Believe Big Podcast

34-Stacy Fritz - Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)

December 06, 2022 Ivelisse Page & Stacy Fritz Season 1 Episode 34
Believe Big Podcast
34-Stacy Fritz - Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

Stress affects us all, especially this time of year!  Stress affects our immune system and is linked to so many negative responses within our bodies.  Even if you are not sick and already fighting an illness or disease, cortisol (the stress hormone) needs to be reduced in all of us. 

What can we do for our bodies to help reduce our stress load?

Have you ever heard of Tapping?  It's an emotional freedom technique that combines the fundamentals of ancient Chinese acupressure and psychology.  It is a practice you can learn to do on your own to help you sleep, to help you relax and to help you reduce your cortisol levels and get your immune system back on track doing it's job.

Join me today as I speak with Stacy Fritz, President and CEO of Fit 2order and one of Believe Big's amazing patient advocates, as she shares her expertise on Tapping and the benefits of its practice.

Connect with Stacy at Fit 2order:
https://www.fit2order.com/

Suggested Resource Links:


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Ivelisse Page:

Hi, I'm Ivelisse Page and thanks for listening to the Believe Big podcast, the show where we take deep dive into your healing with health experts, integrative practitioners, biblical faith leaders. And cancer thrivers from around the globe. Welcome to today's episode on the Believe Big Podcast. My name is Ivelisse Page. And it's an honor to spend this time with you. Today, you will hear from my dear friend and colleague Stacy Fritz on how EFT, emotional freedom techniques, or tapping can help you reduce stress and negative emotions. Stacy's not only one of Believe Big's amazing patient advocates and oversees our Food for Thought webinars, but she is also the president and CEO of Fit To Order. Fit To Order specializes in at work wellness solutions for our sedentary workforce, and serves local, regional, and national clients. Through research driven strategy, compelling stories and actionable takeaways, Stacy delivers energetic, virtual, and in-person keynotes, workshops and trainings that will inspire better health and wellbeing in the workplace. She's an amazing person and I am so excited for you to hear from her today. Welcome, Stacy, to the show.

Stacy Fritz:

Thank you, Ivelisse. It's just such a pleasure that we get to spend a little time together and hang out and just talk about all things wellness.

Ivelisse Page:

we appreciate you and all that you do. You do amazing work in all facets. And as with tradition here on our show, we always like to find out what our guest's favorite health tip is. So can you share yours with us?

Stacy Fritz:

Yes ma'am. So I thought about this Ivelisse and just have so many narrowing it down to just one. But as I sat quietly with it, I really, I guess my number one health tip would be to come back to your breath, fitting for our conversation today. But I think, many don't realize the power of really great breathing. And it's something that we do, of course every single day, but the reality is that many of us who don't do it very well, meaning to reap the benefits of quality breathing. So that would be my number one tip, learning how to breathe really well.

Ivelisse Page:

So quickly tell us how do we breathe? Because as you were saying that I was taking a deep breath.

Stacy Fritz:

Yes, it's like when I talk about posture at your desk, when I'm talking to somebody, it's so funny cuz I can cue it in about 10 seconds later they'll adjust and sit up, tall. So the breath again, we do it all moments of all parts of the day, every single day of our life. But we tend to be, as a culture, very shallow breathers. So we breathe in the top part of our lung space, which is not a great space for it to be. We need to be learning how to breathe deeper into the diaphragm muscle, which is below, down near the belly area. More of an east, west breathing, if you will. So side to side instead of up and down, to really get into that full lung capacity where we can start to use breath techniques to energize, to calm down, to just find balance. So again, when I say learning how to breathe correctly, I usually will get a snicker because we breathe all the time, but we tend to breathe in a way that doesn't support self-regulating the body.

Ivelisse Page:

Yes.

Stacy Fritz:

That's just cuz we're stressed all the time, right?

Ivelisse Page:

Yeah. So we need the reminders. I need you here every day to say, okay, breathe

Stacy Fritz:

Yes.

Ivelisse Page:

That's great.

