BBC Reel｜ “敲击疗法”如何帮助你释放焦虑？

How 'tapping therapy' could help calm your mind

There is a simple therapy that could ease anxiety, stress, and reduce the impact of traumatic memories. It's called Emotional Freedom Technique, or EFT for short, and involves using your own fingers to tap pressure points in your body. And while it sounds a bit like pseudoscience, it actually combines some well-established techniques, such as cognitive behavioural therapy and acupuncture.

Numerous studies have now found that tapping specific pressure points can help with mental health, including anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Tapping combines the sensations we feel in our body with what we feel in our minds, our emotions. If we can pinpoint exactly where in the body we're feeling anxious, tapping can help us to understand and hopefully even change that emotion.

Here's how it works. It helps reduce the stress hormone cortisol, reduce pain, and it could even cause epigenetic changes in genes linked to stress. Researchers think it works because it helps to stimulate the body to release beneficial chemicals. When you feel well, but have a history of anxiety, it can be useful as a preventative measure too, which can train your body to anticipate feeling calmer.

You can tap the parts of the body where you feel anxious, Perhaps it's your brain, or stomach, or the top of your head or neck. In a therapy session, you might be encouraged to first describe a traumatic event, then combine tapping with some positive words of encouragement or self-acceptance, so that the bodily sensations that come from tapping become associated with a positive mindset.

Saying statements such as, even though I'm feeling anxious, I deeply accept myself while tapping, can reframe anxiety into a state of acceptance. You can tweak the statement to whatever applies best to you and feels especially challenging right now. Doing so helps us to safely process any anxiety that's been building up. It could also create new brain connections as well as regulate our nervous system into a state of greater calm as we continue to experience a positive relationship between the mind and body.

词汇表
tapping therapy [ˈtæpɪŋ ˈθerəpi] 敲击疗法（通过敲击身体部位来缓解心理压力的疗法）
Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) 情绪释放疗法（一种结合身体敲击和心理调适的疗法）
tap [tæp] 轻敲，敲击，轻拍
pressure point 压力点，穴位；血压点
pseudoscience [ˌsjuːdəʊˈsaɪəns] 伪科学
well-established [ˌwel ɪˈstæblɪʃt] 确立的，成熟的
cognitive behavioural therapy [ˈkɒɡnətɪv bɪˈheɪvjərəl ˈθerəpi] 认知行为疗法
acupuncture [ˈækjupʌŋktʃə(r)] 针灸，针刺疗法
post-traumatic stress disorder [ˌpəʊst trɔːˈmætɪk stres dɪsˈɔːdə(r)] 创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）
sensation [senˈseɪʃn] 感觉，感受
pinpoint [ˈpɪnpɔɪnt] 准确找出，精确确定
cortisol [ˈkɔːtɪsɒl] 皮质醇（一种压力激素）
epigenetic [ˌepɪdʒəˈnetɪk] 表观遗传的
gene [dʒiːn] 基因
preventative [prɪˈventətɪv] 预防性的，预防的
anticipate [ænˈtɪsɪpeɪt] 预期，提前准备
self-acceptance [ˌself əkˈseptəns] 自我接纳
reframe [ˌriːˈfreɪm] 重新定义，重新构建

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