The Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)

Interview with Gary Craig: EFT Founder

Below are answers to the questions that the EFT World Magazine gathered from interested EFT'ers regarding the new Certification and Workshop procedures. This is what Gary Craig had to say....

The problems that developed from my open-handed and trusting proliferation of EFT have grown quite severe and have begged for resolution. If EFT is to continue to gain stature, we simply cannot tolerate the sloppy and inexcusable work emerging from some of the EFT Practitioners and Workshop listings. One alternative was to eradicate all Practitioner and Workshop listings forever and that, indeed, was considered. It would be much easier for us to operate EFT if we did not provide these opportunities. We chose a middle ground, however, so that the opportunities were maintained, albeit with more rigorous requirements. Those who think we should sit still and do nothing just simply don't understand the depth of the problem.

My announcement was greeted with mixed responses. We've received many letters of encouragement and congratulations for establishing these long overdue procedures. Others misunderstood our communications and reacted negatively. I am addressing those latter reactions below.

Best, Gary

1) Why have you waited so long to implement them?

Good question. They should have been implemented several years ago when I was first aware of some of the problems. At first, I thought (hoped) that the problems were just minor exceptions to be tolerated. Later, they kept growing and many EFT'ers were complaining about the sloppy, unprofessional work being done by others. It was soiling EFT's name and something had to be done to upgrade the quality of the practitioners listed on our website. Similar problems were occurring with our workshops. I could have done nothing, of course, and let time and all this sloppy work drag us down. That would have been irresponsible.

2) Have you any plans to set up officially recognized groups in different countries to allow EFT to be taught in different languages etc?

No. Please understand that EFT is a tool, not an organization. It is for use by citizens of the world to use as they deem appropriate. That hasn't changed. For me to set up organizations worldwide would be contrary to our current goals. That would require legal agreements in countless different languages and an administration nightmare that is well outside of our current capacity. Besides, the cost for such an effort would be enormous and would require us to substantially raise our prices. I doubt if that would go over well. People around the world are setting up their own independent groups. Some of those groups list practitioners and translate our newsletters and materials (but not our DVDs).

3) You have talked about keeping EFT pure but how much of EFT is made up of different methods such as NLP that complement and add to its success and how do we explain what pure EFT is to our students?

The proper term here is standardization, not purity. My open handed approach to delivering EFT to the world is not without its difficulties. Many people "learn EFT" in abbreviated ways such as over lunch on the back of a napkin. They then get results with that “mini-training" and somehow think they don't need to know anything more. They "teach" and apply EFT in this inadequate way as though that is all there is to it. They have no true understanding of aspects, specific events, core issues and so on. This is hardly standardization.

The easiest way to establish standardization is to use our DVDs as the standard. Everything is there from the basics to the most sophisticated uses AND it is precisely the same instruction for everyone. By contrast, workshops vary all over the place as presenters inevitably interject their own preferences, biases, etc. Further, the Study Guides we have designed for the Certification exams are available for anyone to use, and they offer plenty of clarification on what is official EFT and what is not. Students can also replay the DVDs at any time to assure complete instruction. For those wanting to explain "pure EFT" to their students, just refer them to our videos and Study Guides.

4) Would we be denying our clients if we restricted our use of other techniques in combination with EFT?

That depends on how other techniques would be blended with EFT and it also depends on your disclosure of the combination. It can be done well or poorly and I am not suggesting that no one blend EFT with anything else. However, the complaints we get from clients center around practitioners on our website delivering EFT poorly or delivering some other technique (including blended ones). We must do something about this or everyone suffers from the eventual tainting of the EFT name.

At no time are we telling EFT'ers that they cannot blend EFT with something else. We are, however, restricting listings on our website to those who use EFT as their PRIMARY technique. We are also requesting in the new Certification program, that anyone using outside variations of EFT or combining EFT with other methods make a clear distinction to themselves and to their clients about where the official EFT stops and the new method or variation begins. Clients who search for a practitioner on our website are expecting to get the official version of EFT, applied with a professional level of skill. They are not expecting hypnotherapy, reiki or blended/watered-down versions of EFT. Eventually, the only people listed on our website will need to be EFT Certified and that will narrow down our website listings to those who are prepared to deliver what our website clients are expecting.

5) You talked of practitioners engaged in sexual fondling and as many practitioners are aware unfortunately that does happen and we know of medical doctors, massage therapists and others who have been prosecuted for it. Is it realistic to think that a certification program can exclude potential bad apples?

No, certification will not stop this. However, it may reduce it's frequency as the caliber of those providing EFT services from our website will be at a higher professional level. The example I gave in a previous article on this topic was probably mis-placed. I was trying to portray some of the problems we are facing and that example happened to be one of them.

6) You say that providing certification in non-English languages is well beyond your reach, does this mean that all other language users are excluded from the program and are you encouraging a split from you and for them to set up their own associations and their own programs?

I'm not sure I understand the question as we have never been able to accommodate other languages. The obstacles to providing EFT websites, newsletters, DVDs, Certification, Workshops, etc in other languages are monumental and anyone who thinks we "should" do so has no concept of the legal, logistical and financial complications involved. Some dedicated bi-lingual folks have voluntarily translated the EFT manual and others have translated some of our newsletter articles for their own countrymen. However, all of this translation was done voluntarily and NONE of it was done by me or EFT.

Anyone who chooses to translate the EFT Manual and/or our website/newsletter articles is free to do so (please communicate with us first for legal and logistical considerations). However, since I have no idea how good these translations may be and since I don't even know what they say, I ask that the translators refrain from indicating that such translations, or the websites containing them, are endorsed or supported by Gary Craig or EFT. As an aside, subtitling our DVDs into our other languages is loaded with problems and we are not permitting that.

