When choosing a form of psychological therapy (commonly called psychotherapy), it’s crucial to select a treatment option that offers the most benefits and is tailored to treat your specific needs. For those with anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), choosing between EMDR therapy and EFT therapy (also called tapping) can be challenging.
EMDR therapy is a form of psychotherapy that can help clients overcome traumatic memories and upsetting emotions via guided conversation and eye movement exercises. EFT, or tapping, focuses on developing emotional intelligence and positive coping mechanisms, including physical touch.
Let’s compare these two therapies to ensure you pick a treatment plan that best fits your needs and preferences because if you know what to expect, you’re more likely to embrace psychotherapy with a sense of confidence, calm, and courage. Let’s get started.
What Is EMDR Therapy?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is a type of psychotherapy designed to help ease anxiety, depression, and negative emotions associated with past traumas. EMDR therapy is often incorporated into treatment plans for clients with PTSD and related conditions.
Put simply, EMDR therapy is a type of treatment that focuses on the emotional aspects of past events to help clients seek a more positive aspect and reclaim a sense of calm and control over their lives.
EMDR therapists typically follow a specific series of steps (often referred to as the eight phases of EMDR) over several sessions to help their clients achieve their goals and overcome painful triggers. Notably, EMDR therapy doesn’t require clients to give detailed accounts of past events or re-live their most traumatic moments.
In this way, EMDR therapy is more sensitive to the needs and preferences of those with PTSD or severe anxiety and is often considered a gentler alternative to standard cognitive-behavioral therapies.
What Are the Benefits of EMDR Therapy?
EMDR therapy has several potential benefits, but medical professionals aren’t entirely sure how EMDR works on a neurological level. Still, the data collected from client testimonies and clinical studies seem to suggest that EMDR therapy helps lessen symptoms of:
- Depression
- PTSD
- Anxiety
This type of psychotherapy has also been used to treat panic disorders and eating disorders. Clients fighting addiction may also benefit from EMDR therapy, though comprehensive treatment plans that include EMDR therapy are often more effective than EMDR therapy alone.
It’s vital to explore each phase of EMDR therapy to understand how it works, what benefits it might offer, and what to expect when you attend a session. Additionally, once you’ve reviewed these eight steps, you’ll have a better grasp of why EMDR therapy remains an enigmatic form of psychotherapy.
How Does EMDR Therapy Work?
EMDR therapy can be broken into eight distinct phases or steps, and when you agree to begin EMDR therapy, you and your therapist will complete these steps together.
The first thing that your therapist will do is gather information about you, so you’ll need to provide information about your medical history.
Client History
One of the first things you’ll likely be asked to do when seeking EMDR therapy is complete a series of forms. Some of these are crucial for health insurance reasons, while others might help with client registration.
But among this paperwork, there’s going to be a medical history form or two. It’s essential to be completely transparent when completing these documents, as your therapist will use this information you provide to ensure your sessions are as effective and safe as possible.
Preparation and Treatment Plan
After submitting your medical history and information, the therapist will review these documents and begin creating a potential treatment plan for you. When you attend your first session (either in-person or virtually), the therapist will review this plan with you.
This stage is called the preparation phase, and the goal of this phase is to prepare you, the client, for upcoming sessions. During this stage, the therapist will review your provided medical history to ensure there aren’t any discrepancies or errors. They’ll then describe, step-by-step, what to expect during your EMDR treatment.
At the end of this phase, the therapist will check to see if you have questions. They’ll also begin guiding you toward the idea of choosing a ‘target’ for each session.
Assessment
You’ll need to choose a traumatic event to focus on. Once you’ve zeroed in on this target experience, the therapist will begin to walk you through the initial stages of EMDR treatment, which often involves visualization and guided conversation.
Your therapist may ask you to identify an image associated with your trauma and focus on the emotions that the image invokes.
