Is there anything I can do with EFT to help with my emotional triggers?

I can remember from my childhood a "conversation" between my mother and sister (the way only mothers and daughters can have a "conversation").

Mother: You are doing that on purpose just to push my buttons!

Sister:  How can I not?  Your buttons are this big!  (Holding her hands about three feet apart.)

We all have emotional triggers; those people, places, memories and situations that just set us off.  One moment we are fine, the next we are a mess of anger, frustration, or even sadness. Sometimes this happens because of what is said to us.  Other times it happens by simply returning to a place in our past that has an emotional charge.  The trigger could be as small as the song on the radio, a single word, or an image in a commercial on TV.   

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is a great tool for dealing with the emotions that come up after our emotional triggers have been fired.  We simply need to tune into what is going on and what we are feeling and then notice what happened that set off those feelings.  But this isn't always the easiest thing in the world.

The environment around us, at an unexpected time, often touches off these emotional triggers.  Generally, when it is fired we are in a public setting. This can make it difficult for us to find the time and space we need to tap.  

Also, when we have a significant emotional response from an emotional trigger, we are very wrapped in the emotions.  We aren't thinking of much else because of the intensity.  I know when I am experiencing any emotion over a 7 on the SUDS (Intensity) scale I don't always have the presence of mind to think, "I should be tapping on this."
 
One of the reasons I love EFT is it is a tool that is not only useful in helping with emotions that come up in the moment, but it can also be used to reduce the potency or even eliminate the trigger that cased the emotion completely.

For example, I received a call from a client named "Julie".  She was very excited and wanted to tell me about a reception she had attended the night before.  During the happy hour before the awards banquet, she was chatting with a few colleagues.  One of them, "Jane" turned to Julie out of the blue insulting the quality of work she does.

Julie explained that in the past she would have said nothing at the time, but for the rest of the evening would have replayed the conversation over and over in her head. Each time agreeing more and more with the person's assessment of her work and ability.   Each moment feeling worse and worse, and questioning her own abilities.  Culminating with her crying later that night at home.

Instead, she said, "I have done so much EFT work on my self-esteem that I knew what she said wasn’t true.  Instead of getting mad, frustrated, or depressed, I just said a little prayer in my head for Jane.  I prayed that somebody affirm the work she was doing."

That story is the prefect example of how doing work ahead of time will prevent our emotional triggers from going off.

There are three ways to reduce or eliminate the power of these triggers with EFT: take care of the emotion that has been triggered by recent experiences; work on the triggers we already know we have (our ongoing triggers), and look ahead to see what possible triggers are coming up in our future.

Take the time to deal with the emotional triggers that have been set off during the day

Every time an emotional trigger is set off it is a good thing.  No, I am not one of those people who love pain.  Every time we have an emotional response it gives us a piece of information.  When we have a negative emotional response it means we have encountered something that is associated with a root problem, belief, or memory that we have.  By dealing with this experience it puts us one step closer to healing, but only if we chose to seize the opportunity.

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Every symptom we have is attached to a root problem, feeling or belief.  I think it is very easy for us to forget every time we are working on a symptom, we are also working on the root of the symptom. By taking the time to do some work on the response to an emotional trigger we are dealing with the core issue.  By doing this, we insure that the next time we encounter the same type of trigger our response is going to be less, or even non-existent.

In the best of all worlds, the moment we have unwanted emotions arise we would take the time to tap them away right away.  As I mentioned above, this does not always happen.  When we don't tap the moment the emotion impacts us, it is important to come back to this experience at some later time.  The experience has given us some very valuable information about a place in ourselves where we can do healing.

I take time at the end of everyday, before I go to sleep to review my day.  I think of every moment in which I had a disproportionate emotional response.  I revisit each of these memories, tapping on them until they no long haven an emotional charge.  

By doing this, not only do I insure a good night sleep because I am not bringing any of the stress of the day to bed, I am also making progress on the core issues that underly the emotional triggers I have.

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