EFT Tapping for Women in Stressful Relationships – Calm Your Body, Regain Clarity

What is EFT Tapping?
EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Techniques, often called “tapping.” This gentle practice involves tapping with your fingertips on 9 specific points—primarily on the face, upper body, and hand—to help calm the nervous system and release emotional stress.

EFT Tapping points

EFT tapping is a simple yet powerful way to calm emotional stress.
It involves gently tapping on specific points on the face and body while focusing on what you’re feeling. Many people experience relief within minutes—especially when emotions feel overwhelming.

 EFT Tapping for Emotional Relief in Overwhelming Relationships

For women coping with an emotionally overwhelming relationship – especially when a loved one’s addiction is involved – life can feel like a roller coaster of worry, fear, and heartache. EFT tapping offers a gentle way to calm that storm. Instead of just dealing with surface symptoms, tapping addresses the stress and painful feelings bubbling underneath. It gives you a safe outlet to release emotional overwhelm, so you can find moments of calm even when things around you are chaotic.

How Tapping Works:

In a coaching session, I guide you through the EFT tapping process. You’ll use your fingertips to gently tap on specific points on your body (like a needle-free form of acupuncture) while focusing on what you’re feeling. This simple technique sends a calming signal to your brain and nervous system. Many women notice their racing thoughts slow down and their tight shoulders ease within minutes. It’s a quick, practical way to reduce stress in the moment and regain a sense of control over your emotions.

Coaching, Not Therapy:

EFT tapping in this context is a coaching tool, not a therapy session. That means we won’t be diagnosing or delving into clinical labels. Instead, we stay present-focused, working on the feelings you have right now and finding immediate relief. You remain in control of your own experience, and my role as your coach is to support and guide you through the process. Over time, you’ll even learn to use tapping on your own whenever you need emotional support. The goal is to empower you with a practical tool that you can rely on any time – whether you’re anxious about a tense conversation or feeling overwhelmed by your partner’s behavior.

Empowerment and Emotional Freedom:

The beauty of EFT tapping is how empowering it feels. Every tapping round helps peel away a layer of stress or hurt, lightening the emotional weight you’ve been carrying. With regular practice, you may find yourself feeling calmer, clearer, and more resilient, even as you navigate the ups and downs of your relationship. This isn’t about pretending everything is fine – it’s about giving yourself the emotional freedom to breathe, think straight, and decide your next steps from a place of inner peace. In a challenging situation that often feels out of control, EFT tapping is one thing you can control – a simple technique to help you find immediate relief and lasting confidence in your own strength.

EFT Tapping Points and Meridians

EFT uses 9 main tapping points on the face, upper body, and hand. These points correspond with areas known in acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine as meridians—pathways that carry energy through the body.

By gently tapping on these points while focusing on what you’re feeling, you help your nervous system relax and your body return to a calmer, more balanced state.

The 9 tapping points include:

  • Side of the hand
  • Eyebrow
  • Side of the eye
  • Under the eye
  • Under the nose
  • Chin
  • Collarbone
  • Under the arm
  • Top of the head

EFT doesn’t require you to believe in energy work or Eastern medicine for it to be effective. Many women simply find that the physical act of tapping, combined with guided words, helps them feel more grounded, centered, and emotionally clear.

20 Minute Free Consultation

I would love to hear from you! I offer a free 20-minute consultation in order to answer any questions you might have and to determine if EFT tapping is something you would be interested in and to mutually decide if my coaching services are a good fit for you. You can schedule that here by clicking the yellow button below.

History of EFT

EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) was developed in the 1990s by Gary Craig, a Stanford-trained engineer with a passion for personal growth. He combined elements of traditional Chinese acupressure with modern psychology to create a simple, self-applied tapping technique.

The idea was to make stress relief more accessible—something anyone could learn and use on their own. Since then, EFT has grown worldwide and is now practiced by coaches, educators, and wellness professionals to help reduce emotional stress and support well-being.

How Does EFT Tapping Work?

The EFT Process

While it is not possible to provide any guarantees, tapping seems to quickly and effectively resolve some issues. More importantly, in working together, we will have the opportunity to explore the things that could be standing in the way of your happiness and well-being and at the same time reduce your stress. Therefore, once you clear those blocks, it is possible to begin the process of restoring your well-being.

Meridian Points

When you’re under stress—especially in relationships that feel emotionally draining—your body can go into fight, flight, or freeze mode. EFT tapping helps calm this stress response by combining gentle touch (tapping) with focused words that name what you’re feeling.

As you tap on specific meridian points, you’re sending calming signals to the brain, especially the amygdala—the part that detects threats. This can help your body shift out of survival mode and into a more balanced, grounded state.

