Brad Yates on EFT Tapping: The Science of Personal Development

 EFT Tapping, also known as Emotional Freedom Technique, is often presented as a straightforward method for emotional release. But in the hands of Brad Yates, it transforms into a precise instrument for mindset mastery and personal transformation. A master practitioner of EFT and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), Brad has influenced over 50 million people globally with his YouTube channel Tap with Brad. In our conversation for The Aureate Press, we uncovered the deeper mechanics of tapping, the art of self-awareness, and the process of returning to one’s true self. 

So, Mr. Yates, let’s start with a question I’ve been holding for a while: 

How would you explain EFT Tapping and its miraculous benefits to someone who has never heard of it? 

“EFT Tapping, short for Emotional Freedom Technique, is mostly called tapping because we are literally tapping with our fingertips on our face, and is based on acupuncture. So, for thousands of years in Chinese medicine, they said there is a flow of energy through the body along pathways called meridians. When this energy is flowing naturally, we experience our natural state of wellbeing, physically and emotionally. But when this energy gets stuck, we don’t feel good. We don’t think as clearly, we don’t make good choices, and it leads to unfortunate consequences. 

So, in traditional Chinese medicine, the doctor sticks needles in these meridian points to stimulate that healthy flow of energy. We are doing the same thing by tapping. This sends a calming signal to the brain as well. We have a growing body of scientific research showing how it calms down stress. 

Tapping helps us in so many different ways, whether it’s helping to calm down an extreme emotion over something that’s happened, or it’s looking at some place where we want to improve our lives, we want to be healthy or successful. And finding where we have fears that stop us, and that fear shows up as stress in our body. Through tapping, we can calm down that stress and we are able to feel safer.”

That’s amazing. So I remember listening to you on Haley Hoffman Smith’s EFT Tapping podcast episode, and you mentioned a chocolate story. Would you like to go over that? 

“Yeah, so that was my first workshop in EFT Tapping with the founder of EFT, Gary Craig. So he gave everyone a chocolate and said, On a scale of 0 to 10, how much do you want this chocolate? 

And so I was a bit of a chocaholic at the time, so I’m thinking, 8? 9?

And so he starts EFT tapping, ‘Even though I want this chocolate, I choose to love and honor myself.’

After a few minutes, he said, ‘Alright, now on a scale of 0 to 10, how much do you want it?’ And I thought about it, it’s a 0. I had as much interest in it as in the foil wrapper. 

And he said, ‘Take a bite,’ and I did, and it tasted disgusting. And I didn’t know it at the time, but I didn’t eat chocolate for 2 years. 

So this recognises, so much craving inside of us is actually a stress response, and EFT Tapping helps calm that down.”

My next question touches a little bit on your personal journey. 

What was it that you were ambitious about in your childhood and how did that lead you to becoming a renowned EFT Tapping expert?  I know you started as a hypnotherapist. How did that lead you here?

“The earliest job aspiration I remember was working with animals at the zoo. I drew cartoons as well and thought about being a cartoonist. But in high school, I was going through plays, and I thought about doing psychology, but then I got a degree in theatre. 

Finally went to Hollywood to be a movie star, fell in love with a woman, and got married. When our first child was on the way, I thought, ‘I might need a backup career.’ 

So, I saw an ad for hypnotherapy school. I had always been fascinated by the power of the mind, so I thought that was really interesting. Went through this training course and set up a small clinical practice. 

And when our second child was on the way, I realised acting wasn’t my calling; Personal development was. This was so much more fulfilling for me. Then after being a hypnotherapist for a while, I heard about energy psychology, went to the workshop in the early 2000s, and let go off of chocolate for two years. So I started introducing Tapping to my hypnotherapy sessions, and little by little, it became an EFT tapping session with some hypnosis at the end.

And then YouTube came along, and I thought, wouldn’t it be really cool if there was a EFT tapping video that people could start their day with, I’ll call it Tap O’ the morning, and then there’s one video, and I’m done. And then ideas kept coming in, and now I have over 1600 videos on my YouTube.”

Yes, I love the older videos from your channel as well. They’re over 15 years old, but so relevant even today. So, what’s something that EFT Tapping changed for you, that you didn’t expect it to? 

“You know, it’s hard to say. There are probably changes in my life that I may not even be fully aware of. And then sometimes I think, ‘Oh, I do this differently than I used to.’ And I may not even have tapped on it. But you know, so many issues are interrelated in some way, there are things I have tapped on that have had different results. I have tapped on health issues, and I’m 61 and I get up in the morning, and I do pushups. And I think to myself, how many 61 y/os can do this? 

Most days it’s just a natural part of my day because of my identity, that’s someone who’s healthy enough to do whatever I want. 

One of the great things about the work I get to do is that when I’m EFT tapping with clients, I’m doing it as well, so I get all the benefits.”

“That’s insightful. So I really wanted to ask you this, since you have so much wisdom, and it always comes back to you, you know? The goodness you put out into the world always comes back to you.”

What is one thing you’d want the world to remember you by?

“Well, one of the awesome things about YouTube is that as long as there’s internet, people will always remember me for the videos. I want to be remembered just for wanting the world to be a better place, wanting people to love themselves more.”

“That’s it, thank you so much. I know our audience will walk away from this with so much enlightenment. And it’s been an absolute honor talking to you.”

“Likewise, Sehrish. I appreciate the help in sharing this work. Maybe one day I’ll get to do a workshop in Bahrain. You have a great day.”

“Absolutely, thank you.”