From about 10 minutes of Tapping, I went from almost lifelong flying anxiety—about a 7—to a 0. Whether the night before, standing in line at security, getting on the plane, going through choppy air... I simply cannot get anxious!
He Already Knew the Evidence-Based Approaches
Matt is a licensed clinical psychologist who practices mindfulness and acceptance-based therapy. He's spent his career helping people with anxiety using evidence-based approaches. He knows the research. He knows what works.
But for about 20 years, he'd carried his own moderate anxiety about flying. It wasn't severe enough to prevent him from traveling—but it was enough to give him a sour stomach and disrupt his sleep for a few nights before any flight. The telltale signs of a nervous system on alert.
Then He Tried Tapping
After seeing impressive results with his clients, Matt decided to try Tapping on his own flying fear. He spent about 10 minutes Tapping on the anxiety and worry he felt around turbulence and general flight concerns.
"I had no idea of what was to come," he writes.
Before Tapping
7Sour stomach, disrupted sleep before flights
After 10 Minutes
0Cannot get anxious about flying at all
"I Simply Cannot Get Anxious"
That's what Matt reports. Whether it's the night before a flight, standing in the security line, boarding the plane, or going through choppy turbulence—he simply cannot access the anxiety anymore. It's gone.
"I have been utterly thrilled with and amazed by the results," he writes. "I am a changed flier and am so grateful."
From a clinical psychologist trained in evidence-based approaches, this is a remarkable admission. The very thing he'd lived with for two decades dissolved in 10 minutes of Tapping.
What He's Seeing With Clients
Matt's personal experience mirrors what he's been witnessing professionally:
A Client Who Couldn't Fly
One adult male had stopped most air travel due to panic attacks and agoraphobic fears. Though skeptical, he tried Tapping. After roughly 20 minutes, he went from an 8 or 9 to about a 4 or 5. His levels dropped even more after that.
The result: He's now taken 12 individual flights since then. Quite amazing, considering he'd been grounded by fear for years.
A Teen With Test Anxiety
A teenage girl had intense fears of public speaking and test taking. After various approaches that helped a decent amount, they tried Tapping on past experiences, current fears, and future worries.
The result: She took major end-of-grade testing without much anticipatory or in-the-moment anxiety at all—"almost miraculous" given how debilitated she was the year before.
EFT has worked exceptionally well for my clients when other approaches just haven't been so successful.
What This Means
When a clinical psychologist—someone trained to be skeptical, to demand evidence, to test approaches rigorously—becomes a convert, it carries weight. Matt isn't abandoning his evidence-based training. He's adding to it.
"I am in pursuit of helping others in my profession come to realize the benefits of Tapping," he writes. "It may take a while for the more evidence-based, cognitive-behavioral clinicians and researchers, but we will get there. It's just a matter of time... as the evidence builds and builds."