By setting the focal point on the client’s emotions rather than reciting the traumatic experience, therapists hope to ease individuals into a more comfortable and relaxed state, which helps to prepare them for the next phase, desensitization.
Desensitization
Traumatic events can rewire the brain, changing the way we perceive and react to potential stressors. The desensitization stage of EMDR therapy focuses on separating the client’s negative emotions from the target image or event.
Therapists may combine logic-based conversation with hand motions, or a series of rapidly moving lights, to begin rapid eye movement during this phase.
Installation
As you might imagine, this stage involves firm reiteration of positive emotions relating to the target. The therapist may offer counterpoints or ideas that conflict with the client’s feelings.
For example, if the client’s target is a memory of being bitten by a dog, and the emotion they most associate with this target is fear, the therapist may discuss how most dogs are very well-behaved and how training classes often help dogs resolve behavioral issues.
This type of discussion is often offered gently and with compassion. The aim is not to shame the client or make them feel guilty for their emotions, but rather, it’s an attempt at installing positive associations to replace harmful, potentially untrue feelings.
During this stage, the therapist continues to incorporate rapid eye movement techniques and guidance. This portion can be frustrating or overwhelming for clients, which is why a body scan swiftly follows it.
Body Scan
The body scan phase acts as a quick gauge for both clients and therapists. During this stage, you’ll need to check back in with yourself and evaluate your emotions and concerns.
To better identify your stress level, it’s crucial to recognize the physical hallmarks of anxiety:
- Tense muscles
- Gritted teeth
- Rapid pulse
Your therapist will help you work through each major body area to check for signs of stress and common symptoms of emotional distress.
As you work together, you may find your body gently releasing and relaxing. Consequently, the body scan is also a transitory stage to help clients reach the penultimate step, closure.
Closure
When you reach the closure phase, the therapist will review helpful coping mechanisms and techniques to manage your emotions outside of sessions. They’ll also guide you through contemplations and affirmations, as well as review your progress.
During this stage, your therapist might describe what to expect from upcoming sessions, as clients usually require multiple sessions to overcome the negative emotions associated with the target memory.
Reevaluation
During this final phase, the therapist will reevaluate the client by reviewing the target, the shift in feelings, and related targets that may benefit from EMDR therapy sessions. This final phase is a crucial part of the overall treatment plan and may lead to a reiteration of the preparation stage.
What Makes EMDR Therapy Unique?
There are at least two primary aspects of EMDR therapy that differentiate it from other forms of psychotherapy. These aspects are:
- Less stress: EMDR therapy is a non-confrontational treatment that doesn’t utilize detailed descriptions of past traumas, which decreases the client’s potential triggered reactions and stressful feelings.
- Guided eye movement: EMDR incorporates gentle, guided discussion with repetitive eye movement. You don’t often see these types of techniques in other forms of psychotherapy.
Individuals who’ve struggled with cognitive-behavioral therapy may find that EMDR therapy is more relaxing, and consequently, beneficial. Due to this therapy’s non-confrontational approach, clients tend to consider EMDR therapy a gentle alternative to more conventional psychotherapy treatment options.
However, while EMDR therapy can be less stressful and emotionally intense than other treatments, it isn’t without potential drawbacks.
Are There Any Drawbacks to EMDR Therapy?
EMDR therapy has relatively few associated drawbacks, but it’s crucial to recognize them. Clients that struggle to cope with overwhelming emotions may still experience painful feelings during EMDR therapy.
Some of the most commonly reported negative side-effects of EMDR therapy include:
- Intense emotions that are challenging to control or contain
- Recurring negative thoughts, memories, or emotions
- Increased rates of panic attacks or anxious feelings
Though clients aren’t asked to re-live past traumas, EMDR therapy does require clients to focus on a specific trauma when choosing a target. While your EMDR therapist will focus on the emotions surrounding that memory, rather than the details of the memory itself, it can be painful to recognize deeply upsetting feelings and voice them aloud.
