Table Metaphor — Tabletop & Table Legs

Presentation

The Table Metaphor (Tabletop & Table Legs) is one of the most fundamental and didactic conceptual frameworks in EFT, developed by Gary Craig to explain how global emotional problems are built from specific experiences, and how EFT therapeutic work must be structured accordingly to be truly effective.

This metaphor is not a tapping technique in itself — it is a conceptual tool, an analytical and therapeutic planning grid that guides how the practitioner approaches the patient's complaints. It is taught in all certified EFT training programs and constitutes an indispensable prerequisite for rigorous clinical practice. Without understanding the table metaphor, the EFT practitioner risks 'tapping on the symptom' rather than on the underlying causes, producing partial, temporary, or null results.

Creator: Gary Craig (EFT founder) — fundamental conceptual framework of EFT, taught since the method's origins

Core Principles

1. The tabletop = the global problem
The 'tabletop' represents the problem as the patient typically formulates it: 'I have terrible social anxiety,' 'I have very poor self-esteem,' 'I suffer from chronic depression.' These formulations designate general, complex emotional states — composite psychological structures resulting from the accumulation of many specific experiences over time. The golden rule: you NEVER tap directly on the tabletop.

2. The table legs = specific memories
The 'legs' represent the specific memories, the precise experiences that built and still feed today's global problem. These specific memories are the genuine energetic anchoring points of the problem — the ones the nervous system has encoded as proof of the global problem's truth.

3. The fundamental rule: treat the legs, not the tabletop
When enough legs have been treated, something remarkable happens: the table collapses by itself. The global problem (the tabletop) spontaneously diminishes without ever having been directly 'attacked.' This is one of the most compelling demonstrations of the thematic network functioning of emotional memory.

4. The generalization effect in the context of the metaphor
Treating several legs of a thematic network affects the entire network, progressively reducing the solidity of the tabletop long before all legs have been individually treated.

5. Specificity as a quality criterion
The more specific a memory (date, place, people, exact words, physical sensations), the more targeted and effective the tapping. A vague memory is still too close to the tabletop. A precise, specific memory is a true table leg.

Technical Sheet

Nature

Conceptual framework and therapeutic planning tool — not an independent tapping technique

Creator

Gary Craig (EFT founder)

Usage

Structuring clinical EFT work; psycho-educational tool for the patient

Leg detection technique

Key questions: 'When did you first feel this?', 'Are there other times you felt the same?', 'What memory comes to you spontaneously when you think of this problem?'

Number of legs to treat

Variable — from 3-4 for recent problems to 20-30+ for chronic deeply anchored issues

Evidence level

Treating specific experiences rather than global states is consistent with memory neuroscience (memory reconsolidation) and schema therapy

Main Indications

• Global and diffuse complaints
• Chronic and longstanding problems
• Resistance to global tapping
• Patients reporting many activating situations
• Work on limiting beliefs
• Preparation for intensive work

Practical Application in Session

Step 1 — Identify and verbalize the tabletop. Step 2 — Explain the table metaphor to the patient. Step 3 — Identify the legs using key questions ('When did you first feel this?', 'What specific memory comes to mind?', 'What was the worst moment of this type?'). Step 4 — List and map the legs with SUD scores. Step 5 — Sequential treatment of each leg with standard EFT to SUD 0. Step 6 — Verify the tabletop and generalization effect periodically.

Variations and Associated Techniques

• Bridge question technique: 'Close your eyes, focus on this anxiety you feel right now, and let your unconscious take you back to the first time you felt something similar in your life.'
• 'Are there other times?' technique
• Chain metaphor: Some practitioners prefer the chain metaphor (problem = chain, memories = links)
• Planning table: Visual table listing tabletop, identified legs, initial and final SUD scores

Contraindications

• Isolated severe trauma memories: Some legs may be major trauma memories requiring very specialized handling
• Excessive multiplication of legs in complex patients
• Use with unprepared patients