Using EFT for addictions

What drives an addiction? Why do so many who give up alcohol, without addressing the underlying causes, develop addictions to other substances such as food, cigarettes or coffee? Gary Craig, founder of EFT says the driver for addictions is anxiety. Anxiety in this context encompasses fears, angers, guilt and shame. When these anxious feelings come up in our awareness, they are too painful to feel and we will do almost anything to quell and soothe them so we don't have to feel them.

Dr Joe Dispenza has very interesting ideas on addiction. Watch the following clip from What The Bleep Do We Know

In his book Healing the Shame that Binds You, John Bradshaw quotes Pia Mellody defining addiction as “any process used to avoid or take away intolerable reality”. He also goes on to say:

"Because it takes away intolerable pain, it becomes our highest priority. It does so much for us that it takes time and energy from the other aspects of our lives. To be shame-based is to be in intolerable pain. You need relief from this intolerable pain. You need something outside of you to take away your terrible feelings about yourself. You need something or someone to take away your inhuman loneliness. You need a mood-altering experience. There are myriad ways to mood-alter. Any way of mood-altering pain is potentially addictive. If it takes away your gnawing discomfort, it will be your highest priority and your most important relationship. Addictions can take many different forms; ingestive, eating, feelings/emotions, thoughts, compulsions and activities".

We can use EFT to dissolve the underlying causes and anxiety that drive our addictions.