Clients may experience these unpleasant side effects during the assessment and desensitization phases, as these stages tend to provide the most focus on painful emotions and their impact on your life. Still, continued sessions can help lessen these symptoms and help clients find relief.
What Is the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)?
Emotional Freedom Technique goes by quite a few names, including tapping, which is designed to help clients learn and master positive self-coping mechanisms.
These self-soothing techniques incorporate improved emotional intelligence with the basic principles of acupuncture (notably a belief in the Twelve Major Meridians) as clients learn how to identify and address their own powerful emotions.
After this, they use careful trigger point touch to release tension and achieve a sense of mental and emotional calm. This form of therapy can help lessen the stress associated with everyday problems or past traumas.
What Are the Benefits of EFT?
Clients that engage in EFT therapy may experience a wide range of psychological and physiological benefits, such as:
- Fewer chronic pain symptoms
- Fewer feelings of anxiety
- Decreased depressive episodes
Many clients that opt for EFT treatments report an overall improvement in wellbeing and inner calm after repeated sessions. But to truly understand these purported benefits, we’ll need to take a closer look at how EFT therapy works.
How Does EFT Work?
While you might want to rely on a licensed therapist’s guidance to learn the basics of EFT, it’s possible to perform this type of therapy without outside advice. Generally, EFT is separated into five steps.
Familiarizing yourself with these steps is a fantastic way to prepare yourself for EFT therapy, either in-person with the help of a therapist or at home while following a video tutorial. Let’s explore these five crucial steps, starting with choosing a target.
Choose a Target
In many emotions-focused psychotherapies, a ‘target’ is an unpleasant memory or traumatic event that produces negative emotions. When discussing EFT therapy, this phrase most often refers to a fear, concern, or problem that causes the client mental or emotional distress.
If you find yourself gritting your teeth with fear or rage every time you drive or enter the highway, you may use road rage as your target. The emotions you typically feel while driving should be brought into focus, even if it does illicit an intense response.
Assess Emotional Intensity
After choosing a target, you’ll need to gauge the emotional intensity associated with that particular memory or problem by using a simple scale or scoring system. Most therapists recommend scoring emotional intensity on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the most intense rating.
While this moment can be stressful, as it causes clients to focus on their negative emotions, it’s also vital in measuring the overall success of EFT treatments. Identifying the baseline amount of emotional intensity pre-therapy and comparing it to post-therapy intensity levels can help therapists perfect their techniques and therapy plans to suit their clients better.
Craft an Affirmation
When choosing an affirmative and supportive statement for yourself, it’s essential to concentrate on the target, the emotions relating to the target, and a sense of self-acceptance. The statement should be specific to you and your feelings.
For example, an individual struggling with an emotional divorce might say to themselves,
“Even though I feel angry that I wasn’t able to find a way to make my marriage work, and I miss the happy moments I shared with my partner, I love and accept myself.”
Once you’ve identified your emotional state, verbalized the problem, and offered self-acceptance, you can begin tapping.
Nine-Meridian Tapping Sequence
If you’re not familiar with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), then you might not be aware of the Twelve Major Meridians. To summarize, many cultures believe that the human body contains energy pathways that travel throughout the body.
When one of these pathways becomes blocked or damaged, the affected person may feel tired, ill, or depressed. Generally, there are thought to be twelve primary pathways, or meridians, that help energy (also called chi or qi) maintain a healthy balance.
In EFT therapy, the goal is to manipulate nine of these twelve pathways by applying a combination of gentle or pressurized touch to specific body parts and areas. To do this, therapists and clients must adhere to a particular sequence of touching and tapping.
To complete the tapping sequence, you’ll want to start with the hand’s outer region (the fleshy area below your pinky finger but above your wrist). However, you’ll want to tap this spot while setting up your affirmation.
