Success Using EFT with High School Students

I am retiring from my career as a high school art teacher next week, and I will be focusing more of my time and energy on being an EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) practitioner.

Here are a few examples of working with some of my students in the last couple of weeks.

“Joe” asked me to help him with his batting. His average was 110, and it was the end of the season.

His SUDS was 7/10 for being nervous. During the first round we used statements such as:
Even though I am inconsistent with my swing, I am an OK kid. ET I can’t time the ball…

(At school I use, “I am an OK kid,” and have youth tap their karate chop instead of rubbing their sore spot. I always tap along on myself, and I tap the crown of the head saying, “releasing nervousness,” or whatever is being addressed. As they tap on each of the meridians saying the reminder phrase, I encourage them to inhale and exhale.)

“Joe’s” SUDS dropped to 5/10 after one round.
For the second round we added:
ET I am a lousy hitter, I am an OK kid.
ET I am afraid of missing the ball, I am still a good hitter (made him laugh).
ET I feel like I messed up…

His SUDS dropped to 2-3/10.
I had him tap his crown saying “remaining nervousness,” and then tap his meridians while breathing and alternating:
• I’m afraid of missing the ball.
• I’m a good hitter.
• I remember the fundamentals of hitting.
• I have been a lousy hitter.
• I’m a good hitter.
• I swing if it is in the strike zone.

His SUDS then went down to a zero.

His second-to-last-game and final game “Joe” hit the ball well even though he did not reach base.

We also worked on his pitching, but I didn’t take any notes. He had an improvement on his pitching, too. I talked to his coach last night, and he had seen an improvement on both “Joe’s” hitting and pitching. The coach sees the value in eft and working with young athletes.


Another day I noticed a student with a pained look on her face. She said she had an abscessed tooth, and she had forgotten her medication and couldn’t concentrate enough to work on her assignment. Her pain level was 8/10.

We used these statements for the first round:
ET I have an abscessed tooth, I am an OK kid.
ET I forgot my medication …
ET there is throbbing pain up the right side of my face…
ET they might have to pull the tooth out…

Her pain level dropped to 6/10 after the first found.
The second round it dropped to 4/10.
We used the above statements and “ET it still hurts….”
I noticed that she made a growling noise. So, I had her continue with the above statements and had her “GURRRR” louder—which made her giggle.
ET thought this throbbing pain is still here GURRRRR.

It dropped to a 1/10. One more round brought it to no pain!!!

I listen for little noises that aren’t really words and encourage clients to do it louder.


A few minutes later in the same class, Alex asked if I could help him with his batting average which was .280. Class was almost over, and I told him that we had time to do only one round. He was quickly able to tell me the stories that could be making it hard for him to succeed. We used:

ET I might strike out, I’m an OK kid.
ET I might be too cocky…
ET I have had an off-balanced swing…
ET I might not hit the top…
ET I’m afraid of swinging and missing…
ET I’ve been in a slump…

He tapped and alternated reminder phrases (and breathed)
• Striking out
• Hit a home run
• Too cocky
• Hit a home run
• Off-balanced swing
• Good hitter
• Swinging and missing
• Home run

He only had one game left in the season—the last one, and he hit 3 out of 5 or .600! He made that incredible improvement with just one round of eft (while students were putting their things away and getting ready to leave class).

If I had more space I would share additional stories of eft wonders in my classroom, including alleviating headaches, stomach aches, migraines, and the stress of growing up.