Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)

Flux and Flow

EFT is a powerful mind-body connection tool that enhances emotional and physical well-being, allowing realisation of full potential.

Often referred to as "tapping" EFT is an energy psychology that combines principles of ancient Chinese acupressure with modern psychology. By gently tapping on specific meridian points (energy centres) on the body, while simultaneously focusing on particular emotions or issues, EFT helps to release energy blockages and reduce the intensity of negative feelings. In addition to its emotional benefits, EFT can also enhance physical well-being by reducing stress and tension in the body. Your physical health is just as important as your mental and emotional state.

EFT is a proven cortisol (stress hormone) reduction tool and brings your bodies’ nervous system back into its’ ventral vagal “calm and connection” state. By using EFT to manage stress, you can maintain a more balanced and energised state, leading to greater productivity and overall well-being. Whether you're facing a creative block, dealing with the pressures of a deadline, or simply looking to maintain a positive mindset, EFT offers a simple yet effective way to support your creative or entrepreneurial journey.

EFT can provide deep and lasting change. It is a great modality for working with stress, anxiety, phobias and physical pain and brilliant as a “go-to” for managing the emotional rollercoaster life can sometimes be.

Our EFT sessions are a powerful tool for entrepreneurs to unlock their creative potential and eradicate what’s stifling it. We uncover the (often subconscious) blockers holding you back. We tap, we release, and we open up energy flow.

Goodbye creative blocks, self sabotage and perfectionism. Hello balance, energy and productivity.

Here are just a small few examples of issues EFT is a great tool for supporting with.

Burnout
Breakups
Imposter syndrome
Procrastination
Perfectionism
Creative blocks
Pitches / presentations preparation

Long covid
Dating / Relationships /Attachment
Financial mindset
Fear of failure
Work / life balance
Grief
Sales / putting self out there

“Trauma is not just an event that took place sometime in the past; it is also the imprint left by that experience on mind, brain, and body. This imprint has ongoing consequences for how the human organism manages to survive in the present.”
- Bessel Van der Kolk - The Body Keeps the Score

“If you don’t know how to say no, your body will say it through physical illness.”
- Dr Gabor Maté - When the Body Says No: The Hidden Cost of Stress

Drift and Design work to a holistic trauma, or “nervous system first” approach recognising that trauma isn’t what happened to someone, rather it’s the internal experience, beginning in the nervous system, that unless processed out, will be imprinted into the brain and body, which later will manifest through our physical health. It will also repeat within us in the future as if it is real.

There is now increasing awareness in the developing field of psychotherapies that work holistically with trauma and its biology. These include:

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing Psychotherapy (EMDR), Polyvagal Theory, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Somatic Experiencing, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT),Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) and Internal Family Systems (IFS).

EFT is a trauma informed modality, meaning it is designed and delivered in a way that is safe to work with those experiencing trauma and has tools and techniques woven in to ensure a client isn’t retraumatised. It aligns with polyvagal theory, suggesting it shifts the body from a fight-or-flight state to a parasympathetic (relaxed) state.

It’s vitally important for a harmonious self to have brain and body working together. If we’re out of aligment, that inner conflict or resistance that’s causing it will manifest physically, within our health. In coaching we often talk about “the stories we tell ourselves” and you may be familiar in the context of mind management of the importance to provide yourself a better narrative. However it’s not just the brain listening, it’s the body too. EFT encourages radical honesty with self. It acknowledges that concealing truths and emotions can lead to internal conflict and hinder healing, especially in the context of trauma.

Ultimately EFT is a powerful tool integrating mind, brain, body, nervous system and spirit to help release trauma, or any other stored negative emotion/energy at a cellular level.

“As long as you keep secrets and suppress information, you are fundamentally at war with yourself”
- Bessel Van der Kolk - The Body Keeps the Score

*Flux: a state of constant change, nothing remains the same

*Flow: a high state of focus that maximizes creativity and eliminates distractions. Leads to authentic success and happiness.

And now for the science part

One hour of EFT reduces:

Anxiety - 40%

Depression - 35%

PTSD -32%

Pain - 57%

Cravings -74%

-Church 2020

Tapping makes you happy!

Happiness increase - 31%

-Church 2020

EFT doesn’t just help you feel better — it helps your brain and body function better!

