EFT Myth Number 4: The Black Squirrels of Toronto

When EFT was looking for a place to come into being,

It looked in many places.

 

Some were too hot and sunny

Others were too dry and deserty,

While yet others were too wet or hurricaney.

 

It had nothing against snow,

But give me a break!

Polar ice caps, Siberia, Saskatchewan:

Too much snow! Too cold!

 

And then there were the people:

In some places the people were too rude,

Fancied themselves as too important,

Or were just too samey or worried about

What other people thought of them,

To be the birthplace of a weird little

Emotion-empathy science-magic therapy.

 

So EFT just had to keep looking for a place

Where it could be invented or discovered --

Or whatever.

 

No, it needed a place where the people were nice,

Polite, helpful and didn’t think

They were the centre of the universe.

(Well maybe just a little bit, but not too much.)

 

And it needed a place where there were

Lots of different kinds of people,

And where that was not just OK but was celebrated,

Not a melting pot, but a mixed salad

Full of lots of lovely bits,

Because EFT wanted to be the kind of therapy

That’s full of lots of lovely bits

That all fit together into a big beautiful whole

Around emotion-empathy science-magic.

 

 

Oh, yes! And it turned out that EFT was looking

For a place that had cute little black squirrels

(Scientific name melanistic sciurus carolinensis).

 

So, you see, there really was only one place

In the world where EFT could come into being,

Where Laura, Les, Robert, Jeanne, Rhonda,

And a bunch of other people could all come together

At just the right moment in the late 1980’s,

And that place was Toronto, Canada.

 

But please don’t feed the little buggers,

Because there are plenty of pickings

In a big city and they multiply like crazy!

 

                       -Robert Elliott, Toronto, October 2025  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note: This poem is a love-letter to Toronto, Canada, where my family and I spent a lovely year in the early 1990's, while Facilitating Emotional Change, the first book about EFT, was being written.  Diane and I recently returned for Les Greenberg's birthday celebration and fell in love with the place all over again.  

Three Brief EFT Myths for Les Greenberg (for His 80th Birthday)

[New blog entry: three poems in honor of Les Greenberg, on his 80th birthday, using science fiction and fantasy themes to imagine a set of myths about the origins of EFT but told to children (like my or Les' grandkids). The slightly crazy, unruly writing style was inspired by the children's books of beloved Canadian children's book author Robert Munsch. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did writing them!]

Preface

 

We met when we were barely out of childhood

Heads and hearts full of hopes and dreams

To change the world of psychotherapy

And psychotherapy research,

Which we did

 

Now that we are old,

We might as well make some myths.

For some reason,

These have come out as children’s stories.

 

 

Myth Number 1:  Don’t Kill the Dragon

 

You didn’t kill the dragon.

Afterall, the dragon

Is sacred to the Goddess.

Instead, you listened to her story.

(She was a very old dragon,

Even older than we are

And had a lot of story to tell.)

 

Surprised and pleased

By your empathy and compassion,

The dragon didn’t eat you.

Instead, she opened the place in her chest

Where you didn’t stab her

With your non-existent sword,

And invited you to taste

The thick, rich blood that oozed out.

 

Yes, I know, that’s kind of gross!

But really it was a great honour,

And after all, it was her core pain.

And you were brave and curious enough to try.

 

And then, just like that other hero

In that great big singing story by that German guy,

Suddenly you could understand

Not just what the birds were saying,

But also all the animals.

 

And you could talk to them too,

Because you had used your emotion empathy

Science magic to learn

The beating heart language

Of the birds and animals,

Which is after all the language of emotion.

 

But my favourite part of this story is this:

Then you wrote a bunch of books

And taught a bunch of classes

Where you worked with the rest us

To find and forge the emotion empathy

Science magic, which is very cool!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Myth Number 2:  The Temptation

 

At some point, the science wizard power bad guys

Began to get worried.

So they took you

And your science witch teacher Laura

Up to the top of a tall tower.

 

They showed you the power cities of the world,

And told you,

“We’ll let you be the boss of all this,

If you just come over

To the dark side of the Process

(that’s the magic of one-thing-after-another),

If you just say you believe in our kind of

Science wizard power magic,

Named CBT.”

 

Needless to say,

You were too stubborn to give in.

And for this we are all very grateful,

Because here we are today,

Paper bag princesses all,

(Just like in the book by Robert Munsch)

Doing three things:

 First, instead of eating CBT hamburgers

We live on honey and manna,

Which is kind of like baklava

But is really dried bug juice sap:

It really isn’t as bad as it sounds;

Plus it’s good for us

And is environmentally friendly.

 

Second, we are rejecting patriarchy!

(Which means power guys running everything

And telling women and children

And other folks what to do).

We don’t like this! Yay us!

 

Third, best of all,

We are talking with the beast and the bird

Parts of each other

Using emotion empathy science magic,

…And maybe a little help from

The Merlin apps on our phones?

 

 

Myth Number 3:  Gallifrey

 

This myth might be more for grown-ups;

It is full of Dr. Who references.

 

Les, we know you couldn’t stay in South Africa,

Any more than the Doctor could stay in Gallifrey.

Canada was and is your promised land.

 

You might, or might not, be a Time Lord,

But there is the matter of

Your two hearts:

 

One heart beats even now for Brenda,

Lost for many years, but still alive in you.

 

TARDIS BBC Television Centre; source: Babbel1996 

 

We share the other heart with Shelley.

Fortunately, like the TARDIS,

Your heart is bigger on the inside,

And there is plenty of room here

In its chambers:

Over your 80 years,

You have taken us all,

Your travelling companions,

On too many adventures to name.

 

With you we have found and forged

The emotion empathy science magic

Needed to cross time and space

Regenerating through

Nebulas of vague feelings

And supernova secondary

Chain reaction emotions

To cosmic background stuckness

And the blackest holes of despair.

 

There, fragile, broken, seemingly

Alone in the universe,

At the last moment we suddenly

Emerge through the wormhole,

Discover we are not alone,

And reach our hearts’ desire.

 

                        -Robert Elliott, September 2025