Tapping Away Exam Stress
WHAT’S THE ISSUE? If your child is having a hard time talking about their exam stress and fear of failure, tapping away exam stress may help. Tapping, also known as EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques), is an evidence based stress management method.
In this interview, Nicole Dubrul de Broglio from The Parenting Solution shares her experience of using EFT Tapping in her work with kids and parents to help them reduce their test and exam stress to help them improve their exam performance, as well as in their relationships.
WHY TEACH KIDS HOW THEY CAN TAP AWAY EXAM STRESS?
ELENI VARDAKI: Today I’m talking with Nicole Dubruel de Broglio, about how parents and teachers can teach children to believe in themselves through positive guidance, rather than punishment. And how we can teach them (and help ourselves) to cope with stress during a crisis. Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, Nicole.
NICOLE DUBRUEL DE BROGLIO: You are very welcome, it’s a pleasure to be here.
ELENI VARDAKI: So let’s dive In. What is tapping?
NICOLE DUBRUEL DE BROGLIO: Tapping is a combination of Chinese acupressure and modern-day Psychology. So you use your fingertips to tap on specific Meridian points in your body. And this calms the body down. And you can face your situation or your problem from a calm space, to be able to think more clearly.
ELENI VARDAKI: And how can tapping help youths get through stressful exam periods, or when preparing for test?
NICOLE DUBRUEL DE BROGLIO: Tapping is an amazing tool because it de-stresses the body. If children are feeling stressed and anxious, then they can use the tapping, and then they can calm their bodies down. They can tap under the table, so nobody can see them, just on their fingertips, in the moment. Or they can tap the night before, throughout the Meridian points. And they go into the test feeling a lot calmer. They can think more clearly, and they remember the answers. And we’ve got such an amazing result, and their test grades went up. It’s really helpful.
TAPPING AWAY EXAM STRESS WITH KIDS
ELENI VARDAKI: Can you give us any examples of when that’s worked?
NICOLE DUBRUEL DE BROGLIO: Yes.
I had a little student and he had to do an exam to get into a more Advanced English class at school. He went in for his exam. That night, the mom called me and she said “Please, please talk to him on the phone. He’s going into such shock, you know, he’s crying and he’s in tears”.
I said “I’m coming straight over”. And I went. And I spoke to the boy. He’d had a huge anxiety attack in the middle of the test, and he wasn’t able to finish it. So I taught him tapping, and I taught him breathing techniques, and we tapped on it. The school, thank goodness, gave him a second opportunity the next day. He went through with the exam and went into his the Advanced English class no problem.
TAPPING AWAY EXAM STRESS WITH PARENTS
ELENI VARDAKI: I’m thinking – If a parent is listening to this, and is thinking, “Could I use tapping to help my child prepare for exams?”
Nicole: Sure, that would be absolutely amazing. Because sometimes I think it’s the parents, the mom, you know, who get so twist up and so nervous for her child. And the stress that she goes through can get passed on to the child. So if the mom can just tap on her own stress about the exam, she can help support the child from a much calmer place, you know? Her head space will be a lot better and be more supportive in helping your child get through the exams, rather than stressing the child out even more.
TAPPING AWAY RELATIONAL STRESS
ELENI VARDAKI: Is there anything else that you’d like to add, before we wrap up?
NICOLE DUBRUEL DE BROGLIO: Sure. I just want to also say that tapping is very useful not only for tests and stress at school. It can be used in any difficult situation that the child might be facing, maybe if they change to a new school and they’re nervous about making friends. Or maybe it’s being picked on at that school. And I had a wonderful example of a little girl who was just so sure that her History teacher had something against her, and she just couldn’t work well for him.
And she had a History test the next day. And she was saying, “I just don’t want to study. I don’t want to do anything.” And I said, “Okay, let’s just tap on all of these feelings and your worries and your stress about your History teacher.” And, you know, her highest mark was actually in History this year. So that was amazing.
ELENI VARDAKI: Wow!
TAPPING AWAY CHILDHOOD FEARs
ELENI VARDAKI: I remember in another conversation that we had, prior to this interview. You had also talked about a girl that you used to tap with her, and it helped her to overcome her fear of going to a school trip. Would you like to say anything about that?
NICOLE DUBRUEL DE BROGLIO: Yes. She had an end-of-the-year school trip. And she was just so scared and nervous, you know, and we got talking about it.
And I said, “What’s actually worrying you?” And she said she might throw up on the bus and then all of her friends will laugh at her? And she has never slept away from home and what if she gets homesickness? And she was worried about the times to call her mom, maybe, you know if she’d missed her mom and she wouldn’t really be able to speak. So we tapped on all of that, and then I said to her, “Well, now how do you feel?”
And she said, “Actually that’s not my problem.” And I go, “Oh okay, that went away.” And she said, “Yes”. “So what’s your problem?” She said “I’m worried that my mom won’t actually be able to get to the school bus in time to say goodbye to me.” Because she had her sister first, and she said maybe she won’t be there. So we tapped on that and she felt so much better.
When I spoke to her the week after, her mom was there. And it was the greatest school trip, she had such a blast with their friends. It was really good.
ELENI VARDAKI: It sounds like you’re doing such powerful work, because you’re going in and helping youths to overcome these emotional blocks, so that they can move forward with more ease and joy.
NICOLE DUBRUEL DE BROGLIO: I just think that, you know, if we can create children who feel confident and loved, and no matter what situation they face in life, that they’ve got a way of dealing with them, and coming through them, we can really create some marvellous adults out there.
