Posts Tagged ‘Parents’
For Teachers: Practical Strategies for Introducing EFT to Your Class
Author: patsy anthony
Many teachers are excited at the thought of teaching EFT to their students but are hesitant to try for a variety of reasons. Some worry about objections from parents or administrators, while others are unsure of how to begin. Here are some simple and practical ideas which I hope will encourage you to try tapping with your students.
When you introduce EFT to your class, make it useful, relevant and fun. Try to hook as many of your students as possible. Most importantly, ensure that you have developed a strong rapport of trust and caring with your children before you begin.
I find that the best way to teach EFT is through test anxiety. My students receive a weekly speed test in which they are expected to complete up to 100 basic math facts in addition, subtraction, multiplication or division in less than ten minutes. After taking these tests for several weeks, we discuss how everyone feels about them. It is always surprising to me how much anxiety these tests create, even in a safe, nurturing environment, where students know that it is absolutely okay to make mistakes.
When asked to show their level of stress with regard to these speed tests, many children hold up ten fingers to signify that their anxiety is extremely high. This discussion paves the way perfectly for introducing tapping. I confide to my class that I have recently learned of a wonderful way to deal with my own worries and stresses.
Rapport is critical at this point. As long as your children trust and respect you they will happily accept the idea of tapping and be willing to give it a try.
I introduce a large picture of a stream amidst a forest, surrounded by wildlife and trees. The stream is a metaphor for our minds. When we are feeling peaceful and relaxed everything flows smoothly, just as the stream does. Stress is represented by a detachable tree. What happens to the stream when the tree falls across it? The water stops flowing properly, debris builds up around the tree, back eddies form and the bank starts to erode. In other words, the stream no longer flows as it should. This is exactly what happens in our minds (and bodies) once stress enters our system.
I suggest to my students that if they tap on specific pressure points, which are connected to emotions in our bodies, at the same time as they tune into their feelings, they may be able to relieve some of their anxiety. In other words, they may be able to remove that “tree” which has entered their mind and is holding them back from achieving their best.
We place stickers on a student’s self portrait to demonstrate specific points to tap on, and then we practice tapping on those points without using any words at all. Next I ask them to think about that math test once more.
It is important to personalize the tapping and incorporate their own words while you tap, so before you get started, inquire once more about how they are feeling. Ask them where they are feeling those feelings in their bodies (stomach, throat, heart, etc).
After that, you are ready to begin with a set-up statement. Add some humour to make it fun and use as many of the children’s words as you can:
Karate Chop: Even though I have to write this speed test and it’s the last thing I want to do…and I feel stressed and anxious… and my legs are shaking and I feel like I’m going to be sick to my stomach….. I am still an awesome kid!
Continue by tapping on the following points, acknowledging their own thoughts and feelings:
Top of head: I am SO stressed! I have to write this speed test!
Eyebrow: My legs feel shaky.
Side of Eye: My stomach feels SICK!
Under Eye: My heart is pounding!
Under Nose: My throat feels dry!
Under Lip: What if I fail?
Collar Bone: What if do worse than last week?
Under Arm: What if I don’t get 100%?
Top of Head: I know I am smart.
Eyebrow: But it’s hard to be fast!
Side of Eye: It’s hard to do your best when you’re stressed.
Under Eye: I wish I could let go of this stress.
Under Nose: Let go of this stress…
Under Lip: It feels good to relax…
Collar Bone: Relax…
Under Arm: I’m just going to give it my best… That’s all I can do….try my best.
Karate Chop: And even if I am not perfect, even if I do make mistakes, I am STILL an awesome kid!
After completing and marking their tests, have your students compare the results with those from the previous week. Ask them what they notice about the results of both tests. Hopefully this lesson will allow your students to perceive that tapping can be a very effective tool for helping to relieve anxiety as well as improve test scores.
