Tapping Into Calm: How EFT Helps Children Manage Their Emotions
Welcome back to Two Hypnotherapists Talking, the weekly podcast for anyone curious about the fascinating world of hypnosis and the benefits it offers. Your hosts are Denise Billen-Mejia, a retired medical doctor and consultant hypnotist based in Delaware, USA, and Les Roberts, a clinical hypnotherapist in St Helens, United Kingdom, who specializes in working with children.
In this episode, the pair dive into a topic that's "hypnosis-adjacent" but hasn't had much airtime on the show before: EFT, or the Emotional Freedom Technique — better known to most people simply as tapping.
A Timely Topic
Les opened the episode fresh off running a children's workshop on tapping that same morning, along with a one-to-one session with a young client using the technique to manage anxiety. Despite training in EFT not long after qualifying as a hypnotherapist, Les admitted it had sat largely unused for years — until recently, when it became a regular part of both children's and adults' sessions.
Denise pointed out that this is far from unusual. Hypnotherapy training often overlaps with a whole range of complementary techniques, and many practitioners collect tools they don't put into regular practice until the right client — or the right moment — comes along.
What Exactly Is EFT?
For anyone unfamiliar, EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Technique. The idea is simple: by tapping on specific points on the face and hands, you can help release emotional "blockages." A quick search online for "Emotional Freedom Technique" or "tapping" will bring up plenty of visual guides, since it's much easier to learn by watching than by reading a description.
Why It Works So Well for Children
According to Les, tapping is particularly effective with children for a few key reasons:
It's simple. Children need techniques they can actually grasp and use independently, and tapping is easy to teach and easy to remember.
It gives them something to do. Rather than just talking about or thinking through a difficult emotion, children have a physical action to focus on.
It redirects big feelings. Instead of a child tearing paper, breaking things, or acting out when overwhelmed, tapping offers a healthier outlet in the moment.
Rather than explaining the science of "blockages" to children directly, Les reframes the technique as a simple exercise that helps them understand and check in with where they are emotionally — language that's much more accessible for younger minds.
The Basic Tapping Points
While tapping traditionally uses a number of points across the hands and face, Les has condensed the routine down to eight points specifically for teaching children, making it quick and easy to remember. The sequence begins with:
The karate chop point (the outer edge of the hand)
The inner eyebrow
(...and continues through the remaining points across the face and hands)
Since tapping is a visual technique, it's best learned by watching a demonstration — check out the full episode audio for Les's step-by-step walkthrough of the complete eight-point sequence.
