Tap dancing

A client of mine at a cancer support group, let’s call her Mary, has been using EFT to good effect. I worked with her a little while ago about test anxiety. This test anxiety is not about a driving test, or a maths exam, but a call back to hospital after several years remission from breast cancer to investigate a suspicious lump.

Shortly before she was due to be tested, we worked together in an EFT session reducing the fears and anxieties surrounding the test and what it might mean. She was naturally apprehensive, fear of re-occurrence is a is a big issue for people who have been through cancer, come out the other side, and have no inclination to go back. The test was a needle biopsy using a mammograph machine, where medical staff use a long needle through the skin to remove samples from the suspicious area, in this case behind the breast against the chest wall. The medical staff had to make several attempts before they got the tissue sample they wanted, going away and coming back a few times, while Mary had to sit still and wait.

Since she wasn’t able to move Mary couldn’t physically tap on the acupuncture points so she had to imagine tapping on them instead. If you’ve had a little practice this is almost as good as tapping on the points physically.

These tests are quite stress provoking, the waiting room was full of people wringing their hands in anticipation of their test. She had been sitting serenely through the whole process and the nurse commented how calm she was.“You’re not clenching your fists or gritting your teeth. Why is that?”

Mary answered “Because I’m tapping”

“Oh I love tap dancing!”, replied the nurse brightly, “Where do you go?”

Mary had to explain that wasn’t quite what she was doing, rather that she was mentally running through the EFT procedure, imagining tapping on the acupressure points to relieve any anxieties she may have had about the test.

Given the amount of stress and anxiety about this procedure it would have been nice to be able to teach all the other people in that waiting room how to “tap dance”.

Happily the test results came back negative, Mary is still in the clear.