What is EFT Tapping? How It Releases Anxiety, Trauma and Emotional Blocks in Minutes
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Think about a moment when you felt genuinely anxious. Not mildly worried — genuinely anxious. Your chest tight. Your thoughts moving faster than you can follow them. A physical sense of dread or urgency that your rational mind cannot reason away, no matter how clearly you can see that the situation does not justify what your body is doing.
Now consider: what would it be worth to have a technique that could reduce that anxiety — measurably, demonstrably, in the room — within minutes?
EFT Tapping does this. Consistently, reliably, and with a growing body of clinical evidence that has moved it from the fringes of alternative therapy to the subject of peer-reviewed research, randomised controlled trials, and increasingly, mainstream clinical practice.
What EFT is — and why it works
EFT — Emotional Freedom Techniques — was developed by Gary Craig in the 1990s, building on Roger Callahan’s earlier Thought Field Therapy and, further back, on the 5,000-year-old tradition of acupressure meridian theory that it shares with Marma Therapy.
The technique involves tapping with the fingertips on a specific sequence of acupressure points on the face and body while simultaneously holding a specific emotional issue, memory, or physical sensation in awareness. The tapping sends a calming signal to the amygdala — the brain’s threat-detection centre — while the conscious focus on the distressing content keeps the relevant neural circuits active.
The result, according to the best current research, is a process of memory reconsolidation: the distressing memory or emotional trigger is recalled in the presence of a somatic signal of safety (the tapping-induced parasympathetic activation), which gradually weakens the automatic stress response that the trigger produces.
In plain terms: you tap your way out of the automatic fear response. And the research suggests this change is not suppression or distraction — it is a genuine neurological update to the stored association between the trigger and the stress response.
What EFT specifically helps
Anxiety — general and specific. EFT has the most extensive and most consistent research base for anxiety. A 2016 meta-analysis in the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease reviewed 14 randomised controlled trials and found large effect sizes for EFT in reducing anxiety symptoms, with effects maintained at 3–6 month follow-up. Multiple trials have found EFT comparable to or more effective than CBT, with faster results.
PTSD and trauma. A 2017 meta-analysis found large effect sizes for EFT in PTSD across six trials, with the majority of participants no longer meeting diagnostic criteria after treatment. This is remarkable for any therapy applied to PTSD — a condition notorious for its treatment resistance.
Phobias and specific fears. EFT is particularly efficient for specific phobias. A single 45-minute session has produced complete or near-complete resolution of specific phobias in multiple case series. The speed of this effect is one of EFT’s most clinically distinctive features.
Depression. A 2019 systematic review found large effect sizes across six trials for EFT in depression. The cortisol-reducing mechanism is thought to be central — since chronic cortisol elevation is both a driver and a consequence of depression.
Physical pain. Pain has both a physical and an emotional component. Multiple trials have found significant reductions in chronic pain with EFT, including fibromyalgia, tension headache, and chronic back pain.
Performance anxiety. EFT has demonstrated effectiveness for test anxiety, public speaking anxiety, sports performance anxiety, and the cognitive impairment associated with stress. This makes it directly relevant to Indian students, professionals, and athletes managing performance under pressure.
Emotional eating and cravings. Multiple studies have found significant reductions in food cravings and improvements in relationship with food with EFT. The technique addresses the emotional triggers that drive comfort eating in ways that nutritional advice alone cannot.
What happens in an EFT session with Sunil Kanwarjani
A session typically runs 60 minutes at our Borivali West clinic. You remain fully clothed and seated comfortably.
Sunil Kanwarjani begins by helping you identify the specific issue you want to address — a specific memory, a recurring emotional pattern, a physical symptom with an emotional dimension, or a specific trigger. You rate its intensity on a 0–10 scale (the Subjective Units of Distress, or SUD, scale).
Sunil Kanwarjani then guides you through the EFT sequence: first a Setup Statement tapped on the karate chop point (“Even though I have this [specific issue], I deeply and completely accept myself”), then a round of tapping through the remaining points with a shorter Reminder Phrase at each point to keep the issue in focus.
After each round, the SUD score is re-rated. Almost universally, it drops. With each successive round, the intensity reduces further, and the emotional content shifts — new aspects emerge, the memory changes its quality, the body releases its holding of the material. The session continues until the SUD score reaches 0 or 1 on the original issue.
Most clients are genuinely surprised by the speed of this process. Issues that have been present for years — sometimes decades — shift within a single session in ways that feel both dramatic and, afterwards, completely natural.
EFT as part of Actvebody’s integrated approach
EFT is most powerful when it is part of a comprehensive approach to wellbeing. At Actvebody, Sunil Kanwarjani integrates EFT with the full range of his therapeutic expertise — the Ayurvedic constitutional framework from Nadi Pariksha, the physical-energetic work of Marma Therapy, the structural work of Craniosacral Therapy, the flower-essence work of Bach Flower Remedies, and the lifestyle framework of Wellness Coaching.
The Ayurvedic foundation — the right herbs from our Rasayana and Capsules collections, the right diet, the right daily routine — provides the physiological conditions in which EFT’s emotional processing work takes root most deeply and most lastingly. A nervous system that is nutritionally supported, hormonally balanced, and consistently rested by Ashwagandha and Brahmi is far more available for the deep processing that EFT enables.
To book an EFT session or ask whether EFT is the right approach for your specific situation, message Sunil Kanwarjani on WhatsApp. He responds personally to every enquiry.