By Carol Look, EFT Master
A forty year old man, "Fred," contacted me for help to
quit chewing tobacco, a habit he began during his college
years. He had become so good at hiding the "chew" that he
could use it during business meetings and cocktail parties
without anyone discovering it. He had tried quitting
before, but had never succeeded beyond the first few
urgent cravings or predictable stress-related relapses.
I introduced Fred to EFT and began by asking him how
high his current craving to chew tobacco was on the Sud's
scale, a scale of 0-10. After opening his tin of tobacco
and smelling it, he said his current urge was about an 8.
(I always ask smokers to bring their cigarettes, lighters
and tobacco.) We tapped for the current craving until it
was reduced to a 2 or 3. The next round of tapping made
him feel nauseated and repulsed by the smell of his
tobacco.
I then asked Fred about his "favorite" times of the day
for chewing tobacco. These, of course, needed to be
neutralized. His first choice was with his morning coffee.
I had him smell coffee out of a coffee tin from my office
freezer and then smell his tin of tobacco. Despite his
nauseated feeling associated with the tobacco after the
last round of tapping, he was able to rate a new urge as
high as an 8. We tapped for the coffee/tobacco craving
until it was reduced to a 1 or 2.
"Even though I want to chew when I drink my
coffee..."Even though the smell of coffee reminds me of
chewing and relaxing..."
Fred's next most difficult time to resist chewing
tobacco was when he drank alcohol with his friends. I had
him imagine being in this setting drinking his favorite
beverage with his best friends and NOT being able to chew.
His discomfort and anxiety reached about a 7. We tapped as
follows:
"Even though drinking makes me want to chew...""Even
though I crave chewing when I drink, I deeply and
completely accept myself.""Even though I'd feel anxious if
I couldn't chew when we're all together drinking..."
I continued to pursue future times Fred could
anticipate when he might miss chewing tobacco or feel
anxious without the security of it. He suspected he would
feel anxious during business meetings without his tobacco,
so we tapped for this scenario. His final projected
difficult time without tobacco was picturing himself in
the car on a long drive with his two child being loud and
restless. We tapped as follows:
"Even though I feel anxious if I can't chew in the car,
I deeply and completely accept myself.""Even though I feel
the need to chew when the child are screaming..."
I then asked questions about the "upside/downside" of
his addiction and any beliefs about himself and the
tobacco. The following "tappable" feelings and beliefs
emerged:
"I feel rebellious when I chew.""I don't want to give
it up, I'm afraid to give it up.""The upside is that it
makes me feel strong/ it calms me down.""The downside is
that I'm sick of the smell.""I hate being "had" by an
addiction. I'm ashamed of that.""I believe I need to use
something.""Chewing keeps me entertained when I'm
bored.""Chewing keeps my feelings suppressed...and I need
that."
We tapped for all of these feelings and for the loss
and sadness associated with giving up his long-term
"friend." (Much to Fred's surprise, this triggered other
losses which we evidently needed to tap away.)
We continued to tap for any remaining feelings and
fears about future urges, withdrawal feelings, not being
able to chew when stressed out, and any other discomfort
associated with quitting.
Twenty-one months later, Fred has remained free of his
chewing tobacco addiction although he continues to tap for
emotional feelings and limiting beliefs that get in the
way of his personal happiness. He finds EFT gives him
great clarity of thought and direction in addition to
calming him down.
It is important to note that Fred has weathered
extremely stressful times over the past year that would
have normally triggered a relapse had his deep anxiety and
grief not been neutralized with EFT. The top two potential
relapse triggers Fred faced were his year-long
unemployment, which has caused deep marital conflict, and
the death of his father after a battle with cancer.
Despite these enormous losses and stressful times, Fred
has not needed to tap for any urges to resume chewing
tobacco.
Carol Look
