When clients need more than insight – the power of Clinical EFT in the coaching practice
Most clients come to coaching because they feel stuck somewhere in their life. Perhaps they feel stuck in their career, their health, in relationships, maybe they’re looking for a sense of purpose, to develop their spirituality or grow their inner confidence.
From stuckness to insight
Do the following scenarios feel familiar?
Your client knows they need to make a decision …. but they don’t.
Your client knows they need to set a boundary… but they don’t.
Your client knows they need to implement better self-care… but they don’t.
Your client knows they need to practice a new skill… but they don’t.
Most clients come to coaching because they feel stuck somewhere in their life. Perhaps they feel stuck in their career, their health, or in relationships; maybe they’re looking for a sense of purpose, to develop their spirituality or to grow their inner confidence.
As transformational life coaches, we can guide them to clarify what they want to create in their life and we can help them examine what has been getting in the way of creating this. We can support them to uncover underlying patterns and limiting beliefs that drive their behaviours. And they can have powerful insights. Breakthrough material.
Now they really understand that they don’t need everyone’s approval to be able to make a decision
Now they really understand that setting a boundary doesn’t make them a bad person
Now they really understand that practising self-care is not selfish
Now they really understand that failing doesn’t have anything to do with self-worth
They feel elated! This is it! It feels like the holy grail.
The barrier between insight and action
You create some action steps with them that will help them to show up in a new way. They go home filled with excitement, but somehow the elation quickly disappears. And before you know it, they drop back into that same old pattern …
Somehow, it turns out, these insights are not always enough to create real, lasting change.
Have you had clients who perfectly understood their patterns, who could tell you exactly what they needed to do to change things, only to come back feeling demoralised because they still showed up in the ‘old way’ time and time again?
Or perhaps they were able to try the ‘new way’ for a while, with lots of grit and tenacity, but they simply couldn’t make it last? Like an invisible force was pulling them back into the old habits?
Even though the client understands what is happening - they are now aware of the pattern, they know exactly what they need to do differently and they really want this change - something still stops them.
When the nervous system speaks
That ‘something’ is their nervous system. The desired change doesn’t feel safe in their body.
Their mind understands it’s okay if not everybody agrees with their decision, but the thought of not pleasing everybody fills their body with a paralysing dread.
Their mind understands setting boundaries creates healthier relationships, but as soon as they try, they feel incredibly guilty, and their heart is pounding with the fear of the possible negative consequences.
Their mind understands that when they practise self care they will have more energy to serve and support others but the pit in their stomach reveals that they are worried sick about other people judging them as selfish.
Their mind understands that mastery can only come through practise and learning from failure, but as soon as something goes wrong, their body shuts down in an attempt to hide.
What you see here is that their nervous system is not on board with the desired change. And they can’t just think their way out of this ….
I have experienced being in this place myself numerous times too. It is incredibly frustrating!
Then, I was introduced to Clinical EFT.
What is Clinical EFT?
EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Techniques and it is an integrative mind–body approach. It is more commonly known as Tapping.
The technique uses acupressure in the form of tapping on acupressure points on the face and body with fingertips. This simple action sends calming signals to the nervous system. Used with gentle exposure and other psychological techniques, it can release emotional and physical tension and rewire neural pathways around unwanted thoughts, emotions, and (traumatic) memories.
Regulate - Release - Rewire
The approach is backed by an ever-growing, large body of science. Over 300 clinical trials have shown that Clinical EFT is effective for anxiety, depression, pain, PTSD, phobias, and many other conditions.*
Clinical EFT helps regulate the nervous system in the face of negative emotions, disturbing or traumatic memories, limiting beliefs and patterns. It can be supportive in working on a variety of topics, such as fears and phobias, cravings and bad habits, limiting beliefs, physical issues and high sensitivity. It can also assist in working towards achieving goals and enhancing performance.
Facilitating lasting change
This technique, which speaks directly to the nervous system, provides the perfect solution for the problem these clients have. It was a logical step for me to get certified in Clinical EFT so that I could enhance my coaching practice with this powerful tool. This gave me the training and skills that enabled me to apply these techniques responsibly and safely with my coaching clients and help them turn their insights into something that feels safe and leads to lasting change.
Now, I can say to my clients:
“Let’s tune in to where you feel this in your body. In what way is your nervous system speaking to you when you think about making this change in your behaviour?”
And instead of pushing for action, we take time to get curious about what’s lying underneath. We use Clinical EFT to soften that nervous system response. We use it to process any memories that still cause these survival responses to trigger. By releasing the emotional charge of these memories, we create more capacity in the client’s nervous system to show up in new ways.
When their neural pathways have rewired, taking action doesn’t feel forced. It feels like truth. It feels like they are finally becoming aligned with who they really are.
References
* Church, D., Stapleton, P., Vasudevan, A., & O’Keefe, T. (2022). Clinical EFT as an evidence-based practice for the treatment of psychological and physiological conditions: A systematic review. Frontiers in psychology, 13, 951451. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.951451