We tap every week before speed tests, and the results continue to impress us. Two weeks ago, one boy volunteered to tap in front of our class because he had been hampered by worries during his previous test and as a result, had only achieved 63%. His stress level, he stated, was “more than ten”. He informed us that stress made him feel wiggly and squirmy. I added that I had noticed his legs moving a lot during last week’s test. So we tapped on those squirmy legs. Eventually, after tapping for a round or two, we reframed with, “What if I could transform all of that squirmy leg energy into my pencil….?”
Not only were his legs completely still while writing that test, but to his complete delight, he achieved 97%!
This week he was worried again but for a different reason. So we tapped on “Even though I did so well last week it will be almost impossible for me to get any better…I’ll probably just get worse….”
He was very proud to achieve his first 100% ever!
Before you know it you could be trying EFT on everything in your classroom, from math tests to bullying, to lice ( yes, we have even used EFT for lice.)
And if you feel hesitant or doubtful about whether tapping will be accepted by others in your workplace, listen to your heart and just try it. After all, as teachers, our intention is to give children all the tools and skills and encouragement that we possibly can to allow them to achieve their very best, unencumbered by worries, anxieties and fears. With EFT we not only allow our children to acknowledge, express, accept and release their negative feelings, we teach them to affirm that whatever they are feeling, whatever problems they are experiencing, they are still without a doubt, awesome kids.
Perhaps there is more value in teaching our students how to tap than there is in teaching them to answer 100 math questions in less than ten minutes…
School Counselor on anger and tension
Author: admin
School Counselor on anger and tension
Two weeks ago, I attended my first ever conference on energy therapies. It included EFT and seemed to me to be the easiest one to use for anyone, including children.
I work in a school setting and have had the opportunity to use EFT with four students.
Student #1 was a second grader who was experiencing nightmares and intrusive images about an incident involving a knife. He ranked his anger as a 10 on the SUDS scale and it remained unchanged after the first round of tapping.
After the second round, it decreased to a five. It was down to a one after the third round and to a zero after the fourth. I followed up with him yesterday and his anger continues to remain at a zero. He did mention that he has had a couple of dreams where he is being chased (the earlier difficulties involved his brother). I asked if he would like to work on those, but he declined.
Student #2 is an eighth grader who has been dealing with a variety of grief issues and is acting out in class, along with having academic problems. He identified tension as his main difficulty and we were able to reduce it from an 8 to a zero after three rounds of tapping. I spoke with him yesterday and he reported that his tension remains at a zero. He reports feeling better, doing better with his behavior and having his grades improve. He shared with me that during one class, he was feeling especially frustrated and decided to tap. He tapped on his chest and his hands; he noticed a decrease in his frustration and an increase in his energy level.
Student #3, a third grader, has been struggling with his parents’ divorce. As a result of his anger, he had been taking out his aggression on his younger brother. When I met with him, his anger level was at a five. We reduced it to a zero with one round of tapping. I called his mom to explain what I had done and she asked if I could put this tapping sequence on paper, so she could help him with it at home. I met with him yesterday and the anger remains at a zero.
Student #4, an eighth grader, has dealt with a myriad of issues at home and has the propensity to rage when he gets in touch with his anger. He rated his anger yesterday at an 8. After the first round of tapping, it was decreased to a 4. After the second round, when asked to rank his anger, his only response was “I don’t know.” My sense and the sense of the other teacher in the room was that it had most likely decreased to a one or a zero and the student was unable to get in touch with that feeling. During the second round of tapping, his voice volume decreased and his whole body appeared more relaxed.
In the interest of confidentiality, I would ask that you only refer to me as a school counselor, not using my name or initials.