Tapping doesn’t make problems disappear, but it can help reduce the emotional charge around them. That means you may feel less reactive, more centered, and more able to think clearly—especially in moments that used to feel overwhelming.

 It is considered a gentle cognitive, energetic, somatic, technique that is designed to calm the mind and body.

 

EFT tapping has been shown to be effective in reducing distressing thoughts and limiting beliefs. Without a doubt there is significant research to show that tapping can create positive emotional states. Above all, this amazing technique can calm the amygdala in the brain. This is the “fight, flight, freeze” response. Tapping is designed to help restore energy balance to the mind and body and to help to reduce stress levels.

 

 

EFT can help reduce stress

Tapping gives you a practical way to calm your body in the moment—whether you’re dealing with emotional triggers, a difficult conversation, or lingering tension you can’t shake.

In addition, EFT can also help with:

  • Anxious feelings
  • Not sleeping
  • Feeling overwhelmed
  • Reducing stress
  • Weight issues/Cravings
  • Relationship challenges
  • Procrastination
  • Grief
  • Feelings of insecurity

All of these issues have one thing in common

STRESS!!

EFT tapping can be an effective stress relieving technique. In short, it can be used by clients’ in-between sessions. This remarkable technique makes it possible to bring down stress levels. More importantly, tapping can allow you to overcome limiting beliefs. Beliefs that may be holding you back.

How Can I Use EFT?

EFT for Daily Stress and Emotional Upset

Certainly, you can use tapping daily. Specifically, it can help to reduce your stress levels and restore emotional balance.

Indeed, many people also use EFT Tapping in combination with protocols from their doctor or therapist. In this case, you would want to let your health professional know what additional steps you are taking to support your wellbeing.

EFT Tapping Research

How EFT Tapping Has Been Studied

A 2018 systematic review of 41 studies found that EFT tapping can be effective in reducing emotional stress and promoting a greater sense of calm. Many of the studies showed significant improvements in symptoms like anxiety, depression, and PTSD.

While EFT is not a replacement for therapy, the growing research base suggests that tapping can be a powerful self-regulation tool. Many women I work with notice they feel more centered, less reactive, and more emotionally grounded after a single session.

Over 100 studies

Additionally, there are close to 100 studies (and more everyday) that show EFT can be an effective technique for many different conditions.

Below is a summary of a significant research study examining the impact of EFT tapping on the stress hormone cortisol. To read the full abstract click on the link below.

From the Science of Tapping.

“According to a press release from the Foundation for Epigenetic Medicine, “A study published in the prestigious Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, the oldest peer-reviewed psychology journal in the United States, found that Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) lowered the major stress hormone cortisol significantly more than other interventions tested.”

” In a randomized controlled trial (the gold standard of scientific research), 83 subjects were randomly assigned to a single hour-long session of EFT, talk therapy, or rest. Their cortisol levels were measured via a saliva test before and after the session. Cortisol is the “master hormone” regulating many aspects of the body’s stress response mechanisms…”

“The results showed that cortisol levels in the rest and therapy groups declined by an average of 14%, while the EFT group declined 24%. The decline in this physiological marker of stress was also significantly correlated with a decline in anxiety, depression, and other psychological symptoms as measured by a standard psychological assessment tool.”

EFT Tapping has also been shown to reduce the impact of negative emotional memories. Consequently, when distressing thought or memories are reduced or removed, the body’s energy system can rebalance itself.

Research Shows Tapping Can Reduce Your Stress and So Much More!

EFT International has a free downloadable manual that explains the process in detail.

Most importantly, EFT is being researched more and more. It’s clear from the research that it can reduce your stress levels. Being in a woman in a codependent relationship with an addict or alcoholic is unquestionably stressful. While it is not possible to provide any guarantees, people report experiencing positive results with EFT

Clinical trials and research studies:

I would love to hear from you! I offer a free 20-minute consultation in order to answer any questions you might have and to determine if EFT tapping is something you would be interested in and to mutually decide if my coaching services are a good fit for you. You can schedule that here by clicking the yellow button below.

20 Minute Free Consultation

To contact me by email, please click the “contact me” button below.

CONTACT ME

Lynn Hoyland EFT Tapping Coach

lynnhaz11@gmail.com

Phoenix, AZ

925-421-6873

Disclosure While Lynn Hoyland is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) in the state of Arizona, she only offers her coaching services on this website as an Accredited Certified EFT Practitioner. Therefore, her coaching services are separate from and not part of her psychotherapy practice and they are not licensed by the state of Arizona. Lynn Hoyland will not advise, diagnose, treat, or manage mental health disorders. Further, you understand that while she is a LMFT, it does not suggest or imply that she is more qualified than any other practitioner providing similar EFT Tapping coaching services. Please refer to the Disclaimer for further information