Trauma & Difficult Experiences

When something happened in the past, but your body still reacts as though it is happening now.

Some experiences leave a deeper imprint than we expect.

You may have been through something obviously traumatic — an accident, assault, medical procedure, bereavement, relationship breakdown or other frightening event.

Or it may be something that looks much smaller from the outside but continues to affect you: being humiliated at school, feeling rejected, growing up with criticism, experiencing a difficult relationship, losing your sense of safety, or repeatedly being told that you weren't good enough.

Sometimes you can remember exactly what happened.

Sometimes you don't think about it very often at all.

But something in the present still triggers a surprisingly strong response.

You might notice:

anxiety, panic or a sudden sense of threat
feeling on edge or easily overwhelmed
shutting down, freezing or wanting to escape
a strong emotional reaction to particular people or situations
shame, guilt, anger or sadness that seems difficult to shift
physical tension or sensations associated with particular memories
avoiding situations that remind you of what happened
feeling unsafe even when you know intellectually that you are safe
repeating patterns in relationships, work or how you see yourself
feeling as though part of you is still caught in an earlier experience.

You don't have to have a diagnosis of PTSD for an experience to be worth working with.

The important question is often not simply what happened? but how is what happened still affecting you now?

[Learn more about Clinical EFT and how tapping works →]

Trauma isn't only about the event

Trauma is often understood as the impact an experience has on the person who lived through it.

Two people can experience something similar and respond very differently. What feels manageable to one person may be profoundly distressing to another.

And sometimes the difficulty isn't one major event. It can be the cumulative effect of repeated experiences — criticism, instability, rejection, bullying, emotional neglect, chronic stress or relationships in which you didn't feel safe to be yourself.

The effects can show up long after the original circumstances have changed.

You might know:

“That happened years ago. I'm safe now.”

And still find that your body reacts before your rational mind has time to catch up.

That doesn't mean you're choosing the response or failing to move on.

Emotional memories can become associated with particular situations, sensations, beliefs and expectations. Later experiences can activate those associations, even when the present situation is objectively different.

This is one reason simply understanding why you feel the way you do doesn't always change the response.

How can Clinical EFT help?

Clinical Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), commonly known as tapping, combines focused attention on an issue with cognitive language and gentle tapping on specific acupoints.

When working with difficult experiences, we don't simply try to think positively or tell ourselves that everything is fine.

Instead, we identify something specific and notice what happens emotionally and physically when you bring it to mind.

This might be:

a particular memory
an image
something somebody said
a situation that still triggers you
a physical sensation
a belief you developed about yourself
or a reaction you continue to have in the present.

We then use tapping while staying connected to the experience, carefully monitoring your level of emotional activation.

The aim isn't to force you to relive what happened.

It's to create enough safety and regulation that you can begin to relate to the experience differently.

Research into Clinical EFT has included randomised controlled trials and systematic reviews examining PTSD and other forms of psychological distress. A 2023 systematic review and meta-analysis of EFT for PTSD found significant effects compared with waitlist, usual-care and no-treatment controls, while results compared with active treatments were more mixed and broadly similar to established therapies.

A randomised controlled trial involving veterans with PTSD also found significant reductions in PTSD symptoms and psychological distress following an EFT intervention.

The wider Clinical EFT research literature is growing, but it is important to be accurate about what the evidence does and doesn't establish. EFT is not currently one of the principal first-line PTSD treatments recommended by NICE or the VA/DoD. Those guidelines recommend established trauma-focused approaches including trauma-focused CBT, Cognitive Processing Therapy, Prolonged Exposure and EMDR.

For me, that doesn't make the EFT research less interesting. It means we should use it thoughtfully, honestly and within appropriate professional boundaries.

Working with trauma doesn't mean going straight into the worst memory

This is particularly important.

Trauma work needs to be paced around the person, not around a predetermined idea of what they should be ready to process.

In an EFT session, we might begin with what is happening now rather than immediately exploring the original event.

For example:

“I feel sick every time someone raises their voice.”

We might explore what happens in your body, what you expect will happen next, and what meaning you have attached to that response.

