Latest news with #EFT
CNA
13 hours ago
- Health
- CNA
What is tapping, and can it really improve mental health?
It looks a little goofy. A self-help method called ' tapping,' which involves using the fingertips to perform acupressure while countering negative emotions with breathing exercises and positive affirmations, has elicited eye-rolls from some mental health professionals. 'I'm safe in my car,' a woman on TikTok says as she practises the technique, using a finger to tap the top of her head, then the side of her eyebrow and the middle of her chin. 'I am my safe space.' In the video, she explains that driving by herself is a struggle, but tapping has helped lower her anxiety and refocus her thoughts. Anecdotes like this are easy to find on social media. Over the last 15 years or so, tapping has also popped up on wellness podcasts, TV shows and even the best-seller list. As a result, the practice, also known as the Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT, has attracted a devoted following and become a big business. But many experts remain skeptical. WHERE DID TAPPING COME FROM? Tapping, which falls under the umbrella of energy psychology, originated from a technique called Thought Field Therapy developed by the psychologist Roger Callahan in the 1980s. He conceived of it while working with a patient who had a severe phobia of water, which Dr Callahan tried treating in various ways, including exposure therapy by the pool. One day, when the patient complained that just looking at the water gave her a stomachache, Dr Callahan told her to tap firmly under her eye, an area he knew to be associated with the ' stomach meridian ' in traditional Chinese medicine. According to Dr Callahan, after two minutes of tapping, the patient declared her stomachache had disappeared, along with her fear of the water. Dr Callahan developed Thought Field Therapy from there, contending that some patients required a series of acupressure points to be touched in a specific order. Thought Field Therapy was discredited by psychology experts, in part because there isn't a way to measure energy meridians, nor any evidence that proves they exist. But in the 1990s, Gary Craig, a Stanford graduate who later became an ordained minister, rebranded the technique, creating a simplified version called EFT. Proponents suggest that tapping not only relieves stress and anxiety but can also improve symptoms of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction and chronic pain, among other maladies. Practitioners now pay hundreds of dollars to take EFT courses or pursue an official certification. DOES IT WORK? Even though there are more than 200 studies that examine meridian tapping, this body of work is not as robust as it might sound. Research that claims to highlight the effectiveness of EFT has been riddled by conflicts of interest, small sample sizes, statistical errors and a lack of rigour. For these reasons, prominent members of the American Psychological Association have said that the push to popularise EFT is based on pseudoscience. 'When you really look at the evidence, it falls apart,' said Cassandra L Boness, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of New Mexico and the lead author of a peer-reviewed commentary published in 2024 that raised concerns about the quality of EFT research and questioned the effectiveness of the technique. But that isn't to say that EFT is useless, experts said. Those who try the technique are instructed to think about or do activities they may find scary or uncomfortable – a form of exposure therapy, which is a powerful way of regulating emotions. Tapping also involves taking a moment to explore one's thoughts, which therapists say can help people understand their behavior. In essence, tapping is 'a hodgepodge of interventions, some of which are, I'm sure, quite effective,' said David F Tolin, the director of the Anxiety Disorders Center at the Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut. But there isn't high-quality research to show that tapping itself is the active ingredient, he added. WHAT'S THE HARM? Despite the lacklustre evidence, some patients and therapists insist tapping truly helps. 'It doesn't replace existing best practises for treating PTSD, depression, addictions or other serious conditions,' said David Feinstein, who offers classes and certifications in energy medicine, along with his wife. But, in his opinion, it can make those treatments more effective. Melissa Lester, a psychotherapist in Sandy Springs, Georgia, said she found tapping could provide quick benefits, including a calmer, clearer mind. She decided to become certified in the technique because she wanted to give her clients an alternative when methods offered by other therapists, like cognitive behavioural therapy, didn't produce the desired results. Providing an alternative treatment can indeed be useful to patients, Dr Boness said, but she questioned whether it was ethical to do so in the absence of rigorous scientific evidence. Her 'biggest fear,' she added, was that vulnerable people would turn to tapping, and then find that it doesn't work. 'It's not actually a psychological treatment,' she said.
News24
21-06-2025
- Business
- News24
Who earns interest on my money when I transfer between banks?
