Seven Years

Dear Tappers

Last week I wrote about the three pillars that support a livelihood based on EFT namely: Experience, Reputation and Systems (or processes). Well that got me to thinking more about how my practice has grown from an acorn to a recognisable Oak over the last seven years and what were the phases that I went through since first reading Gary's manual.

I usually do my thinking when walking, particularly when walking slowly uphill. If I lived in San Francisco I'd be a philosopher! Anyway wandering up Skipton fell the other evening I identified four phases. I'll give those names and write about each one in the next few blogs:

• student
• apprentice
• practitioner
• master

The student phase is when you are first getting your hands on the tools of your trade and more importantly learning how to learn. I feel blessed to have learned how to learn about therapeutic change work through Wilf Proudfoot. Wilf now in his eighties teaches Hypnosis and Neuro Linguistic Programming in Scarborough, North Yorkshire and has done for over twenty five years. Wilf's life has a theme of communication: as an RAF technical trainer; building a grocery business in the early days of supermarkets; as a Member of Parliament; and in owning and managing an offshore radio station.

He told me that as an MP he had been to see a Hypnotherapist for help with his weight. It hadn't helped much but he became fascinated by the process and by the subconscious mind. On leaving parliament he travelled to America and trained in hypnoisis with the renowned traditional hypnotherapist Gill Boyne and then with the greats of NLP: John Grinder, Steve Andreas and Robert Dilts. His greatest influence though was Virginia Satir and he became a good friend of hers several times attended her month long working retreats in Crested Butte Colorado and with her the Evolution of Psychotherapy and other conferences of the Milton H Erickson Foundation.

Wilf then set to work bringing all this skill and knowhow to the people of Scarborough. He began teaching NLP and modern Hypnosis long before these became popular and eager students travelled from all over the counry (and from other countries too) to his intensive week long classes.

It was at one of these that I first entered my student phase and began learning to learn. Wilf teaches entirely by practical demonstration and exercises (he says you can read theory in a book) . He takes a ramble around a topic, invites someone up and works with whatever arises and for however long it takes and then we all split into twos and did the same. There was a lot of laughter and some tears.

Initially it was disorienting for someone who has two degrees and had always learned by theory, by reading and analysing and writing to learn in this way, this playful, practical and simple but chaotic way. Yet somehow I learned to observe people, to listen to their exact words and tone and some natural creativity in me that had been longing for this kicked in and to my surprise I discovered talent!

We got our hands on many techniques of hypnosis and the patterns of NLP in this way. I look back now and realise that as much as learning techniques I was learning how to learn in this new field. Learning what worked through experience, observation and feedback and how to trust my inner guidnace rather than referencing to external authorities.

So that when someone showed me EFT it came easily into my toolbox and I then devoured Gary Craig's (then) three video tape sets and spent long hours in my local library scouring www.emofree.com I started tapping with friends and they and I were astounded as stuff just changed!

The student stage is about getting your hands on the tools in a practical way. Becoming familiar with the techniques. Getting used to being with a person with the intention of their change and letting all your senses tune into them and absorb where they are at. Getting practiced at choosing the approach to fit the person and the problem.

In the EFT world Level One and Two training is your entry to the student stage. Supplement that with Gary Craig's dvds and reading the treasure trove of articles on www.emofree.com The delight of EFT is that there is so much you can use to fuel your learning that does not cost much.

More next week,

Happy Tapping

Gwyneth