Going Further with EFT · Seven-part course
Download Let It Go · Course contents
Start gently, at your own pace
You can begin by learning the tapping points and trying them with a small, everyday frustration. There is no need to start with your hardest experience or search for an earlier memory.
Choose something you feel comfortable giving a little attention to while still noticing the room around you. Stay curious about what you notice, without needing a particular result.
You are in charge of the pace. You can pause, change your wording or finish at any time. Even a brief tapping practice can be worthwhile. Any easing in intensity, however small, is worth recognising. You do not have to reach zero or resolve everything in one sitting.
If you know an experience is traumatic or feels overwhelming to approach, leave that one for supported work with a qualified professional experienced in trauma. You can still use this guide to learn the basics.
If strong feelings or memories arise
Pause the exercise if you feel overwhelmed, disconnected from your surroundings, or as though a memory is happening again. Look around, notice a few objects near you, and bring your attention back to where you are now. You do not need to push through or work out what it means.
If you need help settling, reach out to someone you trust or find free support through the link below. You do not have to work through this alone.
You can stop at any point and come back another time. There is no need to push through or complete a full round.
PART FIVE
When something bigger surfaces
Part of a free seven-part course on tapping, and worth reading on its own regardless of where you start, since it’s about staying safe with this kind of work. Part One is the beginning of the course, if you’d like the fuller picture.
Everything in this course so far has assumed the feelings you're working with are everyday in scale, a knot about Monday, a circling worry, tension before a hard conversation. That's what tapping brings up for almost everyone, almost all of the time.
Occasionally it brings up more. This part covers what that can look like and what to do about it, so you have it in hand if you ever need it.
What it can look like
You might notice a feeling climbing rather than settling, even after a few rounds. A memory may start to pull you in rather than simply feeling like something you're remembering. You may also feel foggy or far away, or notice your heart racing. None of this means you've done anything wrong. It means you've reached something that needs more support than a self-guided round can give, which is worth knowing.
What to do
Keep tapping. The instinct is to stop, but continuing is what actually helps.
If the feeling is climbing, keep a steady pace through the points you already know. If what you're noticing is more like fogginess or distance, slow right down instead, light tapping on one or two points rather than the full sequence tends to help more here.
Either way, let go of the specific memory and swap the words for something plain, "this feeling," "this issue," or just "stay with me." You're not trying to resolve what surfaced. You're using the tapping to bring you back, the same way it settles a smaller feeling, just a little longer or gentler this time. Keep going until your breathing slows and the room feels present again. Looking around and naming a few things you can see helps too.
You can also stop altogether, at any point, and that's a completely valid choice too. Step away, put your hands down, call someone, or simply sit quietly for a moment. Tapping is one way back to steady ground, not the only one, and there's no rule that says you have to keep going with it if it isn't what you need right now.
If you find yourself here, reach out, to me or another professional, rather than working through it alone. That's exactly what the earlier parts of this course have been pointing you toward all along.
The boundary that matters
Please don't work on trauma alone. Not because you can't be trusted with your own feelings, but because this is genuinely skilled work, best done with someone alongside you. That's the real boundary between self-help and supported work.
If something bigger has surfaced, that's what sessions are for, offered online worldwide as well as in person, so reaching out is available wherever you're reading this from.
If you'd like extra support
In New Zealand, you can free call or text 1737 any time for a trained counsellor, or call 111 if you or someone else is in immediate danger. Elsewhere, a crisis line, a doctor, or someone you trust is a good place to start. You don't need to be in crisis to make that call. Feeling overwhelmed is reason enough.
Vicki Harding offers complementary wellness and energy-based services. ConTact C.A.R.E Flinchlock Release is a martial arts based discipline and describes itself as a practical study in the nature of stillness. All services on this site, including ConTact C.A.R.E, are complementary and are intended to support general wellbeing alongside, not in place of, care from your doctor or other health professional. Individual experiences vary. Nothing on this website is intended as medical advice, or as a diagnosis, treatment or cure for any medical condition. You remain responsible for your own health decisions, and are encouraged to consult a licensed doctor or mental-health professional for any medical or psychological concerns.
Most people never need anything in this part beyond having read it once. It's here so that if you're the exception, you already know what to do.
The next part is something lighter, making this a practice you can actually sustain.