Stacy Fritz:

It's a great transition into our conversation because it is the foundational piece of the toolkit.

Ivelisse Page:

So what is tapping? What is EFT? It's called both, so what exactly is it?

Stacy Fritz:

So again, I was really thinking about this. One of the things that I love to do when I have the opportunity to talk to folks like yourself that are just really spreading an incredible message is that, how do I explain something in a very simplistic manner that doesn't take us onto a a rabbit trail of where it came from and what's it all about? So the best way I can describe EFT or tapping is it's a combination of ancient Chinese acupuncture and then also modern psychology. It's really the marriage of using a physical tool like tapping on certain parts of the body and then also this, which is unusual, bringing to mind whatever it is that you're stressed or you're worried about. So the idea behind it, if I could give you a visual for the listeners to really take note is if you think of a stream and running water, how water flows freely. And if I were to take, if I were to stand on the side of the stream and I were to take a big rock and throw it into the middle of the stream, what would happen? We would probably get a little bit of clogging. We would get leaves and branches and it would divert the water energy, if you will. So tapping is a way to release that block that I just used the analogy. Or acupuncture, or accu pressure is the same thing because we know when we have blockages, big boulders, bad things happen. I use the word disease, but I wanna be super careful because I use the word disease as in dis ease. It's not flowing. It's blocked. It's stuck energy. So tapping is a way to unstuck that energy, if you will. It allows a new pattern or a freer pattern, a better flow of energy, and we're trying to remove a pattern of negative thinking with it.

Ivelisse Page:

That's a great analogy. I love that. I'm very picture oriented. So that really made it clear for me. And I know there's a lot of research on acupuncture. Is there research on how this emotional freedom technique, the tapping, it's effectiveness?

Stacy Fritz:

So in order for me to tell you that answer, let me just take a step back. We know that tapping in and of itself is a very simplistic tool. If you Google it, there's a gajillion searches for it, right? And so it's a safe, mostly safe, tool that anybody can use. So I'd like to separate the conversation into just EFT and tapping, and then we have this clinical EFT, tapping, right? And why we started connecting this piece, because we wanted to start doing research on it. So it's always great to have evidence based information. Ivelisse, there's more than a hundred clinical studies on EFT and the benefits including lowering cortisol, being able to self-regulate the body, being able to lift somebody up out of a negative state. I hesitate to use the word depression cuz we're gonna talk about why you would choose clinical EFT other than just regular EFT that anybody is really using. It's the same thing with anything we do. Somebody gets some information and then they start doing the protocol. And the reality is that we really need to stay in line with science and research and make sure we're doing things safely. So there is a definite lane. And to your original question, lots and lots of research wrapped around it. And it's just getting better. EFT and tapping really hasn't been around all that long, really. The roots started in like 1920 ish. But we didn't really start having this organized EFT conversation until about 1980, 1985. The person that's credited with his name is, Gary Craig, and he really simplified what others before him were trying to lift up off the ground, which is making this connection that you can have this physical tool to connect with an emotional response one of which is negative, bringing to light this negative experience.

Ivelisse Page:

Yeah. We had a clinical psychologist who also specialized in tapping, come to speak and teach at a grief support group, and it was just fascinating. So I love that you differentiated between the clinical side and then one that any of us can do in our home when we're having a bad day or having a stressful moment. So thank you.

Stacy Fritz:

It's not that they're different. When we talk about negative or traumatic experiences, we don't wanna take that lightly by any stretch or in this case, you know why you and I are working together and supporting people who are on the cancering journey. That's just not an every day, I'm very sad about this, I'm gonna use this tool to lift me up. Making sure that you are working with correct practitioners across the board. Lots of people say that they can do lots of things, understanding that we all have our particular lane, I find really important. And making sure that you don't indicate that you are a specialist in something when somebody is really needing of support deeply traumatic memories, words, experiences, and whatnot. So that's why I said having the conversation around EFT in general is perfect because I'm assuming we'll chat about how you do it. It's easy, it's fun, it's free. I don't dissuade anybody, but what I do encourage is if we're talking about somebody who is really looking, it's not a replacement therapy. It is what I would call a tool in my toolkit to be able to help somebody. It's something to try. It's not a perfect technique and it doesn't work all the time, but it is getting really great research out of it. So I'm super excited to see where we go with it.

