 |
| Core Issues |
Core Issues
We can use the cookie example above to talk about core issues. Tapping on your craving for chocolate chip cookies may stop that craving, but often sweets are used as comfort foods. We may eat them to suppress guilt, loneliness, anger, sadness, etc. These emotions relate to a core issue that needs to be addressed. For example, the core issue might be a trauma such as sexual assault, which produces an undertone of fear experienced as a subtle agitation. This agitation may be temporarily relieved when you eat your cookie, or bag of cookies. While EFT can stop your craving for chocolate chip cookies, you might find the same need cropping up in an increased craving for ice cream (or something else), unless you address the core issue.
A core issue may be so pervasive that you cannot get relief by doing EFT on a surface incident that is in fact just a reflection of the deeper core issue. For example:
You feel hurt and rejected when your boss tells you he won’t use your idea. From his demeanor, you can tell he thinks the idea is naive.
You may be able to release the emotions by tapping on:
Even though I feel hurt because my boss doesn’t like my idea... Even though I am angry at my boss...
Even though I feel sad that I wasted so much time...
Even though I’m afraid he’ll never like my ideas...
But if the event is evoking a core issue, you may not be able to tap the issue down very far at all on a scale of 0-10. Perhaps your father ridiculed your ideas, made jokes at your expense, and made you feel stupid. Unless you find and release those core emotional issues, you might not successfully release the emotions surrounding being rejected by your boss. Or if you do release them in this situation, your feelings might be just as strong the next time someone rejects your ideas.
Getting to core issues can be easy or it can be hard. If the key issues have been buried in your mind for a long time, you may not be aware that they are there. In this case, you need to see a professional EFT practitioner. Even a professional may need to see a professional. I trade sessions with another practitioner because often I cannot see in myself insights that I see every day in my clients.
However, you may be able to get to some of these issues on your own. To do this, look at the emotion you are experiencing and ask yourself when you experienced this emotion before. What does this feeling remind you of? You are looking for a specific event. Typically, but not always, the event will have occurred before you are 10 years old.
Even though I feel ashamed that my father ridiculed me...
is nowhere near as effective as:
Even though I felt ashamed when my father ridiculed me for having my sock inside out in front of everyone at church...
If being ridiculed by your father was a reoccurring theme, you may have to tap on several incidents to resolve the core issue. And when you do, you may find that many of your boss issues have been quelled.
We can use the cookie example above to talk about core issues. Tapping on your craving for chocolate chip cookies may stop that craving, but often sweets are used as comfort foods. We may eat them to suppress guilt, loneliness, anger, sadness, etc. These emotions relate to a core issue that needs to be addressed. For example, the core issue might be a trauma such as sexual assault, which produces an undertone of fear experienced as a subtle agitation. This agitation may be temporarily relieved when you eat your cookie, or bag of cookies. While EFT can stop your craving for chocolate chip cookies, you might find the same need cropping up in an increased craving for ice cream (or something else), unless you address the core issue.
A core issue may be so pervasive that you cannot get relief by doing EFT on a surface incident that is in fact just a reflection of the deeper core issue. For example:
You feel hurt and rejected when your boss tells you he won’t use your idea. From his demeanor, you can tell he thinks the idea is naive.
You may be able to release the emotions by tapping on:
Even though I feel hurt because my boss doesn’t like my idea... Even though I am angry at my boss...
Even though I feel sad that I wasted so much time...
Even though I’m afraid he’ll never like my ideas...
But if the event is evoking a core issue, you may not be able to tap the issue down very far at all on a scale of 0-10. Perhaps your father ridiculed your ideas, made jokes at your expense, and made you feel stupid. Unless you find and release those core emotional issues, you might not successfully release the emotions surrounding being rejected by your boss. Or if you do release them in this situation, your feelings might be just as strong the next time someone rejects your ideas.
Getting to core issues can be easy or it can be hard. If the key issues have been buried in your mind for a long time, you may not be aware that they are there. In this case, you need to see a professional EFT practitioner. Even a professional may need to see a professional. I trade sessions with another practitioner because often I cannot see in myself insights that I see every day in my clients.
However, you may be able to get to some of these issues on your own. To do this, look at the emotion you are experiencing and ask yourself when you experienced this emotion before. What does this feeling remind you of? You are looking for a specific event. Typically, but not always, the event will have occurred before you are 10 years old.
Even though I feel ashamed that my father ridiculed me...
is nowhere near as effective as:
Even though I felt ashamed when my father ridiculed me for having my sock inside out in front of everyone at church...
If being ridiculed by your father was a reoccurring theme, you may have to tap on several incidents to resolve the core issue. And when you do, you may find that many of your boss issues have been quelled.
