Learn EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) By Home
Study
back to Articles Index
Befriending Your Gremlins with EFT
by Morris Berg
EFT Scripts to Turn Your Inner Critical Voices into Allies
Level of EFT knowledge required: Basic EFT/ tapping
The “gremlin” is the name given to our inner critical voice by Richard Carson in his book “Taming Your Gremlin”. It is known by many other names, some of which are listed in this article on GottaGettaCoach® : http://www.ggci.com/NotCoaching/NotGremlin.htm
The critical voice, for most people, is heard like your own voice in your head. Some people don’t hear their critical voice – instead they may have a feeling or a sense that tells them they should not be doing something, or that they have screwed up, or that sends them guilt. Sometimes it is a sense of feeling anxious or that something awful may happen.
Where does the critical voice come from? There are different views. It’s possible that some of these critical voice thoughts stem from criticisms you received as a child. However, NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming) holds that your unconscious mind is always trying to do its best for you even though it might work in unskilful ways. So according to this viewpoint your critical voice – which comes from the unconscious – is trying to do you a favour. Perhaps it is trying to save you from disappointment, or wanting to show you how it thinks you can succeed.
When you do EFT, it’s not important to know where the voice comes from or what its purpose is before you start tapping. After you make some progress with tapping, relevant insights might come.
In a presentation on Tapping World Summit 2010, EFT Master Judy Byrne (her website is at www.judybyrne.co.uk) explained that repetition of the thoughts expressed by the critical voice create a field. That field is what affects our energy system and leads to negative emotions. When we tap, we are letting that negative thought field dissipate and at the same time we are programming positive thoughts into our brains.
Judy Byrne also agrees that the voice can be our friend and that it is helping us. Her approach is to thank the voice and suggest that it helps us differently.
One of the ways that the voice can help us in EFT is by reminding us of events that happened in the past. Those memories then become specific issues we can tap on.
Here is a tapping script for using EFT to work in partnership with the Gremlin or inner critical voice, reframing it from a nuisance to an ally. Note that this example uses the Top of the Head point (not used by all EFT practitioners) as it gives an additional chance for you to make a statement to tap on.
The following example is my own interpretation that is loosely based on what I learned from Judy Byrne’s presentation combined with an NLP technique of my own called the 3-Second Reframe (a variation of the classic NLP 6-step reframe), and further influenced by insights from the work of other EFT experts including Patricia Carrington and Silvia Hartmann.
Acknowledging the Gremlin
In the following statements, you can substitute the name you want to call your Gremlin or just call it your “inner voice”. Also change any other part of the wording to make it more accurate or relevant for you.
Karate Chop or Sore Spot:
Even though my Gremlin tells me that I can never be good enough, I deeply and completely accept myself
Even though the Gremlin always criticizes me and as a result I feel down, I am still able to completely accept myself
Even though I can’t stand my Gremlin continuing to bug me, I still accept myself and I accept my Gremlin for being exactly what it is
Top of Head: My Gremlin keeps telling me that I don’t deserve anything
EB: It just won’t go away
SE: When things go bad it tells me that it told me so
UE: I just feel worse when it goes on and on
UN: I know that it is trying to do something positive for me
CH: I acknowledge and thank it for making the effort
CB: I know it really wants me to be happy though it doesn’t seem like it
UA: I know it’s a valuable part of me
TH: And I wonder if it’s willing to change the way it’s helping
EB: Because it might have worked at some time but it’s just not working now
SE: And so the time has come to ask the Gremlin to learn just as it wants me to learn
UE: And maybe we can learn together how to be different
UN: First of all I want to thank and acknowledge the part of me that set up the Gremlin a long time ago
CH: And maybe different Gremlins for different experiences or different times
CB: And they can all join together now because I would like to talk to them all as a team
UA: They have been doing a lot of talking and I wonder how easy it is for them to listen for a change
Reframing the Gremlin
Karate Chop or Sore Spot: Even though my Gremlin voices have been with me for so long and trying to guide me along the way I accept all these parts of me as valuable
Even though my Gremlins didn’t realise the effect they were having on me I thank the Gremlins for doing their very best that they knew how to do
Even though the Gremlins started giving me their messages a long time ago, I need them to know that I am a fully grown adult and mature man/woman and am different than I was as a child
TH: I give permission for my Gremlins to access the entire storehouse of my memories, knowledge and experiences, both conscious and unconscious, right now
EB: I give permission for my Gremlins to access the wise and creative part of my being, beyond my conscious mind, right now
SE: And I wonder if, when they consider all my experiences and all I have learnt and all that has happened since I became an adult
UE: Whether my Gremlins still find it necessary to give me the same messages they have been giving me for years
UN: Or whether they can bring their information up to date and get from my wise and creative part some new strategies for helping me now in a healthy way
CH: And I thank my Gremlins for being able to do that now and to help me with my life from now on by supporting everything good that I wish to accomplish
CB: And by sending me messages of encouragement and intuition
UA: And they know it’s no longer necessary to use those old criticizing messages
TH: And thank you, Gremlins, and the Wise/Creative part of my Self, and my whole being for supporting me in positive change. And so shall it be.
Gamut point: And from now on, I will call the inner voices that can give me positive encouragement by a new name. Instead of Gremlins I’ll call them ______ (think of a positive name)
A Decision Needs Many Sources of
Information
Whether they send us positive or negative messages, our inner voices are a source of information and not the only information we need in order to make a decision. Conscious decisions need the input of as many sources of information as possible: what we know through our senses, what factual knowledge we have, what we learn from other people, our feelings and intuition and our common sense. If we depend on only one source of information, our decision is likely to be unbalanced. Use your new inner ally or allies wisely.
You may still get a criticizing message at times. However, it will be much easier to treat it as “feedback” instead of “failure” – we all learn by being told what is working for us as well as what we are doing that isn’t working. Sometimes we make mistakes and need to recognize them. Mistakes, like our inner voices, can then be our friends.
About the author
Morris Berg is an EFT Practitioner and Meridian Psychotherapist and is the owner of this site (see the about us page for more information).
This article is copyright © Morris Berg 2010 and must not be reproduced in any form without written permission from the author.
Apply for the EFT 1 & 2 course now
email:
kadcourses@tiscali.co.uk
Copyright © UK College of Holistic Training 2010.