Ivelisse Page:

That's great. So what does a typical EFT session look like?

Stacy Fritz:

Depending on whether or not we're taking the lane from the clinical side or just a general. If you YouTube it, you can actually take yourself through an EFT session. If you were gonna go to a certified practitioner, I would anticipate that there would be some sort of intake before you got started. And then when you actually schedule the session is about 60 minutes, 90 minutes. And what you're doing with the practitioner is you're going to be guided on how to set up a tapping session with your practitioner kind of guiding you through that script. Whether or not he or she allows you or encourages you to take that script home with you. I have to believe that would be the case. But there's a choreography I'll call it. There's some specific parts that the person that's getting ready to have that tapping session can anticipate. One this set up statement. A set up statement means that you are actively identifying what is troubling you. So it would be something like, I am feeling anxious about the diagnosis that I just received. And then the next part of that statement, but I know that I can find good resources to help my body heal. So it's a little bit of a reframing, it's not a positive outlook. It's not putting a rainbow or a butterfly on it, but it's a statement that is bringing to light, that negative feeling. And then what happens is the practitioner will ask you, on a scale of one to 10 how you are feeling right at that moment. So let's just, we'll just make it up. Maybe you're feeling at that moment, five or six, feeling that anxiety or that anxiousness that you just talked about, and then we'll put that scale aside, and we will start the tapping. There are nine different meridian points of which you will tap on and they follow an order. So for example, all tapping begins with this karate chop area of the side of your hand. It doesn't matter which side you're tapping on because, the meridians, they're mirroring each other. So left or right, it doesn't matter. You always start on that karate chop side and then the various other eight locations include the top of the eyebrow, the side of the eye, the under the eye, under the nose, under the mouth, under the collarbone, under the armpit, and then finally finishing with the crown of your head. A lot on a podcast, but like I said before, you can absolutely YouTube it and follow along with that order, if you will. Throughout that whole process of tapping, your practitioner will probably use a reminder phrase. For example, as you're tapping a point, I know I'm feeling anxious, I'm fine, I know I'm feeling anxious, I'm healing, I know I'm feeling anxious, and it's just a way to structure the choreography of the tapping session. When the tapping session is over, you get to come back to a really beautiful cleansing breath. Reminder, that was my health tip. And you will end the session at that first round with another scale assessment. So the practitioner might say to you, okay, how do you feel now? And what they're looking for is a decrease on that scale of anxiety. So if you start at a five or six, we're looking for a four or a three, right? And so at that point, depending on who you're working with, they may take you through another cycle of that choreography. And the goal being is that we are getting you down to a place where you feel less anxious. Like I said, it's not a perfect tool, but it has remarkable results, especially with things like depression and anxiety, ptsd, lots and lots of things. And even they even have done a couple of studies on anxiety with breast cancer. So lots and lots of really good stuff coming out of this really cool tool.

Ivelisse Page:

Yeah, I love that and I love that you can do it anywhere. Like acupuncture, which it comes from acupuncture cuz of the points that you're hitting. You still have to go to acupuncturist to get therapy. But let's say, you're about to enter into a stressful situation, like I always call it"scan-xiety" before a scan, if you're a cancer patient. You could sit in your car beforehand and follow the choreography that either your therapists have given you or one that you know is meant for you. So I love that it can be done anywhere for college students that are away from home or any of us, no matter what state of health we're in. We all are gonna confront stressful situations and what an interesting and great tool to use.