When money 'disappears' during an EFT, no one earns interest—not you, not the recipient. But banks still benefit by holding the funds on their books, writes Maya Fisher-French. With millions of interbank transfers made every day, what happens to the interest during the transfer? This is the question from News24 reader Ian, who wrote: 'I make a normal EFT transaction transferring from Capitec to TymeBank. The funds immediately disappear from my account, but only appear several hours later at the receiving bank. If I transfer on a Saturday afternoon, they only reappear on Monday. Where are the funds in between? I'm certainly not getting any interest.' Marin Cundall, managing executive of Retail Payments at TymeBank, explained that when making a normal EFT, there are banking hours and days. The system to process these payments between banks is simply not available at certain times. When a transaction is processed on Saturday afternoon, for example, the EFT window is already closed. The bank debits the account but keeps the credit queued until the window for processing opens on Monday at 08:30. The Payment Association of South Africa (PASA) says the process generally involves holding funds in the paying bank's internal account until clearing and settlement are completed. Interest is only earned on funds once they are physically reflected in your account. According to Capitec, banks don't pay or earn interest on funds that are still in the process of clearing. Interest is only accrued once the money is fully cleared and available in the client's account. In short, no interest is paid to anyone while the funds are being transferred. But does the bank earn interest? To put it simply, banks have a balance sheet that they use to lend money, and in turn, they charge interest. To raise the money to lend out, banks encourage people to deposit funds with them by paying interest on those funds. They may also borrow from other banks, including the SA Reserve Bank, in which case the bank is paying interest. During a transfer, those funds are still on the bank's balance sheet and form part of their lending book. The bank would be 'saving' money by not paying interest, but most current accounts do not earn interest, so the impact on the individual is probably limited. However, given that billions of rands are being transferred every day, delays in transferring funds waste potential interest that could be earned. The move away from the traditional EFT system towards faster systems like Rapid Payments and PayShap will largely remove these issues. These newer payment rails support real-time clearing and settlement, ensuring that money is immediately available to the recipient.
New York Times
20-06-2025
- Health
- New York Times
What Is Tapping, and Can It Really Improve Mental Health?
It looks a little goofy. A self-help method called 'tapping,' which involves using the fingertips to perform acupressure while countering negative emotions with breathing exercises and positive affirmations, has elicited eye-rolls from some mental health professionals. 'I'm safe in my car,' a woman on TikTok says as she practices the technique, using a finger to tap the top of her head, then the side of her eyebrow and the middle of her chin. 'I am my safe space.' In the video, she explains that driving by herself is a struggle, but tapping has helped lower her anxiety and refocus her thoughts. Anecdotes like this are easy to find on social media. Over the last 15 years or so, tapping has also popped up on wellness podcasts, TV shows and even the best-seller list. As a result, the practice, also known as the Emotional Freedom Technique or E.F.T., has attracted a devoted following and become a big business. But many experts remain skeptical. Where did tapping come from? Tapping, which falls under the umbrella of energy psychology, originated from a technique called Thought Field Therapy developed by the psychologist Roger Callahan in the 1980s. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Hindustan Times
17-06-2025
- Health
- Hindustan Times
‘We don't fight, we feel nothing': How emotionally disconnected marriages are fueling mental health epidemic in India
In our rapidly evolving social landscape, conversations around mental health are finally getting the mainstream attention that they deserve. Yet it's surprising to see that we as a society often neglect one of the most potent triggers of this issue: marriages lacking emotional connection. It is when there are no loud arguments or visible fights, but each partner begins to emotionally shut down, feeling disconnected, unheard and unseen even when they are physically sharing the same room, bed or even responsibilities. Busy fixing the obvious signs of marital discord, we tend to overlook this crucial aspect as 'just a phase' without realising how it's causing chronic stress, anxiety or even depression in individuals across all ages. Despite smiling Instagram photos, dream couple vacation reels and co-parenting schedules, couples find themselves feeling emotionally alone. In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Sachin Mehla, a certified couple therapist trained in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), and Bhavvyaa Kulsrestha, a clinical psychologist, discussed the key factors fueling this silent epidemic, one that could potentially shape India's next major mental health crisis. "Earlier marital issues were all about screaming, physical violence or constant disagreements. But now we are seeing a new kind of discord, where couples come to therapy not because they argue but because they go silent," says Sachin. He further adds, from the lens of Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), when partners stop turning toward each other for emotional support, they unknowingly break their secure attachment bond. Bhavvyaa adds, 'Emotional shutdown is extremely detrimental to overall well-being. Over time, it leads to chronic loneliness, anxiety, and even symptoms of depression while still being dismissed as 'just a phase' by most families.' "With social media becoming an integral part of our lives, modern couples prioritise 'looking happy instead of being happy'. With no real emotional safety, couples live a dual life, content publicly, hollow in private and the constant labour of maintaining this