by Chris Hoare - April 2026
A gentle, proven technique for anxiety, cravings and stress, that you can use anywhere, any time
Imagine having a tool in your pocket that could calm your nervous system within minutes, ease the grip of a craving, or gently dissolve the anxiety that keeps you awake at night.
No medication, no equipment, no appointment needed. That tool exists, and it is called Energy Tapping, more formally known as Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT).
We introduce clients to Energy Tapping as a companion skill they can take with them into daily life. The results, time and again, have been remarkable. This post is aims to help you understand what it is, why it works, and how to begin using it for yourself
Energy Tapping combines two powerful influences: the ancient Chinese healing tradition of acupressure, and the modern science of cognitive and exposure therapy.
By gently tapping with your fingertips on specific points on your face and upper body, while focusing on a feeling, memory or craving, you send a calming signal directly to your brain's stress centres.
The technique was developed in its current form in the 1990s by Gary Craig, building on earlier work by psychologist Dr Roger Callahan. It has since been used and researched across hospitals, veterans' programmes, NHS settings, and millions of individual homes.
It is now considered an evidence-based practice for anxiety, depression, phobias and PTSD by a growing number of psychological organisations worldwide.
At the heart of why tapping works is the amygdala, the small almond-shaped structure in the brain that acts as your internal alarm system. When you experience stress, anxiety, or a traumatic memory, the amygdala fires, immediately flooding the body with cortisol and adrenaline. This is the fight-or-flight response, and it is brilliant for real danger.
The problem is that it cannot distinguish between an approaching lion and a difficult conversation with your boss.
Research has shown that tapping on specific "acupoints" sends a calming, deactivating signal directly to the amygdala. In one well-known randomised controlled trial, a single EFT session reduced cortisol levels by 24%, significantly more than talk therapy or rest alone.
A later study [Stapleton et al. (2020)]confirmed a 43% reduction in cortisol after just one hour of group tapping. Brain scans have also shown measurably reduced activation in the amygdala and related emotional-reactivity regions after EFT sessions.
This matters particularly for trauma. Distressing memories are not stored like ordinary ones. They can become "frozen" in the limbic system, replaying their emotional charge whenever triggered. Tapping, while gently recalling the memory, appears to facilitate what neuroscientists call memory reconsolidation. The memory is reactivated, but the calming body signal created by tapping attaches new "safety" information to it. Over time, the memory loses its emotional charge. You remember what happened, but it no longer hijacks your nervous system.
Research and widespread clinical use point to benefits across a broad range of experiences. In my practice, I find it particularly powerful for the following:
Quickly interrupts the stress response and restores a sense of calm and grounded presence.
A review of 20 studies found EFT reduced depressive symptoms as effectively as other established treatments.
Studies have shown significant reductions in food, sugar and substance cravings, often within minutes of tapping.
Calming the nervous system before bed can ease the mental chatter that prevents restful sleep.
Gently softens the emotional charge held in distressing memories, without requiring you to relive them intensely.
Research has explored EFT for tension headaches, frozen shoulder, fibromyalgia and chronic pain with promising results.
You do not need any equipment, and the whole process takes five to fifteen minutes. Here is how to begin:
1. Identify your issue. Choose one specific feeling, craving or concern. Give it an intensity rating from 0 (nothing) to 10 (overwhelming).
2. Create your set-up statement. Repeat three times while tapping the side of your hand: "Even though I have this [feeling/craving/anxiety], I deeply and completely accept myself."
3. Tap through the points. Using two or three fingertips, tap each point firmly but gently, around seven times each, while repeating a short reminder phrase such as "this anxiety" or "this craving."
4. The tapping points, in order: top of the head, inside edge of one eyebrow, beside the outer eye, under the eye, between the nose and upper lip, between the lower lip and chin, beneath the collarbone, and under one armpit.
5. Take a breath and re-rate. How does your issue feel now, from 0 to 10? Repeat the sequence until the intensity reaches 0 or plateaus.
That's all there is to it yet the results can be profound.
One of the greatest strengths of Energy Tapping is its accessibility. Unlike many wellness practices, it asks nothing of your schedule or surroundings. Here are some practical ways to weave it into your day
Morning grounding. Before the demands of the day arrive, spend five minutes tapping while setting an intention for how you want to feel. This can prime your nervous system for calm rather than reactivity.
In the moment of a craving. When a craving arises, rather than fighting it or giving in, pause and tap. Rate the intensity, work through the sequence, and notice how the craving shifts. Most people find it reduces significantly within one or two rounds.
Before difficult conversations or events. Anticipatory anxiety responds beautifully to tapping. Tap on "this nervousness about the meeting" before it happens, and you will often arrive calmer and more resourced.
As a sleep ritual. A slow, gentle tapping sequence in bed, while focusing on releasing the thoughts of the day, can ease the transition into sleep more effectively than scrolling or watching television.
After a session of hypnotherapy. Tapping can reinforce and deepen the work done in a hypnotherapy session.
The more consistently you practise, the more your nervous system learns that calm is its natural home.
Energy Tapping is not a magic cure, and for serious mental health concerns it should sit alongside, not replace, professional care. But as a daily self-care practice, a tool for managing the inevitable stresses of modern life, and a means of gently tending to old wounds, it is one of the most accessible and genuinely effective techniques I know. If you have never tried it, I encourage you to give it just one session, right now, with something small. You may be surprised by what shifts.
