Both the Basic and Advanced EFT Certificates of Completion provide objective evidence that the person who has earned them has viewed and thoroughly understands the principles taught in Gary Craig's classic EFT video courses: the EFT Course and the Steps Toward Becoming an Ultimate Therapist Course.  The person who earns an EFT Certificate of Completion is legally entitled to do the following:

            a. Claim publicly that they have earned the "EFT Certificate of Completion".

            b. Display the initials EFT-CC (or EFT-ADV whichever applies) after their name, and list it among their credentials.

            c. Display the physical certificate in their office or elsewhere. 

            d. Be included in our international online listing of practitioners who have earned one or both EFT Certificates of Completion. 
 

If a person holds an EFT Certificate of Completion it is illegal for them to do the following:

            a.  Claim that they are "certified in EFT", are a "certified practitioner" of EFT, or make any other statement about their status as an EFT practitioner that uses any form of the word "certified". 

The Legal Significance of the EFT Certificate of Completion

     The EFT Certificate of Completion provides objective evidence that the person who has earned it has viewed and thoroughly understands the principles taught in Gary Craig's classic EFT video courses: the Basic EFT Course and Steps Toward Becoming the Ultimate Therapist Course.  The certificate does not provide legal "certification" in any country, nor attest to the competence with which the person applies EFT.
 

The Difference Between Legal Certification and the Issuance of a Certificate Of Completion

     "Certification" (and use of the words "certify", "certified" etc.) in any professional field is under the control of government agencies. To certify someone as being an "EFT practitioner" in a legal sense, Pace Educational Systems would have to guarantee the quality of that person's professional work to a professional organization operating under state laws, or to a governmental agency. Pace would, in effect, have to vouch for this person's ability to apply EFT in their work with patients or clients, and convey that information to the state or province in which they practice.

     In the State of New Jersey where I work, for example, a Certified Marriage and Family Counselor, a Certified Addictions Counselor or any other certified practitioner must prove that they have amassed a required number of hours of clinically supervised practice -- often this can mean several years of supervision  -- under the guidance of an already certified practitioner in their state. They must also pass stringent examinations in their area of specialty.
 

Problems Created by the Certification Process

     Legal certification is exclusionary in the sense that it implies that all those who are not certified are unfit to practice. For this reason, legal action is often undertaken against certifying organizations, the argument being that the certification process, by nature, is in restraint of trade. This is the reason why many educational institutions are hesitant to undertake formal "certification" programs, even if these could obtain approval in their state.
 

 Status of Legal Certification for EFT

     At the present time there is no organization anywhere that is authorized to provide legal certification for practitioners of EFT as taught by Gary Craig.  The reason is that EFT is in an experimental stage and as such is not recognized by any of the major professional organizations such as the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association or the National Association of Social Workers in the U.S., or by any comparable associations in other countries. Another reason for this is that, even were EFT to become recognized by professional organizations and government agencies, creating a legal certification program would mean instituting restrictions that, by nature, would exclude all those who are not certified. 

     A restrictive program such as this would violate the spirit of EFT as expressed by its founder, Gary Craig, who from the start elected to make EFT nonrestrictive and open to all who practice it ethically and in good faith. To create a "certification" program in EFT, therefore, even if this were possible for us to do, would violate the rights of some practitioners to practice EFT in their own way. It would also restrict our freedom to experiment in a creative and innovative fashion with EFT, and that freedom has been one of EFT's greatest strengths.

     For this reason, even if we were able to evaluate the competency of each candidate's ability to apply EFT in clinical practice, we would not elect to do so. Instead, we offer carefully evaluated EFT Certificates of Completion to those who have passed our examinations.  These attest to the fact that these practitioners thoroughly understand the principles and practice of EFT as demonstrated in Gary Craig's classic EFT video series.
 

Definition of a Certificate

     A "certificate" is defined by Webster's New Age Dictionary as a "written or printed statement by which a fact is formally or officially attested to".  It can be a document certifying ownership, a promise to pay, or can attest to a type of professional proficiency, etc.  For example, our EFT Certificates of Completion attest to the fact that a person has passed an examination based on knowledge of either basic or advanced EFT. 
 

Value of an EFT Certificate

     Are the Certificates Of Completion generated by us of value to practitioners?  From a professional and practical standpoint there is great value in them because ours is the only serious evaluative program for EFT, as taught by its founder Gary Craig, in existence at the present time. While it is certainly possible to obtain Certificates of Attendance for some EFT workshops, and sometimes what are called Certificates Of Completion for such workshops, at the most these workshops require attendance at all of their meetings and the answering of three or four questions at the end to obtain these certificates. This is quite different from the precise assessments created by Pace for the EFT Certificate Of Completion Program, where 43 questions for the basic exam and 64 questions for the advanced exam must be answered correctly in order to obtain a certificate.

     In practical terms, the EFT Certificate Of Completion is objective evidence that a person has studied and comprehends the principles of the classical form of EFT as taught by Gary Craig. This does not mean that some gifted healer may not learn an abbreviated form of EFT and apply it with near miraculous results because of his or her own skills, and such an event may have advantage for many people, but this behavior cannot be described as "practicing EFT" in the classical sense of the term. That can only occur if the person has studied the basic and advanced techniques of EFT as demonstrated by its founder.

     To make this position crystal clear: A person is acting illegally if they declare on their website, business cards, email or elsewhere that they are "certified in EFT".  However, they can freely assert that they have a Certificate of Completion in EFT (Basic or Advanced), and they can use the designated initials after their name whenever they wish and be not only accurate but within their legal rights.

Patricia Carrington, Ph.D.
Director, EFT Certificate of Completion Program