Tapping Away Real-Life Anxiety: A Success Story

How EFT Helped a Client Overcome Job Insecurity and Fear

Anxiety doesn’t always shout—it often whispers in the quiet moments at work, in our breath, in our heartbeat. For one client, those whispers became overwhelming, spiralling into a full-blown fear that threatened both his peace of mind and his career.

He came to me feeling deeply anxious. At work, he was plagued by the thought that something was seriously wrong with his health. His chest felt tight, his breath shallow, and his mind raced with a terrifying conclusion: “If the company finds out something’s wrong with me, I’ll lose my job.”

Before we began tapping, I guided him through a few grounding breaths, gently explaining how EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) can help calm the nervous system and release stored emotional energy.

We started with his own words:

“I don’t know what to do. I feel as if something is going wrong and I’m not able to take it.”

We tapped on those words together, and when I asked how he was feeling in that moment, his response was clear:

“Anxious and scared.”

When I asked where he felt that in his body, he pointed to his heart and lungs—he was struggling to breathe, a common symptom of anxiety. So we tapped again, focusing on the feelings of “anxious and scared,” acknowledging the discomfort in his chest.

His distress, which initially registered at an intensity level of 8 out of 10 (on the Subjective Units of Distress scale or SUDS), began to drop. After several rounds of tapping, he was down to a 3. His breath slowed, his body began to relax, and he looked visibly more grounded.

But the most powerful shift came when I introduced the Movie Technique—a specialized EFT tool designed to uncover and release emotional memories linked to current challenges.

What Is the Movie Technique?

The Movie Technique involves guiding a client to revisit a past event, as if watching it like a movie in their mind. They pause the mental “film” at emotionally intense moments, and we tap through those scenes. This helps to safely clear unresolved emotions associated with the memory without re-traumatizing the person.

As we used the Movie Technique, a powerful memory surfaced: his first job. He had fallen ill, and soon after, he was asked to resign. That old experience had planted deep roots of fear—beliefs like “I’m not safe when I’m unwell,” and “If I’m vulnerable, I’ll be punished.”

We tapped through that scene, releasing fear, shame, and the sense of helplessness. With each round, his posture shifted. His breath became deeper. He went from being a man overwhelmed by invisible fears to someone calm, composed, and in control.

By the end of our session, the man who had walked in feeling distraught, anxious, and lost, now felt safe. He was smiling. His voice was steady. He was ready to face life—not from a place of fear, but from empowerment.

A Gentle Reminder

Anxiety at work, or anywhere in life, can feel isolating, but it doesn’t have to define us. Tools like EFT and the Movie Technique provide a gentle, yet powerful way to process what we carry inside. Often, it’s not today’s situation that’s triggering us, it’s an old wound being reawakened.

But with mindful tapping, a safe space, and the courage to look within, healing is possible.