Tapping for Anxiety: What is it and How Does it Work?

Tapping, also known as Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), is a simple, yet highly effective, evidence-based tool. It combines elements of traditional Chinese medicine, such as stimulation of acupuncture points, with components of modern Western therapies such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), exposure therapy, and Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).

EFT sends calming signals to your brain that help reset your body’s nervous system and quickly reduce symptoms of anxiety, pain, or emotional distress. The process involves using your fingertips to tap on specific points of your face, head, and upper body, while identifying and acknowledging the negative feeling you want to release. You accept and reframe it by pairing it with a positive affirmation that shifts the focus from what is wrong to what is possible.

The Science Behind Tapping

The involuntary functions of your body, such as heart rate, breathing, and digestion, happen without conscious thought. They are controlled by two branches of your autonomic nervous system: the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems.

Your sympathetic nervous system is responsible for your body’s fight-or-flight response. When it senses danger, it acts as an alarm system, triggering physiological changes such as speeding up your heart rate and breathing, and tensing your muscles, to prepare your body to handle the perceived threat. In contrast, your parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for relaxation and acts as a rest and digest system that slows things down to conserve energy and promote recovery.

Scientific studies, including brain wave scans, have shown that tapping can influence brain processes related to stress and emotional regulation. It can also produce profound physical changes related to your autonomic nervous system by sending electrochemical impulses to the parts of the brain that control stress and anxiety. This disrupts fight or flight signals and rewires neural pathways.

Effects of tapping on the amygdala The amygdala is the part of the brain responsible for triggering your body’s fight-or-flight response in the face of a perceived threat. Tapping on specific points significantly reduces levels of the stress hormone, cortisol. This sends a calming signal to the amygdala, letting it know that you are safe and it can relax.

Effects of tapping on the prefrontal cortex The prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain responsible for reasoning, decision-making, and emotional regulation. When you are stressed or anxious, you can become overwhelmed and impair your ability to think clearly or rationally. Tapping helps restore balance by reducing the emotional impact created by stressors.

Effects of tapping on your autonomic nervous system Tapping helps activate your parasympathetic nervous system and shift your body from a state of stress and high alert to one of calm. It slows your heart rate and breath, reduces blood pressure, relaxes your body, and restores its natural flow of energy that enables physical and emotional healing to take place.

How Tapping for Anxiety Works

It turns off the fight-or-flight response The physical act of tapping stimulates pressure points connected to your body’s fight-or-flight stress response system. It neurologically disrupts its signals and sends a calming signal to the amygdala, letting it know you are safe, and it can relax.

It pairs exposure with relaxation Tapping combines two evidence-based therapeutic elements. exposure therapy (thinking about what makes you anxious) and a calming physical activity. This process helps your brain create new associations with anxiety triggers by connecting a feared situation with the calming sensation of tapping instead of distress. This reduces the trigger’s emotional charge over time.

It helps reframe negative thought patterns Speaking phrases that acknowledge your anxiety while affirming self-acceptance as you tap mirrors the cognitive behavioral practice of recognizing and reframing negative thought patterns. Doing this has been shown to reduce the intensity of distressing feelings.

It provides distraction and focus Tapping in the correct sequence requires attention and may serve as a distraction that interrupts your anxious thoughts while giving your mind something concrete to focus on.

How to Practice Tapping for Anxiety

The tapping for anxiety technique follows a set sequence that begins with truth. Bringing your distressing emotions out into the open and voicing and addressing them, rather than burying them deeper into your subconscious mind, is the first step toward being able to release them.

Identify the issue Name what you are feeling (e.g., anxiety) and be specific about what you are feeling anxious about. For example, “I feel overwhelmed by anxiety about how I am going to pay my bills.”

Rate your anxiety level Rate your anxiety level on a scale of 0 to 10 to create a baseline you can use to measure the effectiveness of the technique and provide feedback on your progress.

Create a setup statement A setup statement is a phrase that acknowledges your anxiety, but shifts your perspective by pairing it with a statement of acceptance and positive affirmation. For instance, “Even though I feel overwhelmed by this anxiety, I deeply and completely accept myself and give my body permission to relax.”

Tap the side of the hand point Repeat your setup statement three times while using your fingertips to tap the fleshy area below the pinky finger of your other hand 5-7 times.

Tap through the sequence points Tap 5-7 times on each of the following eight points, in the order listed. Do this while repeating a shorter reminder phrase that describes your feelings (see sample script):

• The inner edge of your eyebrow, near the bridge of your nose – “This anxiety.”
• The bone on the side of your eye – “It is weighing me down.”
• The bone underneath your eye – “It feels overwhelming.”
• Under your nose, right above your top lip – “I feel it in my stomach.”
• Under your bottom lip, just above your chin – “My heart is racing.”
• Your collarbone – “I am safe right now.”
• Under your arm, just beneath your armpit – “Ready to let it go.”
• The top of your head (to help anchor in the new mindset) – “I choose to feel calm instead.”

Check your anxiety level At the end of the round, reassess your anxiety level. If it is still high, repeat until your level of distress decreases.

Christian Versus Secular Tapping for Anxiety

The primary difference between Christian and secular tapping is the affirmations used during the tapping process. While both use the same physical tapping points to signal safety to the brain, reduce the fight-or-flight response, and calm the nervous system, Christian tapping invites God into the process.

Instead of using the generic secular setup statements that encourage self-acceptance and self-reliance, Christian tapping incorporates Scripture and biblical affirmations into the setup statement, pairing your personal admission of anxiety with a declarative fact about God. This helps anchor your mind in biblical truth and shift your focus from fear to faith.

Christian Setup Statements for Tapping

• Even though I feel overwhelmed by anxiety, I accept myself and put my trust in the Lord.
• Even though I feel anxious, I know God is working in me, and no weapon formed against me shall prosper.
• Even though my heart is troubled, I cast all my cares on the Lord, for He cares for me.
• Even though I am anxious about tomorrow, I have nothing to fear because the Lord is with me wherever I go.

Christian Tapping Point Reminder Phrases

My help comes from the Lord
Christ has set me free from anxiety and fear
I am more than a conqueror
I am filled with God’s peace and love
God has not given me a spirit of fear
I receive God’s peace
His peace that surpasses understanding
I cast my care
He cares for me
He will provide

Learn More About Tapping for Anxiety 

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