EFT Tapping for Eating Disorder Recovery

If you’re currently in eating disorder recovery, you may be looking for accessible tools to help you get through hard moments without making things feel even more overwhelming. You might be struggling with anxiety before meals, body image distress, guilt after eating, or urges to restrict, binge, purge, or overexercise, and want to be able to get through it without using a behaviour to try to feel better. In these moments, I find it can help to have something simple, grounding, and easy to reach for.

One tool that some people find supportive, and that I turned to a lot during my own recovery, is EFT tapping, also called Emotional Freedom Technique. I find that it can be a wonderfully gentle and accessible way to quickly help regulate emotions, slow down urges, and reconnect with the present moment.

 

What Is EFT Tapping?

EFT tapping involves gently tapping on a series of acupressure points on the body while focusing on a distressing thought, feeling, or urge. At the same time, you say a phrase that helps you acknowledge what’s happening internally without judgment.

For example, you might say:

“Even though I feel anxious after eating, I’m here with myself right now.”

Or:

“Even though part of me wants to restrict, I want to care for myself in this moment.”

...while tapping on the specific points.

The goal is not to fix your feelings or force yourself to be positive, but rather to help your nervous system settle enough so that you can respond to yourself with more choice and calm. In practice, tapping can create a small but meaningful pause between a trigger and an eating disorder behaviour, and this small but profound pause may give you just enough space to use another recovery skill, reach out for support, or make a choice that feels more aligned with your recovery-oriented values.

 

A Gentle Way to Try EFT Tapping

If you’re curious about trying EFT tapping, here is a simple way to start:

• Pause and notice what is happening.
  What are you feeling right now — anxiety, guilt, an urge, shame, panic? And if you can’t name it specifically, that is okay.
• Rate the intensity.
  Ask yourself, “On a scale from 0 to 10, how intense is this feeling?”
• Use a grounding phrase.
  For example:
  • “Even though I feel a strong urge to binge, I want to stay present.”
  • “Even though I’m really uncomfortable in my body right now, I can offer myself compassion.”
  • “Even though eating feels terrifying, I am safe enough to take this one moment at a time.”
• Tap gently through the points.
  Many people tap on the side of the hand, eyebrow, side of the eye, under the eye, under the nose, chin, collarbone, and under the arm. If you want a basic overview, this guide from The Tapping Solution also gives a good introduction:https://www.thetappingsolution.com/tapping-101.php
• Check in again.
  Has the intensity shifted at all? Even a small decrease can be meaningful.

The goal is not to make yourself feel perfectly calm, but rather to help yourself feel supported enough to choose the next recovery-oriented step.

 

Final Thoughts

EFT might seem quite out there, and I was very skeptical at first when my mom encouraged me to try it. However, every time I would remember to use it in a moment of distress, I was surprised at how it would calm my nervous system down, and my wise mind self, my recovery-motivated self, would feel stronger and more present.

If it sounds like something you might want to try, I am so happy you found this post. Below I’ve included some of the authors and resources that I’ve found the most helpful, but they are just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many practitioners and resources in this space, and you might come across one who you resonate with even more.

With so much love and hope for your healing journey,