Stacy Fritz:

Ironically, the nine meridian points are the same meridian points as if you were to go to that acupuncturist, right? So the acupuncturists were using needles to break up that blockage or that flow. And then if we take a step down, we would go to acupressure, right? No needles. We're using, pressure points, same nine places. And now with this one, the tapping is following those same nine meridian points. So the idea is that we live in this super stressful environment. It doesn't matter if we're going through a cancering journey or unfortunately, some other very scary scenarios. Right now the idea is that we are helping what's called the amygdala, you know that part in the brain that you just equate that with the word fear, right? And so that part of the brain is when the body senses this scary scenario or this scary feeling, automatically this stress response comes in. The idea with tapping is that we are disrupt ing that and we are telling the brain with the tapping and the exposure to the negative feeling, it is okay to relax. It is okay to relax. It's the same idea with some of our other protocols. It's just that we are actively bringing to light that dark feeling, using a tool and then also the exposure to whatever we're thinking.

Ivelisse Page:

Yeah, I love that. Sometimes people don't really fully know why they're experiencing what they're experiencing. They know they're feeling anxious or fearful, but they really can't get to the root of why. And sometimes there may not feel comfortable speaking to someone at that point, or when they're going through a difficult situation. So I've heard, and can you share with me about this, is that people don't have to talk about their problems or share their life story to an EFT therapist.

Stacy Fritz:

No. No. And it is a way, I mean, you have to go there a little bit. You've actively raised your hand and said, I'd like to try this tool to be working with this practitioner. So it's not talk therapy, it's not, definitely not talk therapy. You're going in there to identify this negative, we'll call it a negative emotion. It could be a negative feeling, what whatever the issue is at hand, but there's no details wrapped around that. You're not giving necessarily the backstory. What you're identifying is you are asking the practitioner to help you with this exposure therapy. That's what, that's really what it's called. It's, you are actively seeking what that dark feeling is. And then we are disrupting that connection to a negative internal response; the stress, the worry, the feeling, the insomnia, whatever it is. We are actually creating a new pathway, rewiring thinking. And so go back to the example that I gave you which is, we always wanna come back to a state of flow. And flow just means good energy. There's no blockages, there's no boulders, there's no pebbles, there's no leaves, sticks, things, clogging it up. The word again is dis ease. This is a tool that provides ease to the body. It's just one tool, right? But, again, I, what's really exciting for a geek like me who loves the mindfulness piece is that this one actually has super, really good, not only anecdotal information, but these studies that are coming out are just really important. And if we can find ways that are non-medication and not detrimental, pulling from the body, but nourishing the body, that's what lights me up is ways that you can do it yourself.

Ivelisse Page:

Love that. And you know, as a part of Believe Big we do not practice any form of new age practices. And some people might think that this is some sort of spiritual practice or even a faith-based practice. So can clear that misconception up?

Stacy Fritz:

Sure. So what we wanna think of is that it is an evidence based, body based therapy. There's no spirituality. This is not religious. It's an evidence based body technique. That's how you wanna frame it out. Now again, I'm of the mindset that, as simplistic as it sounds, you do you and everybody should be able to pick and choose the tools. This one falls under the category of this general toolkit. So no worries there whatsoever in terms of spirituality or religious based therapy. This is again, evidence, body based therapy.

Ivelisse Page:

I love it. So can EFT sessions be done virtually, and what resources would you share with your clients?

Stacy Fritz:

I love that question. My brother used to say that I was of the rainbow and unicorn mentality. I'm always looking for the way to bring positivity. And so one of the things I will say, there were a handful of things that came out of Covid that I would argue fall under the positive realm. The one being that some of the things that were so prohibitive because of distance now has become front and center and accessible very easily, virtual sessions for EFT therapy. But two of my favorite, and again I will share this with your listeners. I would like to share the PDF of the tapping location, so once you figure it out you'll have this little guide. But the second one is called EFT Universe. It's a website and that's where a lot of the information that I am sharing with you today comes from. It talks about these clinical studies, the anecdotal information, and it also has a certifying or certification process, which I really enjoy seeing. I tell you that because on their site you can find certified practitioners. And so the answer to your question is absolutely yes. The other side of it, if we're not going down the clinical route, let's just say we are moms that wanna give our children a tool that maybe when they're stressed out with exams or maybe having a little love interest issue, I have three sons, so there's always something going on there, but there is actually an app called the Tapping Solution. And it's so inexpensive and there's a visual in there with some music and it will teach you how to tap right there from the smartphone. So those are my two favorites. But if you, again, this is not, you're not gonna have a hard time locating information about EFT. What you are gonna have a challenge is you wanna be mindful of the fact that we wanna make sure that if we have things that are going on in our life that might require more than a Google search, that we take the thoughtful time to search for a practitioner that is right for us.

