One of my favorite “demonstrators” when teaching someone EFT is to work with cravings.  I will most often use a Hershey’s Kiss as the “craving target” since most people can get their craving for chocolate fairly high given the opportunity.

I have them look at the still wrapped Kiss and think about “how good that will taste!”   Then I have them unwrap it and smell it while thinking about “how good that will taste!”  Then I allow them to take a little tiny bite of just the tip…just enough to get the flavor, without satisfying the desire for the chocolate.  That process is usually sufficient to get most people to at least a 7-out-of-10 intensity of the craving, and often 10/10!

It is important to rate the craving intensity using the 0 – 10 SUD Scale (Subjective Units Of Distress Scale) BEFORE starting to tap.  The only reason we rate the intensity is so that we can more easily notice the change in intensity from before to after a round of Tapping.

After setting the Kiss on the table in front of them, where they can clearly see it, we do the Setup.  While tapping on the side of the hand (between the base of the little finger and the wrist) they repeat three times, “Even though I crave that chocolate, I deeply and completely love and accept myself.”

Next we tap through the points while using the reminder phrase “Crave that Chocolate!”  This would mean tapping 5-7 times (or as long as it takes to say the reminder phrase) on each of the points (shown in the EFT Cheat Sheet you can download here): 

• Eyebrow
• Side of the eye
• Under the eye
• Under the nose
• Under the lower lip
• Collar Bone (on the end near the sternum or breast bone)
• Under the arm (about 4 inches below the arm pit)
• Top of the head (center top)

I generally tap through the series of points twice before taking another SUDS rating.  

It is not unusual for people to report that the SUDS intensity rating has dropped to zero-to-one after two to four rounds of tapping through the points.   The idea is to keep rating, tapping,  and re-rating until the SUDS level drops “close to zero” at which point the process is complete.

Before you get upset about “taking away my chocolate” I need to let you know that I always use “cheap chocolate” as the demonstrator.  While it does become much easier to say “No” to “cheap chocolate” GOOD chocolate is still GOOD!  The “cheap chocolate” generally just doesn’t taste good or worth eating.  Personally, I found that the Kiss tasted “chemically” the first time I did this!

The video below shows Gary Craig, the creator of Emotional Freedom Techniques, working with Ralph, a Veteran, to reduce his cigarette craving.  This video is part of his 6-Days at the VA series.  Gary had previously worked with Ralph around some of his intrusive PTSD memories, so they have an established rapport which is obvious in the video.

Notice how Gary has the Vet focus on the object of the desired craving.  Also notice how Gary is having him use the 3-point craving killer shortcut!

Thanks for reading this post, and watching the video!  PLEASE leave a comment below!