The Man Who Gave Tapping to the World: Remembering Gary Craig, 1940-2026

I wouldn't be doing this work if it weren't for Gary.

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Gary Craig at a glance

How I Found Tapping

Years ago, I was at a Tony Robbins event when Tony demonstrated this unusual technique, tapping on specific points on your body while saying certain phrases. I was intrigued enough to go home and look it up.

That's when I found Gary Craig.

His website was a treasure trove. Free manuals. Free videos. Thousands of case studies from practitioners around the world. I devoured all of it. I started using Tapping on myself, then with my brother Alex and sister Jessica, then with friends and family. We saw things happen that we couldn't explain.

Eventually, we made a documentary about it. Then wrote books. Then built The Tapping Solution App. And now millions of people have experienced what this technique can do.

What Gary Actually Did

To understand Gary's contribution, you have to understand what existed before him.

In the 1980s, psychologist Dr. Roger Callahan developed something called Thought Field Therapy (TFT). Callahan had discovered that tapping on specific meridian points could relieve psychological distress, sometimes in minutes. It was remarkable.

But it was also complicated. TFT required different tapping sequences for different problems. Anxiety had one algorithm. Phobias had another. Trauma had a third. Practitioners had to diagnose the issue, then apply the correct sequence. The training was extensive. The cost was high.

Gary Craig was a Stanford-trained engineer who had studied with Callahan. And his engineering mind asked a simple question: What if you didn't need different algorithms?

In the mid-1990s, Gary ran experiments. He tried using a single, simplified sequence for everything. Same points, same order, regardless of the issue.

It worked just as well.

This was Gary's first major innovation: the universal protocol. One sequence that could be applied to anything, anxiety, pain, grief, phobias, trauma. No diagnosis required. No complex algorithms. Just tap.

He called it EFT: Emotional Freedom Techniques. And he released it to the world in 1995.

The Setup Statement

Gary's second innovation was the Setup Statement, that phrase we say at the beginning of a Tapping session: "Even though I have this [problem], I deeply and completely accept myself."

This wasn't part of Callahan's TFT. Gary added it.

Why does it matter? Because it addresses the psychological reversal that can block healing. It combines acknowledgment of what you're experiencing with self-acceptance. It's a small thing that makes a big difference, and millions of people have said those words because Gary thought to include them.

The Open Hand

But Gary's biggest contribution might not have been technical at all.

It was philosophical.

Gary made EFT free. He gave away The EFT Manual as a downloadable ebook. He encouraged people to share it, teach it, build on it. He called this his "open hand" policy.

This was radical. Callahan's TFT training cost thousands of dollars and came with strict requirements. Gary said: take it, use it, spread it.

That generosity is why Tapping spread. It's why there is now a peer-reviewed evidence base of more than 400 published studies on EFT, including nearly 100 randomized controlled trials. It's why millions of people around the world have found relief from anxiety, pain, trauma, and stress.

Gary gave his creation away so it could reach the people who needed it.

A Gary Craig timeline

Read our tribute to Roger Callahan, the psychologist Gary studied under, for the other half of this story.

What Gary taught: the basic recipe

Gary's method, the one still taught today, comes down to a few simple moves he insisted anyone could learn without a therapist in the room.

First, the Setup Statement, said three times while tapping the side of the hand: "Even though I have this [problem], I deeply and completely accept myself." In Gary's own writing, this pairs naming what's true with accepting yourself anyway, so the mind doesn't fight the process before it starts.

Then, working through the points in order while staying focused on the problem: eyebrow, side of the eye, under the eye, under the nose, chin, collarbone, under the arm, top of the head. See the full 9-points chart for exactly where each one sits.

Gary called the result "emotional freedom." No algorithm to memorize, no diagnosis required, just the same sequence, applied to whatever is actually bothering you in the moment. If you've never tried it, Tapping 101 walks through the basics step by step.

He was also clear about the limits of his own creation: EFT works on the stress and emotion around a problem. It isn't a treatment for a medical condition, and it's meant to sit alongside, not replace, a doctor's or therapist's care. For the fuller origin story, from Roger Callahan's first breakthrough to Gary's own, see our deeper dive on who invented EFT tapping.

My Gratitude

I'm grateful Gary existed. I'm grateful he found Callahan's work and asked "what if it could be simpler?" I'm grateful he chose generosity over gatekeeping. I'm grateful for what that simple sheet of Tapping instructions set in motion. For my family, for our community, and for the millions of people who've found relief.

Per Gary's request, there will be no formal ceremony. But his daughter shared how he'd want us to honor his memory: continue to "stretch," to look deeper, ask better questions, and help one another.

Thank you, Gary, for giving this to the world.

Gary Craig: frequently asked questions

Who was Gary Craig?

Gary Craig was a Stanford-trained engineer who studied under psychologist Dr. Roger Callahan and, in 1995, released EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques): a single, simplified tapping sequence anyone could learn from a free manual, no practitioner required.

Did Gary Craig invent EFT?

Yes. Building on Roger Callahan's Thought Field Therapy (TFT), Gary Craig simplified Callahan's many diagnosis-based algorithms into one universal sequence and named it EFT in 1995.

What is the EFT Manual?

The EFT Manual is the free guide Gary Craig wrote and gave away, explaining the full EFT sequence, the Setup Statement, and how to apply tapping to any issue. Millions of people downloaded it at no cost.

Is EFT free?

The technique itself is free. Gary Craig's open hand policy meant he gave EFT and the EFT Manual away rather than charging for training or requiring certification to use it.

What happened to Gary Craig?

Gary Craig retired in January 2026 and passed away shortly after, at home, according to his daughter Tina.

How is EFT different from TFT?

Roger Callahan's TFT used different tapping algorithms for different problems and required a trained practitioner to diagnose which sequence to use. Gary Craig's EFT replaced all of that with one standardized sequence that works the same way for anxiety, pain, grief, or anything else, no diagnosis needed.