EFT for Chronic Illness: The Challenges and Rewards
Most of us EFT practitioners decide on our “niche”, based on the unique challenges we’ve experienced in our own lives. We bring who we are, and what got us from “there to here” into our sessions with clients. Consciously or not, they look for and gravitate naturally to those who have experienced similar challenges, AND have found ways to overcome them. They want to be inspired! To see that a better life for them is indeed possible. It doesn’t hurt a bit that it is easier to “get real” with someone who has been in a similar place to where they are right now. There is less need to manage and hide any shame they may be feeling about the state they’re in, and often less fear of judgment as well. After all, this practitioner has walked your walk and knows how hard it can be!
I’ve had an assortment of chronic health problems most of my life --- chronic pain and fatigue, migraines, fibromyalgia, depression and anxiety, and many years of undiagnosed mold toxicity. Since my first major “crash” over 20 years ago, I began to consciously look for ways to heal myself, and then use what I learned in the service of others. I did many curricula one after the other and received benefits and gifts from all of them. They really helped me heal and grow as a person, but my overall health continued its downward trajectory.
It was not until my nervous system was addressed --- principally through EFT (particularly “Conscious EFT” as taught at the National EFT Training Institute), that my health improved in a more sustainable way, gradually uncovering the mountain of limiting beliefs I didn’t know I had, and changing them over time into empowering ones that more accurately reflect the core truth of who I REALLY am.
When you gradually come to see yourself and all the players in your life with that clearer lens of love, growing your compassion and acceptance (and Window of Tolerance!), you can make different and better choices for yourself in how you live your life ongoing.
Taking the time to focus on what is now possible for a person who discovers a new, more empowering belief, and exploring some actionable steps that are both motivating and doable --- supports and strengthens that new neural pathway. This is where body/mind/spirit healing and sustainable change happens. Otherwise, all that beautiful energy from an “aha” moment can gradually disappear and become just a memory.
When you have had a mountain of trauma in your life, especially early on, it is unrealistic to think you can change your nervous system’s responses to life’s challenges in just a few EFT sessions. There are layers upon layers of protection. A nervous system that has been working overtime for far too long just keeping you safe can be traumatized by changes that are far too big for it to handle and integrate. Taking one baby step at a time with a trusted and patient practitioner feels safer and doable, and much less likely to result in abreactions and over-the-top flooding.
Had I not done EFT in this slow consistent way in my own life, I would have been spooked, and probably stopped doing it. And when I say “slow”, I am amazed that my life changed so quickly and profoundly --- in only 2 years! I no longer suffer from chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, constant terrible pain and insomnia --- the result of early traumas and the effects of long-standing mold neurotoxins. When we change our nervous system, our beliefs and our habits, we change our biochemistry to support the healing process.
Chronic illness CAN indeed be reversed, in that slow and gradual way!
The practitioners who helped me the most had often struggled mightily with the effects of early trauma themselves. And they had done their own work. They had a good understanding of both the depth of the challenges, and the patience required, so they could be strong grounded loving witnesses, supporting the unfolding of my own healing journey at the pace I needed for safety and maximum self-empowerment.
When it came to finding my own niche as an EFT practitioner and coach, helping people with chronic illness felt like just the right fit. When COVID came down, and I could no longer see people in person, I changed course and decided I could help chronically ill people the most by writing a book about my journey towards wholeness and healing.
There are so many lovely creative ways to bring this work forward! I am indebted to EFT. It helped me to not only heal my body and my baggage, but also find my unique voice, in a way I could never have imagined possible just a few short years ago!
“We are all just walking each other home”. (Ram Dass)
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