By Helen P Bressler (Rev, Dip CH)

Mary (name changed for confidentiality) came to me with her problem of carrying extra weight.  She had been overweight since childhood and just could not find an answer to losing weight nor the motivation or mindset to curb her negative behavior around food.  Although her diet was rich in simple carbohydrates, protein and vegetables, it also included a large amount of ‘take out’ and processed foods as well as high sugar, high fat snacks.  Mary was approaching 50 and carried 230 pounds on her 5 foot 4 inch frame.

Mary felt generally ‘fed up’ and had tried diets and increasing exercise over the years.  She already walked 4 miles a day to and from work, and had been doing so for the past few years but nothing she attempted was sustained for more than a couple of weeks, except her walk to and from work.

When prompted to look more deeply at her feelings around her weight, Mary said the weight gain began with the death of her mother when she (Mary) was just 6 years old. Gently probing this scenario further we discovered that Mary had not felt abandoned, angry or ‘undernourished’, as I admit I had expected, but had been left feeling anxious after her mother’s passing.

We addressed the anxiety by first muscle testing to ascertain psychological reversal; Subconsciously, Mary actually wanted to retain her weight.  On discovering this and being reassured that reversal was quite normal and experienced by nearly half of the population, Mary was open to first tapping to address her implicit wish to keep the weight.  The setup used the sore spot, Even though I want to keep my extra weight, I deeply and completely accept and forgive myself’.  After the setup, we tapped, Wanting to keep my weight’ and ‘not wanting to lose weight, alternatively on the EFT points.

I then asked Mary to evaluate the level of anxiety on a scale of 0-10 to which she replied 10.  We explored various wording for the setup and settled on, Even though I am still anxious after my mother’s death...  After three rounds Mary’s feeling anxious had dropped to a 4 out of 10 and she was able to speak more openly about her mother and her mother’s death without the charged emotion she had felt for almost 44 years.  Eager to take the setup and tapping home, I asked her to go through the setup and tapping once each evening for a period of 4 weeks.

Our follow-up appointment fell almost 5 weeks after our first session and began with an elated Mary entering the room.  She had lost 14 pounds in less than 5 weeks and exclaimed excitedly that her whole attitude toward food had changed.  She continued to tap each evening before bed, as she felt motivated and reassured by doing so.  She also explained that she felt free of the charge surrounding her mother’s death and that she was finally felt she was doing something for herself (taking charge of her eating habits and losing the excess weight) without feeling anxious about it.

Apparently since her mother died, every action was accompanied by a feeling of anxiousness.  I considered probing the anxiousness further and asked Mary if any accompanying emotions were present either at the time of the death or since.  As Mary was sincere in her inability to find any other emotion attached to or underlying the anxiety I decided not to ask what may have been leading questions.

Mary continues to tap, to lose weight in a healthy, gradual manner and is eating a balanced diet without the processed snacking that had maintained her overweight.  She states that she is experiencing life in a freer manner and has deeper emotional connections with her children and husband.

The benefits that I greatly appreciate about EFT are the ancillary side effects, such as the more intimate relationships experienced by Mary, as well as the simplicity which makes this so easily accessible.

With love,

Helen P Bressler (Rev, Dip CH).