There are many groups throughout the world that support EFT and/or other meridian therapies. They are ALL independent of Gary Craig and EFT. The AAMET, AMT and ACEP are examples. There is no split, nor has there ever been. There is simply independence.

7) I can remember situations at school when someone in the class had done something very naughty but the teacher could not tell who it was so consequently the whole class was put into detention. This created a feeling of resentment and a lack of respect towards the teacher. Many thousands of EFT practitioners from around the World are tapping for feelings of being let down and being worthless after your announcement. Would it not be possible to reconsider a possible grandfathering of certain groups?

This is a misunderstanding of what we are doing. No one has been put into detention. We are simply addressing a growing problem and creating an environment for its solution. All previous credentials earned are still intact. All workshops can still be done. Experienced EFT practitioners who know their stuff can still list their practices on our website. However, we impose enhanced requirements designed to upgrade the quality of those who list. This will dramatically reduce the "free riders" that have been using the listings inappropriately and will spur others to upgrade their understanding of EFT. This is an option. Anyone can do it and it is thus fair across the board. Certification is not required in any way for you to use EFT for yourself and others. Again, there is no detention. There is, instead, an opportunity which you can either accept or reject. If you know your stuff, you should pass at least the EFTCert-I with relative ease. If not, then it may be time for you to get serious about EFT. I want only serious EFT'ers listed on our website. And, if you think about it, so do you.

Regarding grandfathering, I've already addressed this in a previous article. Here is what I said: Some have asked about grandfathering the quality practitioners. That's a great theory, but how do you do that in practice? How do you grandfather people you have never seen deliver EFT? I can assure you that every one of the 2,000 listed practitioners (95% of whom I have never met) consider themselves to be dedicated EFT experts worthy of grandfathering. So how do you filter through all those claims of excellence and accurately choose those to grandfather ... and how do you answer those you turn down? I don't know anyone who would like the job of making these selections.

So...grandfathering is impractical, except for the EFT Masters because I have had the privilege of seeing them work. It can be easily done, though, through the passing of our Certification exams. That way the selection is fair across the board and anyone can do it. Those of you who know your stuff should have no problem passing the Certification exam at the entry level and thus be allowed to list your practice. It's the only practical way to establish your EFT understanding. By contrast, others will take our Certification test(s) and be astonished at how little they really know. Those left standing will be part of a much more credible EFT and this points to a long term value for everyone.

8) The AAMET in the UK have said that they accept your program as an academic qualification but because it has no hands on practical application, practitioners from your certification program will not be accepted by the organization at least not without a practical examination of their skills which would mean further expense. This to a newcomer of EFT would appear to be a strange situation and would raise many questions.

You will have to take this up with the AAMET. As previously stated, they operate independently of EFT.

9) How do you feel about the issues raised and do you still recognize such organizations?

The issues raised are largely misunderstandings. Also, I do not officially "recognize" (nor reject) organizations. Remember, EFT is a tool...not an organization. Organizations bring with them politics, power struggles and the like. My goal is to provide EFT as a first class tool and support it the best way I know how. I prefer to do this without organizational umbrellas or handcuffs.

10) Do you have a long term plan regarding the future of EFT and who would you like to see take over once you have retired?

I would like to see EFT become a household word...much like aspirin or band aids. I have no immediate thoughts on retiring.

11) The programs that you are now running are to some a little expensive, is there any way of creating some form of concession?

Look on Google or Yahoo for Certification costs of various modalities. To be certified at ACEP, for example, costs around $2,500. For hypnotherapy, it's around $3,500 and for NLP it's around $6,500. By comparison, our Certification costs are nominal. I wish I could offer everything to everyone for free. However, it now costs $250,000 per year to bring you our website, newsletter and related benefits. Also, I will be spending that much or more for two major films that should dramatically improve the standing of EFT throughout the world (and every EFT'er benefits from this without cost). We charge only a few hundred dollars to help with the Certification costs. I don't know of any investment that provides more potential benefit for such a meager price. So, I hope you will understand that to ask for concessions is unreasonable, not to mention being difficult to administer.

12) Human beings do not like change and so finally what would you advise all of those loyal EFT practitioners, over two thousand in the UK alone - to do with the feelings that they may have around being upset and discouraged by all the changes?

Two things: First, I would ask them to view this through a different set of glasses so they can see the longer term benefits and, second, I would ask them to tell me how else to solve the problems (no one should offer any solution unless they are willing to administer it in practice).

Also....all the changes??? I'm not sure where that comes from because there are only 2 changes. First, there are heightened qualifications to be listed on our EFT practitioners section. This is absolutely necessary to maintain the integrity of EFT. Otherwise, our reputation will gradually sink. However, it is optional. No one has to do this. You can retain any other credentials you have earned. But If you want to be listed, then comply with the requirements. If the requirements are not worth the listing then don't bother with them.

Second, I am no longer approving any EFT workshops because many of them have been embarrassing. Nor will I be listing workshops on our website after October 1, 2008. Instead, people will be directed from our website to internet listings where workshop providers can do any sort of EFT workshop they wish (so long as it is clear that neither Gary Craig nor EFT is supporting or endorsing them). Further, they can set up websites that are far more promotional than is allowed on the EFT website. Testimonials can be displayed as can photos, audios and videos. This is an opportunity not previously available. Nothing has been taken away except my implied endorsement or approval. All else is enhanced.

We thank Gary Craig for taken time to talk with us and wish him the best with the new Certification and Workshop procedures.

Gary Williams

Editor

EFT World Magazine