facade has detrimental psychological impacts," explains Bhavvyaa. "In EFT, we often see couples who've stopped showing up for each other emotionally but continue to 'show up' together on social media. That discrepancy widens the gap further," says Sachin. Over time, this gap creates a feeling of confusion along with a sense of isolation that none of the partners understand because from the outside everything seems fine. "When individuals come in, they rarely say 'we feel distant', instead, they report anxiety, burnout, irritability, or loneliness that they can't quite explain," says Bhavvyaa. She notes that emotional neglect in a relationship doesn't scream, it fosters quietly. This quiet erosion of connection can have significant psychological consequences, especially when people acknowledge the disconnection as a personal failure rather than a relational issue. Sachin stresses the urgent need to shift our perspective around therapy, "it's not damage control, but rather emotional maintenance. The biggest myth that we encounter is that couples should try everything on their own before seeking help. But in reality, the earlier you address patterns of emotional distance, the easier they are to shift," he explains. Through the lens of EFT, Sachin helps couples identify breakdowns in emotional responsiveness before they harden into disconnection. "One of the core causes of the emotional gap in Indian marriages can be traced back to early childhood. We have often seen young boys are often asked to 'be strong' or 'men don't cry', showcasing emotional vulnerability is considered to be a feminine trait or weakness. While growing up, men were deprived of showing emotional sides and suddenly were expected to be emotionally available to their wives. Is it even fair? As a society, we must understand that most of the men in our society are not indifferent but are emotionally illiterate," highlights Bhavvyaa. According to Sachin, EFT focuses on supporting such individuals first to identify and then communicate core emotions like fear, shame, or need without viewing them as weaknesses. "When partners learn to be vulnerable together, even after years of silence, the relationship begins to grow," he says. "Women in traditional marriages are often expected to suppress their emotional needs, and over time, they begin to dissociate from their own desires and identity. It's a slow, silent form of emotional burnout. But this isn't limited to conventional roles. Even in seemingly equal partnerships, women tend to take ownership of the unspoken responsibility of emotional upkeep in the family. This labour they carry is invisible, yet immense," says Bhavvyaa. Additionally, she points out that many high-functioning women show up to therapy with burnout and anxiety, not realising it stems from years of unmet emotional needs in their relationships. Sachin reinforces, "In therapy, we have observed that many women can't express what they want from the relationship because they've never been asked. They've been taught to keep the marriage intact, no matter what." He also highlights that in EFT, this often shows up as women softening or silencing their needs to keep peace, while the male partner assumes the absence of conflict equals healthy relationships. But this dynamic, if left unchecked, leads to mutual detachment and long-term resentment.
The Star
13-06-2025
- General
- The Star
RM66.2mil viaduct project to reduce human-animal conflict
A Perhilitan signboard warning motorists about wildlife. — Filepic Johor government has expressed its full support for a viaduct along Jalan Batu Pahat-Jemaluang to provide a crossing for wild animals. State health and environment committee chairman Ling Tian Soon said the project was crucial for the safety of both wildlife and road users, particularly in areas frequented by wild animals. The proposed viaduct, he said, would be located within the second phase of the Central Forest Spine ecological corridor (CFS2) that covers southern Peninsular Malaysia. Specifically, the project would involve the Labis Timur Forest Reserve, Mersing Forest Reserve and Lenggor Forest Reserve. 'Construction of the crossing is proposed to start at KM102 along FT050 which connects Batu Pahat and Jemaluang. 'This viaduct is part of the government's ongoing efforts to address human-wildlife conflict caused by habitat fragmentation along the CFS,' he said, adding that the project has been allocated RM66.2mil. Ling said this in his winding-up session during the state assembly meeting at Bangunan Sultan Ismail, Kota Iskandar. Ling: Viaduct will contribute to long-term biodiversity conservation in Johor. In helping to ensure the safety of humans and wildlife, he said the viaduct would contribute to long-term biodiversity conservation in Johor. The viaduct design, he added, was a symbol of cooperation between the state and federal governments. Ling thanked Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Ministry for channelling funds to the state through the Ecological Fiscal Transfer for Biodiversity Conservation (EFT) mechanism. He said part of the funding would be used for several measures including the translocation of elephants. This has been scheduled to begin in July and continue until December this year. 'An allocation of RM226,000 from the funds will support the setting up of Kumpulan Pelindung Hidupan Liar in a village in Kluang, which has had many wildlife-related issues. 'Another major step is the fitting of satellite tracking collars on elephants to enable an early warning system,' he said. Of the first five of these collars, two have been attached to elephants with operations to continue until the remaining collars are utilised, said Ling. He added that Johor Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) was procuring five more collars. 'At the same time, 21 areas have been identified for elephant food banks. 'These are locations where food is made available to elephants to deter them from entering farms and residential areas in search of food,' he said. Ling said engagement sessions with local farmers has been held to ensure the smooth running of the elephant food banks. 'We hope that through these approaches, we can reduce conflicts between humans and elephants while also preserving the survival of this increasingly threatened species.'
