Basic Information

Tapping Touch is a holistic-care technique using touch and Rhythm. It is performed by tapping gently with the balls of the fingers of the right and left alternately.

Although it is made easy to learn and simple to do, Tapping Touch is developed through integration of therapeutic elements proven effective through clinical uses and researches.

Its gentle tapping helps to release tension in body and mind and to increase a sense of wellness, positive feelings and thoughts.

It also stimulates our innate tendency and ability to be healthy and reminds us of the joy in caring for each other and living together in harmony.

As more and more people will learn and do Tapping Touch with each other, individuals, families, and communities will be gently empowered, and the earth itself will regain wellness.

The effectiveness of Tapping Touch can be summarized into the following three categories. These results are confirmed by: 1) the responses and impressions of people who have experienced Tapping Touch, 2) the effects seen in the fields of psychology, education, social-work, nursing, etc., and 3) the results of academic research

Effects of Tapping Touch

Psychological effects:

1. Relaxation, a sense of peace
2. Reduction of tension and anxiety
3. Increase of positive emotion and reduction of negative emotion
4. Calming heightened emotions such as anger and sorrow
5. A warm feeling of being cared for and considered valuable

Physical effects:

1. Release of physical tension
2. A sense of comfort and refreshed energy
3. Reduction of physical pain and fatigue
4. Reduction of physical symptoms of stress
5. Activation of parasympathetic nervous system
6. Increase of the Serotonin hormone

Interpersonal effects:

1. People feel safer, and find it easier to speak
2. People feel cared for, so trust is deepened
3. Increased sense of harmony and connectedness among people
4. "Skinship" and conversation within the family are increased
5. People feel mutually supportive

Uses for Tapping Touch

General Applications

Tapping Touch is a useful general tool for people in their daily lives. For example, it can be:

• Used as a way to care for each other in the family
• Used in the care of infants, children and elders
• A casual exchange between friends or colleagues
• Used as a self-care technique
• Used to improve artistic and physical performance
• Received when feeling "down" or short of energy
• Given to someone who is tired or ill
• Used to provide emotional care and mutual support following an accident or natural disaster
• Used for care and togetherness with pets (cats, dogs, etc.)

Specialized Applications

Tapping Touch is simple enough for anyone and useful enough for specialists. As a result, in Japan, the fields of application for Tapping Touch are becoming broader every day. Areas where professionals are applying Tapping Touch include the following:

1. Education and School Counseling
   (When physical touch is inappropriate, Self-Tapping can be taught and used.)
   • As an adjunctive therapeutic tool in school-counseling,
   • To increase a sense of mutual trust and support among students and teachers.
   • To provide emotional support to students by school-nurses
   • As a stress management and self-care technique for teachers
   • To teach to students and parents as an activity they can share with their friends and families
2. Counseling and Psychotherapy
   (Usually Self Tapping is used in individual sessions)
   • To deepen a state of relaxation
   • As an adjunct to image work and hypnotherapy
   • As a helpful technique in marriage and family therapy
   • Useful in many types of group therapy
   • As a self-care technique that can be taught during a therapy session
3. Medicine and Nursing-Care
   • To reduce patient's anxiety and tension while in hospital
   • To use as alternative medicine to reduce patient's pain & discomfort
   • To facilitate self-healing through the resulting relaxation
   • To help reduce accident-related and treatment-related trauma
   • To provide a stress management technique within the hospital
   • To provide a way for patients and family members to care for each other
4. Care-giving and Social Work
   • Applied in facilities for the disabled, and in nursing homes
   • A form of self- and mutual-care for senior citizens
   • To support emotional and behavioral control with individuals and groups
   • To provide support for the elderly and for family caregivers
5. Disaster Relief and Emotional Support
   • As a response tool in situations where large groups of people have been injured, such as a natural disaster
   • As a simple emotional-support technique for caregivers and volunteers
   • As a self-care and mutual-care technique to prevent emotional burnout among workers
6. Peace Education and War-related Trauma Care
   (Currently, Tapping Touch is used to care for street children and war-related victims in Vietnam)
   • To reduce the symptoms of psychological trauma and associated problems (e.g., addiction and depression) related to war and conflict.
   • To reduce the symptoms of physical disorders due to weapons and chemical poisons, such as dioxin.
   • To provide a safe, non-violent way of relating with each other in order to facilitate peaceful relationships among people and countries.
7. Other Applications
   • Given to crime victims who are traumatized
   • As a technique to care for pets and animals
   • As an adjunctive technique for bodywork
   • For volunteer training and peer-counseling
   • For use in music therapy
   • As an ice-breaker when a group gathers

Three Forms of Tapping Touch

1. Basic Form
2. Self Tapping
3. Care Tapping

• 
  Basic Form practiced at Hospice Hawaii
• 
  College students practicing Care Tapping

Points of Caution When Using Tapping Touch

Please pay attention to the following points as you enjoy your practice of Tapping Touch.

• Easy, gentle and relaxed
• Don't work to make a massage out of it
• Don't push, don't press, don't force
• Do not use Tapping Touch as a substitute for therapeutic treatment
• Do not apply to persons who are psychologically disturbed (e.g., delusional and abnormal reaction to touch).