Tap, Taste, Heal: Use Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) to Eat Joyfully and Love Your Body
by Marcella Friel
This is a compassionate and practical book for emotional eaters who are wanting a different relationship with food; one that moves beyond binge eating, emotional eating, and struggles with body image and self-worth.
Tap, Taste and Heal recognises that challenges with food are rarely just about food. While mindful eating can be an important part of the process, this book introduces EFT tapping as an additional way of working with the emotional patterns that can shape eating behaviours.
What is EFT Tapping and How Does It Help Emotional Eating?
EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques), often referred to as tapping, is a body-based practice that combines gentle tapping on acupressure points with focused attention on thoughts and feelings.
In the context of emotional eating, tapping can help to:
- reduce the intensity of urges to binge or overeat
- regulate the nervous system in moments of overwhelm
- interrupt repetitive patterns linked to food
- create space between feeling, thoughts and response
- soothe without using food
Rather than relying on willpower, tapping works with the body, helping to calm the emotional charge that often drives eating behaviours.
Beyond Behaviour: Trauma, Emotions and Self-Worth
What I appreciate about this book is the way it gently brings attention to the emotional and relational experiences that can shape eating patterns.
For many people, emotional eating, binge eating, or bulimia are ways of coping with:
- attachment disturbances
- anxiety and overwhelm
- unresolved trauma
- shame and self-criticism
- the persistent feeling of not being good enough
Tapping can be a powerful entry point offering a way to soothe the nervous system in the here and now, making it easier to stay present with feelings that might otherwise feel too much.
A Practical, Step-by-Step Approach
The book is easy to read, with clear instructions on how to use tapping in everyday situations. It also integrates mindful eating, nourishment, and how to foster a more compassionate relationship with the body.
It’s particularly helpful for those who:
- feel stuck in cycles of restricting and overeating
- understand their patterns but can’t shift them
- want something practical they can use in-between therapy sessions
Tapping in Therapy
As a Level 1 and 2 EFT practitioner, I often integrate tapping into sessions alongside deeper, trauma-informed psychotherapy.
Tapping can support nervous system regulation, and help you stay with difficult feelings without becoming overwhelmed. From there, we can begin to explore what sits underneath the eating patterns, including attachment wounds, the different parts of who you are, and early childhood experiences that have shaped your relationship with food and your body.
If you’d like to understand more about how tapping works, you can read more here: What is EFT Tapping?
Common Questions About EFT Tapping
Does EFT tapping help emotional eating?
Yes, tapping can help reduce the emotional intensity behind urges to eat, making it easier to respond rather than react.
Can tapping help binge eating or bulimia?
Tapping can support regulation and interrupt patterns, especially when combined with deeper therapeutic work addressing underlying causes.
Is emotional eating linked to trauma?
Yes. Emotional eating can be a way of coping with distress, unmet needs, or past experiences that have not yet been processed.
