It’s not easy when you are impacted by someone else’s addiction problems. People end up feeling worried, frustrated, powerless, maybe even thoughts that they might be somehow to blame, and often angry and resentful. The feeling of treading on eggshells around a loved one’s overuse is also a common theme.

It would be of great benefit for you to develop an awareness of your own stress levels, and take action to help yourself. EFT (stands for emotional freedom techniques – tapping on energy meridian end points to improve energy flow) has helped thousands of people to de-stress and get into a better mindset around hundreds of day-to-day and much more serious challenges that life can present. Living with an addict is no exception.

What if you were to rate your stress levels around this just now, how stressed do you feel? Rate yourself on the SUE scale . Minus 10 is the worst anyone can feel, and if you felt that bad it’s unlikely you would be able to read this now. 0 is neutral, not stressed, nor feeling good. In the pluses we move into more solution focused, hopeful states without stress, with plus ten being feeling really at peace, and great in yourself.

Now that you have a number on the scale for reference, place your hands on your heart centre, and gently tap around the points as shown on the diagram using a word that feels calming to you. Typical words people use for this include: peace, calm, release, etc.

The Modern Energy EFT protocol is to place your hands flat on the centre of your chest and take three deep breaths in and out. Now state the word you chose (e.g. peace). Now tap the top of the head, gently, take a comfortable breath in and out and say ‘peace’ again. Next the third eye point, the eyebrow point, corner of the eye and so on all the way until you reach the karate chop point then go back to the centre of the chest. At each point after taking a comfortable breath while tapping state your word.

picture of eft diagram

This is just one round, which is short. Usually, I recommend doing at least three rounds, going back to the top of the head again, but feel free to change your word or words. As we start to feel better other words might come in, for example ‘letting go,’ or ‘I can cope’. The idea is to keep evolving yourself up the SUE scale. So each time you do a round, check back in and see has your rating improved.

Doing Energy EFT regularly helps us to feel better in ourselves, and to cope with whatever life challenges we are facing. The potentials are endless. As the Efters say ‘try it on anything.’ You can learn this simple technique yourself, or work with an Energy EFT Master Practitioner if starting off alone feels too much.

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About the author: Susan Browne of Light Life Learning helps people to feel great in their energy and achieve their goals through Energy EFT. She is a Guild of Energists Energy EFT Trainer, teaching in Co. Kerry & Galway, Ireland and she provides Energy EFT sessions, and Success Mentoring via Skype. Susan is an Accredited Counsellor with the APCP. Get in touch for more info