Ivelisse Page:

Yes. And how many EFT sessions have you seen on average? You can't say that for everyone, but how many sessions do most people need before they see, results? I know that they'll see some results with the first one.

Stacy Fritz:

Yeah, I was just gonna say the best case scenario is somebody does an EFT session and it's just resolved. Is that the case all the time? Of course not. I go back to my answer of everybody hates this answer Ivelisse, the word is, depends. And especially when it comes to folks who I deeply care about that are on this journey. You cannot put a prescription in place for something that presents so differently for everybody's specific circumstance. So again, I, if I'm just talking in generalities where people are experiencing some day to day stress, not all stress is bad, right? But things that are routine stress: exams, maybe work stress or whatever. We're talking about a handful of times it looks like on average. But when we're talking about traumatic events to somebody's life, I have no idea. And that is the most honest answer I can give you because everybody's body is different.

Ivelisse Page:

Yes, and I know you touched on it before and you mentioned something on the scale, what is the scale rating that practitioners use when determining its effectiveness?

Stacy Fritz:

The scale is, and I don't believe it's as scientific on the nonclinical side, cuz there's another kind of therapy that came before EFT called Thought Field Therapy. Where it was specific diagnostics that were attached to the efficacy of the therapy. But the scale that I was referencing is zero to 10, with 10 being the extreme feeling of the negative emotion, on whatever the emotion is. So I think success comes from first identifying what was our first number? What was our first number? We came in, wound up about something. And if after the session there's movement in the direction towards the zero. I think that we call that successful. Now, time will tell, right? And it's not just the one and done. So if we went from like an eight down to a six, my guess is the practitioner would ask for you to stay with it right then and there, and maybe doing another round of that choreography to be able to see if we can lower it even more. The idea is to be able to give somebody the tool to be able to self-regulate themselves.

Ivelisse Page:

I know with prescriptions even, you take a prescription and it lasts for a certain amount of time and so I love that this is prescription free. And just like medications though, you have to continue continually use tools that are helpful to you to keep restoring your body.

Stacy Fritz:

That was the biggest joke because it's like all the tools, you find something that works and then what happens is you use exercise as an example. Oh my gosh, I feel so great. I just went and I just did this workout, and you feel so great that you don't do it again. You've gotta incorporate the tools on a regular basis until you find yourself in a place where you've self-regulated and you're feeling great, and maybe you're not doing it as frequently, but you come back to the toolkit. So what I tell our patients, Ivelisse, when we are talking through the different resources that we have the ability at Believe Big to share, I say first and foremost, it's not ever the one tool. It's the tool that works for you, and it may be a combination of tools. And so the second part of that is building out the people on your team that can help you with the tools. So I just, I feel like it's this puzzle that I get so excited about sharing because when I hear the stories of where folks are having struggles, it's like I, I look inside my toolkit and I think to myself, this one might be a really good fit here and we'll try it. And if it doesn't work, then we go back to the toolkit. So I guess that my biggest takeaway would be to not marry to any one protocol, just because you heard somebody else had success there. Because what happens is then you feel discouraged, right? So our job is really to provide the resources that guide somebody who's on a journey to be able to pick and choose their team, and then pick and choose the tools to work with the team with those tools.

Ivelisse Page:

Correct. Yes. And I know with professional practitioner side of EFT and tapping. Do you know if insurance covers that? Like they cover other therapies?

Stacy Fritz:

So sad. Not yet. Not yet.

Ivelisse Page:

Okay.