There are hundreds of peer-reviewed clinical studies and trials validating the effectiveness of EFT in reducing anxiety, PTSD, depression and stress.

Studies show it can lower cortisol, regulate the nervous system and provide rapid system relief supporting EFT as an evidence-based, body-brain technique.

Epigentics

Stress is biological. It has significant wear and tear on the body. Scientific research is beginning to uncover how EFT can create real biological change down to the level of gene expression. Studies suggest that EFT can down regulate “turn off” genes associated with cortisol production and upregulate “turn on” those associated with healing and resilience.

A 2016 pilot study by Dr. Ian Maharaj explored the epigenetic effects of a single 50-minute EFT session in four participants. The study found that 72 genes showed immediate changes in expression, with 25 still altered 24 hours later. These genes were linked to immune function, brain health, inflammation, metabolism, and stress regulation—suggesting that even one session of EFT may influence key biological processes involved in emotional and physical well-being.

Building on this, a larger study led by Dr. Dawson Church investigated veterans with clinical PTSD who received ten EFT sessions over ten weeks. The results showed a 53% reduction in PTSD symptoms and significant changes in the expression of six genes related to inflammation and stress response. This study provided further evidence that EFT not only supports emotional healing but may also contribute to measurable shifts in the body’s stress-related gene activity—highlighting its potential as a powerful mind-body healing tool.

Physiological

EFT is a clinically validated mind-body approach with measurable effects on the body’s stress response. In a landmark 2012 study, Dr Dawson Church found that a single EFT session led to a 24% reduction in cortisol, the body’s main stress hormone—compared to just 14% in talk therapy and 0.6% in a resting control group. This significant hormonal shift demonstrates that EFT works not only on a psychological level but also creates immediate biological change.

Church’s 2020 study expanded on these findings by measuring a range of physiological markers in participants after EFT sessions. The results (from meta analysis) were compelling: anxiety reduced by 40%, depression by 35%, PTSD symptoms by 32%, pain by 57%, cravings by 74%, and happiness increased by 31%. Additionally, improvements were observed in resting heart rate, blood pressure, heart rate variability, and salivary immunoglobulin A (a marker of immune function). These broad-spectrum outcomes helped support EFT’s growing clinical legitimacy and contributed to its acceptance by the American Psychological Association (APA) as an evidence-based intervention, included in their Division 12 review of empirically supported treatments.

Dr. Peta Stapleton, pioneer in EFT research, has also been instrumental in validating EFT’s physiological effects through brain imaging. Her 2019 fMRI study revealed that after just four weeks of EFT, participants had reduced activity in the amygdala, the brain’s fear and threat center, and enhanced regulation in the prefrontal cortex, associated with emotional control. In 2022, Stapleton’s follow-up research confirmed that EFT not only reduces emotional symptoms but creates lasting neurological changes, offering evidence for its long-term impact on the brain.

EFT doesn’t just help you feel better—it helps your brain and body function better.

Meridians

EFT works on the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) meridians - (energy pathways in the body or its’ “superhighway”).

Researchers in Korea and China have conducted reserach using dyes and neuroimaging techniques that show what they now call the Primo Vascular System (PVS). The PVS, they believe is a microscopic network of fluid filled tubules thought to align with the TCM meridians thaht may facilitate cellular communication, bioelectrical signalling and healing processes in the body. This is starting to provide a biological foundation for existence of meridians.

For research into EFT please delve into:

EFT Universe
Dr Peta Stapleton
EFT International

International recognition

Whilst still considered an experimental therapy, there is a drive for EFT to be accepted into the mainstream. Internationally there is currently greater recognition.

In the US EFT is an empirically validated therapy by the American Pschological Association for treating anxiety, depression, phobias and PTSD.

In Canada the Canadian Psychotherapy Association approves EFT under one of their modality sections.

In Australia the National Disabilty Assurance scheme have approved EFT so people can have it paid at government level. And the Blue Knot Foundation (trauma based organisation) have EFT listed in their clinical guidelines for PTSD.

EFTi (the global body for EFT who Drift and Design are accredited by) and the EFT community are hoping EFT becomes further regulatedso that hopefully one day soon we’ll see it accepted into the NHS.