Becca Ellis
Do you want to know more about tapping (EFT)?
It couldn't be easier!
See those stars? They're tapping points!
Just take 2 fingers and tap on them - hard enough to feel it, not so hard it hurts. You can use either hand, or both.
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The order I use is:
(inner) eyebrow
side of the eye
under the eye
under the nose
chin
collar bone
under the arm (bra strap level)
(last) rib, aka the "liver point"
crown or top of the head
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and start again!
It doesn't take long for the sequence to become second nature. Or...you could just choose the points that feel most soothing, or, conversely, most tender - they need some love!
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Not shown is the side of the hand point, which we often start with (Even though...) and used to be called the Karate chop point - it's the squishy bit between your wrist and pinky knuckle. It's also good for discrete tapping, as are the inner wrist points.
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How to tap
If you're tapping along to an audio or meditation, just repeat the words out loud in the pauses. If they don't resonate you can either say them as they are, trust your suconscious to trouble shoot, or adapt them so they reflect your needs.
Even without adding words, tapping these points daily will soothe your nervous system. One of my teachers, Steve Wells, calls it Energy Toning, and it's the easiest place to start! Netflix and chill was never cleaner!😜
Click on the links for clinical studies which prove tapping is effective.
Nick Ortner (The Tapping Solution) and his siblings, Jessica and Alex, have done a lot since 2007 to get this tool into the hands of millions.
If you want more reseach you can download a fascinating summary of studies and statistics from them.
For a more concise summary (2022) from EFTInternational, the association I trained with and get mentorship from, go here
Want more? Peta Stapleton is a pioneering researcher in EFT, here is her summary to download.
Dawson Church has compiled his many research studies and those of others here if you'd prefer to focus on the area that you'd like to see some change in.
Clinical EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) Improves Multiple Physiological Markers of Health, is a study from 2019 spanning 11 clinics, over 5.5 years, involving 5,000 anxiety patients and details how EFT outperforms CBT in complete relief of symptoms, improvement in patients, number of sessions needed and the maintenance of improvments after 1 year.
Finally! How tapping works...
One of the greatest barriers to the acceptance of psychotherapies that stimulate acupuncture points by tapping on them, such as EFT and TFT, has been a persistent question: How does tapping on the skin lead to psychological change?
For decades, practitioners have known that therapies and self-help approaches involving tapping on acupuncture points are unusually fast and effective, but articulating a clear, science-based explanation has been more challenging. Over the past two decades, researchers such as Dawson Church, Peta Stapleton, and David Feinstein have steadily advanced the evidence base through peer-reviewed studies. In November 2025, David published a landmark synthesis of this research, offering the most coherent and comprehensive scientific account to date of the physiological and psychological mechanisms underlying EFT and TFT.
Recognizing the importance of this work — and knowing that most practitioners don’t have time to read lengthy academic papers — Nick Ortner used AI to translate the research into a beautifully designed, 10-page illustrated infographic. David then reviewed the entire piece, making numerous corrections and refinements to ensure scientific accuracy.
It is perhaps the most engaging, accessible, and efficient way available to become conversant in the science behind tapping. The infographic can be easily viewed on a laptop or downloaded as a printable PDF. It also links to the original academic paper (bottom of page 1) and has an area at the end for posting questions. David will be checking in at least weekly as long as a discussion is going and happy to tackle any questions you present.
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Text by David Feinstein, PhD, clinical psychologist, internationally recognized leader in the rapidly emerging field of energy psychology