Stacy Fritz:

Not yet. It's not covered by insurance.

Ivelisse Page:

Is it expensive?

Stacy Fritz:

It just depends on the practitioner. I've seen folks offer their sessions at the hundred dollars an hour range, and then I've seen them go as high as in the twos and even the threes. Buyer beware. And that's why I say that EFT Universe is a great site because I know that they're offering checks and balances and certifications and they have to up their game every couple of years. And those are the kinds of things that I think are really important as we cherry pick our protocols, is that what is the agency behind it and what is the research behind it, and what is the experience and who's watching that, right? Because we wanna make sure that we pick practitioners that are not just as we know, so sadly, that a lot of things can be driven. And so I like to get a couple different resources together and then just compare. What's the experience level? Just because somebody charges more first session does not then mean that it's necessarily better.

Ivelisse Page:

That's great advice. That's really great advice. Is there anything else that you would like to mention about tapping that I have not asked you that you feel would be important to add? I know we're at the end of our time, but I would love to have you add anything else you feel would be important.

Stacy Fritz:

I think that we did a good job at breaking it apart. I would just encourage just to bring it home, that if it's something that you are interested in, first and foremost, like I said, we'll put some really good links in the show notes. Do your research. Don't get yourself wound into something that, one is gonna stress you out more and two, that maybe you know that's not necessarily super important right at this particular moment. It's for sure something on the other side of the clinical piece that I think that I would love for our kids, especially our teenagers and our college age kids, to have a little bit of exposure to, because my goodness, wouldn't it be a different world if we had a toolkit that didn't mean reaching for something that is less healthy than say something that is breath based, inner based, mindfulness based, that could support perhaps maybe pulling us through whatever perceived crisis is happening at the time. And if it's not something that is huge and traumatic, maybe learning about the tool before we need it is a really great place for us to land.

Ivelisse Page:

Yeah, it's almost like when you were talking about that I was thinking of like a bonfire, or even roasting marshmallows. You would just get a garden hose and finish putting out the fire when you were done. You're not gonna get a fire hydrant hose and blast the fire pit fire with that to begin with. So it's like finding the right tool for what you need at that moment, depending on what you're going

Stacy Fritz:

Absolutely. True or false, with the folks that we have the opportunity to work with, our typical first line of defenses, oh my gosh, we need this first, we need this second. And they're big, like you said, the hose But we save the stuff that is related to our mind body connect usually falls way down on the list, or at least that's my experience. We get to that. We get to that later. And so my thinking or my theory is that why don't we, while we're waiting, why don't we expose these kinds of tools first to give somebody the kit, if you will, to be able to manage some of the stress along the journey? We wait. That shouldn't be the last thing that we choose. It should be one of the first things that we choose is to find something that works, to settle us to invoke the parasympathetic response, which is the relaxation response. Something that allows the mind to settle because it's big. The journey is big and I wish, again, I could give that gift to folks that are just getting started, because I think it's just that important.

Ivelisse Page:

I would encourage people to share this episode with people that they know, because again, Stacy's going to give us some great resources that everyone can listen to and watch and use and let us know it. Reach us, reach back out at info@believebig.org let us know how tapping went for you. We're curious to see how you guys feel and what you experience if this is the first time you've tried it or trying a new therapy. But thank you so much Stacy for joining us, for all that you do for Believe, Big, all that you do for people around the country to maintain health and to get better health. And just appreciate your time.

Stacy Fritz:

I appreciate you so much. I adore you, Ivelisse, and I love, love, love this show. And I feel very grateful that I am with you on the journey for our folks.

What is your favorite health tip?
How should we breathe correctly?
What is EFT/Tapping?
Is there research on the effectiveness of tapping?
What does an EFT session look like?
What kind of information should a patient share with an EFT therapist
EFT is not a new age or faith-based practice.
Virtual EFT and resources
How many sessions are needed before results are seen?
What is the scale rating system practitioners use to determine EFTs effectiveness?
Does insurance cover EFT/Tapping?
Final comments on EFT/Tapping