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Apex effect is the name Roger Callahan gave to the phenomenon which is known as Cognitive Dissonace in psychology.
In TFT and EFT, you will probably run into the phenonemon that, when working with a customer, you achieve a drop of the SUDS level on an issue, and the issue dissipates, which is the result we are after. However, the customer may then state, "Well, that is because you distracted me", or "It was really not such a big issue", or some such statement where the customer downplays what you have just done or downplays the role of EFT to achieve the result. You, the therapist are flabbergasted. How can the customer attempt to verbally negate what just happened? How can the customer just not see that it was the tapping? How can the customer just declare the reason he wanted a consultation as irrelevant? This is how EFT therapists often experience cognitive dissonance.
Cognitive Dissonace is a phenomenon refers to the uncomfortable tension, dissonance, that is experienced between two conflicting cognitions. This was first described by social psychologist Leon Festinger in 1957. Elliot Aronson linked congntive dissonace to the self concept. Basically, people cannot deal with conflicting cognitions - read beliefs or belief systems, so they attempt to resolve them by adjusting one belief, and this happens unconsciously.
| ... there may be situations where the original cognitions are so central to the person's self-concept that they may be resistant to change towards greater consistency. Indeed, several scientists in the literature have shown how individuals who are provided with performance feedback that are discrepant from original beliefs about the self, will tend to strengthen their original beliefs and attitudes further through other behaviors when given the opportunity to do so (BDG, 2007). Source: Psychology Wiki |
In EFT, the customer wants to change their issue, so they attempt EFT. When they came in, unbeknownst to either party, the customer brought with them their own paradigms, their own belief systems about who they are, how the world works, and particularly about how emotions work, and how therapy works. Do not forget people have also invested a lot of faith into these belief systems, they are the map of their world.
Now, the intervention of EFT was either explained with a theory they did not understand, or could not relate to their own belief system. They couldnt place it into their map, or could not attach it to their existing view of how emotions change.
The intervention occurs. A novel experience. A change in the emotions occurs. Now, is the new experience accepted or rejected. This depends on the strenght of existing convictions and the strength of the new experience. EFT tends to not be spectacular, the emotions just dissipate and dissapear without having to conquer them through catharsis.