As the emotional intensity settles, other memories or associations may emerge.

Sometimes the connection is obvious.

Sometimes it is surprising.

And sometimes we don't need to identify an original event at all. Working with the current response may be enough to create meaningful change.

This careful, specific approach is consistent with trauma-informed EFT practice, where safety, pacing, choice and the client's capacity to remain regulated are important considerations. EFT International specifically highlights the risks of moving too quickly into traumatic material and the importance of establishing safety and rapport first.

When earlier experiences are still showing up in the present

Sometimes a current reaction seems much bigger than the situation itself.

You may find yourself:

becoming disproportionately anxious when someone is disappointed with you
feeling rejected when somebody doesn't respond as expected
becoming very uncomfortable when attention is on you
freezing when you need to speak up
feeling responsible for keeping everyone else happy
becoming highly self-critical after making a mistake
avoiding situations where you might be judged.

This is where I may also draw on Matrix Reimprinting, parts and inner-child work, creative visualisation and somatic awareness alongside Clinical EFT.

Matrix Reimprinting is an EFT-based approach developed by Karl Dawson that uses tapping, visualisation and work with younger parts of ourselves around emotionally charged memories.

The intention isn't to rewrite history or pretend something didn't happen.

It is to explore whether the emotional meaning and response connected to an experience can change.

Trauma can affect the body as well as emotions

Difficult experiences don't always show up as memories or thoughts.

You may notice a tight chest, a clenched jaw, a knot in your stomach, tension in your shoulders, changes in breathing or a strong urge to leave a situation.

These physical responses can provide useful information about what is happening emotionally.

Clinical EFT offers a way of working with the thought, emotion and physical response together.

This doesn't mean assuming that every physical symptom is caused by trauma.

Persistent, new or unexplained physical symptoms should always be appropriately assessed by a medical professional. EFT can sit alongside appropriate medical care; it isn't a substitute for it.

You can also explore [EFT for anxiety and overwhelm →] or [EFT for fears and phobias →] if your experience is showing up primarily as anxiety or a specific fear.

What might change?

The aim isn't necessarily to erase a memory.

You may still remember what happened, but find that it no longer has the same emotional charge.

You might notice:

less intense reactions to familiar triggers
greater ability to stay present when something feels difficult
less avoidance
more choice in how you respond
a greater sense of safety in situations that previously felt threatening
less shame or self-blame
more compassion towards yourself
feeling less controlled by what happened in the past.

Sometimes the change is subtle.

A situation that previously felt like a 9/10 might become a 4.

You may notice your body doesn't tighten in quite the same way.

You may be able to have the conversation you have been avoiding.

Or you may simply realise, perhaps for the first time, “I can think about this without feeling completely overwhelmed.”

Those shifts matter.

A careful, individual approach

Trauma work requires more than knowing how to tap.

My approach is individual and collaborative. We work with what is happening for you, at a pace that allows enough space for your responses to be noticed rather than pushed through.

I am a Clinical EFT Practitioner and Matrix Reimprinting Practitioner, and my work integrates Clinical EFT with nervous-system awareness, somatic work, parts and inner-child approaches and creative visualisation where appropriate.

I don't assume that every difficult experience needs to be revisited.

Sometimes the most useful place to start is with the trigger you're experiencing today.

Sometimes there is an earlier experience that needs attention.

And sometimes another form of psychological or medical support is more appropriate.

If you have significant PTSD symptoms, severe dissociation, ongoing risk, or are in crisis, specialist mental-health support is important. NICE recommends established trauma-focused treatments for adults with PTSD or clinically significant PTSD symptoms, including trauma-focused CBT and EMDR.

EFT can be considered as part of a broader approach where appropriate, rather than something that has to replace other forms of care.

You don't have to keep reacting to the past in the same way

You cannot change what happened.

But the way you experience it now may not have to remain exactly as it is.

If something from the past continues to affect your emotions, your body, your relationships or the choices you make today, we can explore what is happening underneath the reaction.

You don't need to arrive knowing exactly what the problem is or where it comes from.

We can start with what you notice now.

[Explore 1:1 Clinical EFT sessions →]

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