Health & Wellbeing: Meet Belfast woman Shauna Corr who uses an alternative therapy called 'Tapping' to help alleviate health problems

Tapping is a clinically proven technique based on the principles of acupressure and modern psychology, explains Shauna.

"While tapping on specific points of the head and body, you focus on whatever negative emotion is keeping you "stuck"...it could be a limiting belief picked up in childhood, a lack of confidence, a past memory or trauma, a current stress or a worry about something you have to deal with in the future. It is best known as a tool for managing stress or anxiety, but it helps tackle so many other issues!”

Shauna, who works in business, offers the therapy through her venture, Tapping into Success, and explains how she came across the therapy.

“Seventeen years ago, I was blessed with my first child, who did not sleep for the first two years...after having tried so many ways to settle her, I finally went to my GP for help. When he prescribed medication because the ‘side effect of it, will make her drowsy’, I decided to look for alternative treatments to help. As part of this journey, I came across EFT / Tapping, and have used it for myself and my family ever since.”

The mum-of-three adds: “In the corporate world, I have also witnessed the impact of stress on performance, attendance and employee mental health and that was another reason for launching Tapping Into Success - one of my dreams is to bring this amazing tool into the corporate world, as up until now these two sides of my life have been very separate.”

Shauna qualified as an EFT practitioner eight years ago and launched Tapping Into Success last year.

"I help people uncover what it is that's holding people back and, using EFT I help them clear those issues, so that they can release stress, increase confidence and really start to live the life they want.

“I have worked with clients on issues such as agoraphobia, childhood trauma, fear of public speaking, limiting beliefs about money, sleep issues, anxiety, overwhelm, fear of putting themselves out there on social media, imposter syndrome - and I have seen them turn their lives around.”

Shauna says EFT works where a lot of other talking therapies aren't as effective.

“It really gets to the root of the issue / block, and helps the client release it for good. It's a way of clearing all of those issues that we have buried down over the years, and which are still having an effect on our lives, whether we're even aware of it or not.

"I work with a lot of people who have tried various therapies and mindset work but just feel like there's ‘something still holding them back’.”

Shauna works with a lot of clients outside of Northern Ireland, so one-to-ones are conducted online.

“So long as we can see each other, it works really well, and it also means clients can be in the comfort of their own home.”

The sessions last one hour, and then the clients gets a month long access to a tapping video (approx 5-7 mins long) for them to follow daily in between sessions.

"One session is sufficient to learn the technique and start to apply it for general stress management and wellbeing, but I do encourage clients to commit to at least three sessions if they have something specific they'd like to clear, as it gives us a chance to really dig into the issue - lots of these ‘issues’ are long standing, possibly since childhood, so it can take some time to really peel back the layers.

Shauna also offers group sessions for charities and also businesses, as part of employee wellbeing programs or wellness days - these can be done either virtually or face to face.

“A lot of businesses are looking for ways to help employees better manage stress, and this is a great tool for them to learn - with an estimated 17 million working days lost each year due to work related stress, depression or anxiety, it's also makes business sense to offer employees a way to better manage their mental health.”

She says it is a simple tool that can be used by all ages.

"For very young children, the parent / caregiver would tap on them, on their behalf, but children as young as five or six can use it themselves - I refer to it as their ‘superpower’ ! It can also be used by parent / caregiver on babies, particularly around sleep issues.”

“It can be used on all levels of anxiety and stress - from huge, long buried childhood traumas and severe anxiety to stress around work, interview nerves etc. In my opinion, everyone could benefit from having at least a basic knowledge of EFT / Tapping - it's a tool which we can pull out whenever and wherever needed in order to lower stress and bring us back into a state of calm.

"One of the brilliant things about it is that, once learned, it can be used free of charge without the need for any expensive equipment - if you have fingertips, and a head and body, you can tap!”

For those who believe it may be simply psychosomatic or pseudoscience, Shauna says: “EFT has been clinically proven to reduce the cortisol levels in the body, and take us out of "fight or flight", back into a state of calm and a sense of being safe.

“All I ever ask is that people are open to it, give it a try and watch and see how their lives change!’’

For more information visit: Shauna Corr Tapping Into Success on Facebook; email: [email protected] or instagram: @tappingintosuccess