After the setup process, you’ll begin the sequence. Traditionally, it starts with the top of the head and ends with the underarm area. To complete this series of taps, you’ll need to touch the:
- Top of the head
- Eyebrow
- Outside eye
- Under the eye
- Under nose
- Chin
- Collarbone
- Under arm
Each point is also associated with a phrase. As you tap each area, you’ll speak a calming, affirmative phrase to help increase the tapping technique’s effectiveness. After completing this step, you’ll take a moment to check back in with your emotions.
Emotional Reassessment
The emotional reassessment step is crucial to determining the client’s emotional and physical reaction to EFT therapy. During this stage, the therapist will guide the client to revisit the target emotion and gauge the current intensity of their feelings regarding that target.
By comparing this post-treatment rating against the initial pre-tapping score, both clients and therapists can determine how effective each EFT therapy session is and track emotional progress.
What Makes EFT Unique?
While several forms of massage therapy incorporate tapping techniques to help soothe anxious minds and tense bodies, these services don’t often have a conversational component. EFT combines some of the physical methods used by professional massage therapists with long-standing psychotherapy practices.
This mixture is relatively unique to EFT therapy. It allows clients to enjoy the discussion-based component of traditional cognitive-behavioral therapy sessions, but with a lesser degree of intensity. It then pairs these emotions-based conversations with touch-based techniques designed to induce feelings of mental focus, awareness, and peace.
Overall, EFT is a uniquely comprehensive form of therapy that may benefit those who react positively to pressure point massage and tapping techniques. Still, this treatment may not be suitable for everyone, and clients should take extra care to seek professional guidance before getting started.
Are There Any Drawbacks to EFT?
We’ve explored the benefits of EFT and discussed how it works, but you may find yourself wondering if there are any downsides to this treatment. There are two potential drawbacks of EFT therapy, and both are entirely avoidable.
When considering EFT, you’ll need to remember that this type of therapy can:
- Trigger stress due to physical cues: Individuals with specific physical triggers (such as being touched on the neck or face) may experience sudden, adverse EFT therapy reactions. Communicating these triggers with your therapist beforehand is vital.
- Be harmful if improperly attempted: Attempting to teach yourself EFT without any professional guidance can be dangerous, especially for those in a vulnerable emotional or physical state. Seeking proper training can help you prevent this issue.
Generally, EFT is a safe treatment that doesn’t cause physical, emotional, or mental pain. However, failed communication between the client and the therapist can result in unwanted, physically triggered emotional responses.
Additionally, reciting pre-arranged scripts and practicing untrained tapping techniques can be more damaging than helpful. It’s a good idea to seek professional EFT therapy sessions before attempting any such methods at home.
EMDR Therapy vs. Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT): Which Is Better?
In comparing these types of treatments, it’s essential to consider that each therapy is valid and valuable, but they’re not equally beneficial for all individuals.
EMDR therapy is best for clients with PTSD, anxiety disorders, or symptoms of depression. Generally, this type of therapy focuses on rewiring the negative emotions associated with long-term trauma.
On the other hand, EFT therapies might be best for individuals dealing with consistent, everyday stressors. By attending professional EFT sessions, clients can learn to become more emotionally intelligent and self-aware. They can also master the specific tapping sequence used to promote self-calm and inner peace.
Still, only a medical professional can help guide you to choosing a treatment plan that fits your needs and preferences. While this information can help you feel more confident and in control, it’s no substitute for a comprehensive psychological or medical diagnosis.
Conclusion
EMDR therapy and EFT therapy offer similar benefits. Both are used to help individuals overcome and cope with negative emotions. EMDR therapy relies on a combination of guided eye movement and emotions-based discussion, and it is often used to help clients overcome trauma.
EFT therapy focuses on processing negative emotions, though this treatment is often centered around coping mechanisms. EFT therapists teach clients how to identify their feelings, adjust them, and find self-comfort both mentally and physically. The better option between the two depends on each person’s precise needs and desired outcomes.