School Counselor
taken from www.emofree.com
EFT for Trauma in Elementary School
Author: admin
By Monica Broadfoot Johnson, M.Ed
Dear Gary,
I would like to share a success that I had regarding an elementary school boy. I work in an elementary school as a counselor and have been using EFT for 2 years now. I also know that many people believe that school counselors usually do ‘bandaid’ work, and that the real work goes to real therapists. I work at a school in a poverty area, and the parents do not take their kids to therapy. So here is my story. Jake (not his real name) had a father who committed suicide the summer before I started seeing him in a grief group and he was doing pretty well. However, one day there was a knock on my door and Jake and his friend were standing there. Jake’s friend had brought him to me because there had been an accident on the basketball court. Another boy had been hit with something and was knocked out. The boy had a bad cut on his head and while lying on the court, blood was pooling around his head. So Jake was brought to me and looked as if he were ready to pass out. He began telling me what had happened on the court and how it reminded him of his dad lying on the street with the blood pooling around his head. I tapped on him while he was telling me this because he appeared to be in shock. Not only was the picture of his dad putting him into a re-grieving state, but another aspect arose. During his dad’s death, the police officer had picked up Jake, put his head into the officer’s neck, told him not to look, and walked with him away from the situation. And, of course, being a little boy, he looked. So here is the aspect of not doing what he was told to do, and then seeing the horror. I tapped on him for about 10 minutes. I just let him keep talking while I used the basic recipe. I also added and had him repeat this psychological reversal statement with forgiveness added. Even though I didn’t listen to the police officer, I’m still a survivor; I’m just a kid and I am a survivor … I forgive myself for just being a kid and looking when he told me not to. Even though an adult probably couldn’t handle it, I’m just a kid and I forgive me … I am a survivor. Then he went back to class and made it through the day. I don’t know how we would have gotten through this without EFT. Pre-EFT, any trauma lasted so much longer. Thank you Gary for developing this wonderful technique.
Monica B. Johnson, M.Ed.
taken from www.emofree.com
School Performance Made Better Through EFT
Author: TappyBear
School Performance Made Better Through EFT
Stewart Robertson
When your kids reach their school age, they start to become more active than before. They are now exposed to different external elements since they are no longer stagnant under the roof of their home. Those external elements are meant to be explored by these innocent young hands and minds. Through their exposure, children will be able to get acquainted to what the world is all about. As they get introduced to the outside world, learning and development begin to bloom.
Reality check, parents cannot avoid the threats in their children’s path. The best thing they can do is to guide and discipline them as their words can go with their kids wherever they go. Since it is school age, most parents are concern on how well their kids do well in school.
Handling kids is not easy. Their behavior varies and their hyperactivity sometimes dries out the teacher’s or the parent’s mood. Worse is when your kids become exposed to potential threats that could negatively affect his behavior, resulting to a poor school performance.
Child Psychologist or therapist or even a simple teacher can help you as a parent to understand and monitor your children’s school performance. But there is another option where you yourself can handle this situation. Through the Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT, parents can learn this without hassle and apply this to their children through EFT for performance.
Emotional Freedom Technique is also known as the acupuncture without needle. It can be done through tapping certain body parts to achieve its relieving result. EFT does not only relieve your stress and other disturbances mentally and emotionally, but it likewise provides freedom from your body aches, phobias, or even negative perception in life. In your case, EFT also boosts school performance as well.
EFT for performance is for but not limited to child or teenage school performance. The procedure to achieve the desired result in a school performance can be simple, fast, and easy. Not only the teachers or child psychologist but even a parent like you can use this. EFT for performance has been proven that it helps a child do better in school, as what most parents would wish for.
Using EFT for performance on kids will not cause a parent or a teacher a hard time. It said that EFT for kids offers an enjoyable moment and those kids react positively on EFT. This technique drives the children to keep on going, exploring and learning. This technique’s approach or treatment to a child varies, depending on the child’s case, as to not spoil his or her interest and attention span.
Parents are likewise encouraged to experience EFT. In this way, they will be able to put themselves into their children’s shoe and understand the nature of the children’s behavior. EFT for performance’ effectiveness can be increased with proper and healthy lifestyle for your kids. Experts may suggest the right food to eat or some appropriate daily means with accordance to your children’s needs.
