows that EFT works. In addition, researchers are coming up with plausible hypotheses about how EFT actually works.
In this article I’ll dig into some of this theory.
Not sure what EFT is? Check out my article, What is EFT? An Easy Guide for Beginners.
How EFT works
In their 2026 paper, Robert Schwarz and Peta Stapleton put forward their insights into how EFT works.
They split their ideas into:
- The active ingredients of EFT
- How things change within a person as a result of EFT
In this article, I will explain the active ingredients of EFT in an easy to understand way – so you don’t have to go and read the academic paper! In my next article, I’ll move on to how things change within a person as a result of EFT.
The Active Ingredients of EFT
Think of these ingredients like cake ingredients: they’re the things that need to go in to make EFT work.
1. Mindfulness, Self-compassion and Externalisation
The first step in EFT is noticing how you feel. This is strongly related to the practice of mindfulness – where you notice what you’re experiencing and move yourself from being part of the experience to being a witness of the experience. You then create more distance and objectivity by describing what you’re experiencing.
For example, if you’ve got a headache, instead of being caught up in the pain and discomfort, you distance yourself from it by saying, “I am experiencing a headache. All the muscles in the right side of my head are tight and tense”.
This may sound like a small shift from, “I’ve got a headache! Ow! It hurts so much!” However, it’s a powerful shift.
In EFT we take this one step further by adding in a layer of self-compassion through the set-up statement. (See this blog post or video for guidance on creating your first tapping script and set-up statement)
For example, your set-up statement might be:
Even though I’m experiencing this tight, tense headache on the right side of my head I love and accept myself anyway.
The italics show the part of the set-up statement that offers self-compassion. You might prefer different wording e.g.:
- I soothe and comfort myself
- Deep down I’m OK
- I know that this will pass
You just choose the words that work best for you.
The genius of the EFT set-up statement is that it incorporates mindfulness, self-compassion and externalisation.
2. Staying in your window of tolerance whilst gently widening it
You may be working on a memory in EFT that you find very distressing to bring to mind.
In EFT we focus on staying within your window of tolerance.
The Tell the Story Technique
For example, if the practitioner you’re working with is using the Tell The Story Technique, they might get you to tell them about the time just before the stressful event occurred, if you’re able to access that memory without too much distress. You might then tap on the memory of the time just before the stress started to increase. You would tap like this until you felt the memory of the time leading up to the event felt either tolerable to access, or, ideally, it doesn’t evoke any feelings of distress at all.
Only once this section of the memory has been neutralised, would you move on to the next part of the memory. Your practitioner (maybe me!) would then tap on the next section of the memory until it was also neutral. You would then systematically work through the story of the memory tapping on everything that happened and everything you remember until it is all neutralised.
The Movie Technique
If you aren’t able to access all or any part of the story without getting too distressed then your practitioner would use the Movie Technique, known as one of the gentle techniques.
In this Technique, used for short snippets of memories, you distance yourself from the memory by giving it the title of a movie. You first tap on the title of the movie until it no longer causes you distress. You then might feel able to break it down using the Tell The Story Technique to tap on the whole sequence of events and all the things you remember e.g. sights, sounds, emotions and even tastes and smells.
Using the Tell the Story Technique and Movie Technique an EFT practitioner makes sure you stay within your window of tolerance and stops you from getting emotionally overwhelmed.
Tapping
One of the most distinctive features of EFT is tapping on acupressure points while you talk about memories, emotions or sensations that cause you distress. This video shows you the tapping points.
The tapping is the thing that turns EFT into a mind-body therapy. It warrants another blog post, another time, to go into this more deeply but it is thought that tapping:
- Reduces activity in the stress centres of the brain (the limbic system, and particularly the amygdala)
- This creates increased heart-rate variability (HRV). High HRV is a good measure of how regulated your nervous system is – and good regulation is a sign that you can easily come in and out of the stress response rather than getting stuck there.
Basically, you can understand EFT by thinking that by tapping while talking about memories or sensations you find stressful, you’re enabling the brain to repackage the memories as not being stressful.
You can think of tapping as a way of calming the mind and body. This enabling the brain to re-store memories in a ‘not stressful’ folder.
Measuring progress
In EFT you’re encouraged to ‘rate’ your level of distress. This is often done of a scale of 0-10, but alternatives include traffic light colours (red is high state of distress, green is feeling calm and relaxed), hand gestures e.g. raising a hand in the air to show a high state of distress, or even emojis.
When working with a practitioner, they’ll ask you to rate your distress before and after each round of tapping. Sometimes, distress can increase as you tune into a memory, emotion or sensation more deeply. However, a skilled practitioner will be able to help you break down the different aspects of the source of your distress and tap on each one to neutralise it. Therefore, with patient, methodical tapping, you will see your level of distress decrease.
Seeing the decrease in your level of distress reinforces your belief that EFT works, enables you to relax more and trust more deeply in the process.
Measuring your progress in EFT builds your faith in the process as you see it working.
Changing the aspect of the memory you’re focused on
When you think of a memory lots of different aspects will come to mind, but some will be more dominant than others. For example, you might have a picture of the memory (a bit like a movie), you might remember sensations, smells, tastes or sounds, and you will have the physical sensations that are created in your body when you remember it.
For example, you might remember the day you got your exam results. You might remember how the piece of paper looked, the texture of it in your hands, the people who were in your peripheral vision and the smell of the room. This memory also might bring up strong emotions which you feel in your body e.g. as a lump in your throat or a rapid heartbeat.
A skilled EFT practitioner would help you to neutralise all these aspects of your memory until your emotional response to recalling it was completely neutral.
Changing the aspect of the memory or sensation you focus on enables you to break it down into small parts and not get emotionally overwhelmed while tapping on it.
Using your own words and measuring progress
EFT practitioners will use your own words to create the tapping script / set-up statement throughout your session. You can do this in your own personal practice as well. When you use your own words, in combination with measuring progress, it’s possible to tune-in completely to how a client is feeling, ensure they feel safe by not putting words into their mouth and prevent emotional overwhelm.
Using your own words creates a sense of safety.
The work happens in the session
In contrast to other forms of therapy, such as CBT, which rely on clients doing homework outside the session, with EFT the change is happening in the session, and you don’t need to do any homework! It’s also great as you walk away from the session with the change built into your own brain, rather than having to constantly reinforce it. Admittedly, the change is often subtle but that’s often better for the brain than sudden, huge transformations.
This is great if you’re not good at doing homework because you can achieve results without needing to!
No homework means you don’t have to rely on your own self-discipline to see change.
How EFT works: The Active Ingredients of EFT
In this article I’ve explained the current (2026) thinking about how EFT Tapping works to create positive change in your mind, body and nervous system.
If you’re interested in giving it a try please check out my YouTube videos or book a session to tap 1:1 with me.