Zoe Cannon is an ex-Headteacher and in her retirement has decided to establish her own business using The Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) as an effective and gentle self-help and coaching method for
wellness and emotional release. She is hoping to introduce this into schools to help to address the mental health issues for some children.
In this blog, she explains how she ended up with this passion.
Q:You had worked in education for so many years, as have I – what were the highlights of a career in the classroom?
A:There were so many! The best times, were when I saw children who had challenging circumstances at home really shine. Many years ago, we took a boy away on a residential visit. He had a really difficult home life and very low self-esteem. To his own surprise, he was the first child of his age to manage to climb all four sides of their climbing tower. The staff at the centre made such a fuss of him and I could really see the impact on his self-confidence.
On another occasion, we were visiting a Tudor house and had to act in role. One little boy made a mistake and in response to a request for his name, said ‘Sir Thomas’, instead of ‘Thomas, sir’. The actor responded to this brilliantly, and the child was given special treatment and referred to as ‘Sir Thomas’ all day. His beaming face made my heart sing!
Over thirty years ago, I had a child in my class, who, overnight, became very angry. There were no learning mentors, or similar support back then, so I did some detective work and discovered that his grandfather had recently died, but that his parents wouldn’t talk about it. Once, I had spoken to his parents and explained, his challenging behaviour calmed. I explained it to the child by saying that he was like a lemonade bottle full of emotions and as soon as someone annoyed him, this shook the bottle and the top flew off, sending out the anger. I believe, that this was the first key moment when I realized how important it was to support children in managing their emotions and how complex this can be.
Q: What were the biggest challenges?
A: With teaching, establishing some kind of work/life balance! I think this has got easier in some ways with reduced marking expectations and preprepared schemes of work, but so much more challenging in others, such as meeting all the needs of the pupils in a class.
As a SENCo, it was trying to meet the expectations of parents and staff within a tight budget and sadly, that still seems to be the case now.
When I was head at Ravensdale Junior School, it was a sudden event which couldn’t have been anticipated – a fire which decimated the adjoining infant school which was the biggest challenge. The schools are only 6 feet apart at one point and I watched the amazing fire service keep a wall of water between the two buildings for five hours. This happened during Covid, which made matters more complex, and we were closed for a week, as the schools shared utility services. We planned carefully to manage the emotions of the pupils on their return, as they would walk past the burnt-out shell of the infant school building that they had attended. The impact for the pupils and the building was long-lasting and could not be under-estimated.
Q: What started you on this journey into specific therapy training?
A: I have always been interested in alternative therapies and this was a hobby of mine during my teaching career, when I would attend short courses for my own personal interest. However, it was my firm intention to train in some specific therapies after my retirement from education and move into a second career. When I found out about EFT, it was the perfect gentle therapy that I was looking for, as it could be used with children and adults to support mental and emotional well-being.
Q: How did you find out about EFT?
A: In an unusual way! I was attending a retreat when I got talking to a lady in a queue. We became friends online and it was at this point that I found out she was an accredited trainer for both EFT and Reiki. I knew about Reiki, but not EFT, and after some research, decided that I would like to train in this as well. The EFT was particularly appealing, as I could see how helpful it could be to children.
Q: How long did it take you to train?
A: It took just under a year. During the process, I spent many hours working with clients, both face to face and over Zoom, and was delighted with the feedback I received.
Q: I wished I had known someone who specialized in similar approaches to this for some of the children I have taught, do you have any examples of how it has worked for children in practice?
A: Other therapists are working with children in this way, but as yet, I have not had experience of using EFT with children. During my training, I worked extensively with adults, and was very pleased with how effective it was. For example, I worked with an adult who had an extreme fear of snakes, to the point that she was waking up with nightmares two or three times a week. After the second session with me, the nightmares had stopped.
From this experience, I could see how well it would also work with children. Hence, I am currently offering 3 schools (2 primary and 1 secondary) 3 free days each of therapy, including working with a member of staff after school each day, in exchange for some feedback about the process and outcomes.
In my role as SENCo, I successfully used a therapy which worked in a similar way to release emotional blocks, but through a guided visualization. The children loved the sessions and always reported feeling emotionally ‘lighter’ afterwards. EFT is an improvement on this in that it specifically targets the uncomfortable emotion that the child wishes to address.
Q: I love the title of your website/ business – how did you come up with it?
A: EFT is frequently referred to as ‘tapping’, as the client and the therapist both tap on specific points of their own bodies during the session, using our hands. I am also qualified in Reiki, which directs healing energy through the hands. So, I was delighted when I found that the company title and website address ‘handsforhealing.co.uk’ was available, as it beautifully represents both modalities.
Q: What is your main aim of setting up this business and how does it compare to teaching?
A: My main aim is to help children and adults free themselves from limiting emotions or psychological patterns (e.g. phobias), with a very gentle and often effective technique that they can also use in their everyday lives. I have worked with several adults who had significant childhood trauma and the results were very positive. How much better would it have been for those adults, if they could have addressed these issues as children, rather than carrying them into adulthood.
I’ve always enjoyed helping people. In teaching, you are constantly supporting children to be a better version of themselves, both academically and socially/emotionally. When I became a head, I realized that this was very true of the way in which I supported staff – helping them to develop in their roles and also being there for them emotionally if life threw them a curved ball.
At the moment, it can be difficult to access timely support for mental health and well-being, so I would love to be part of that solution for both adults and children.
How wonderful to read about a career after headship. There are so many young little people needing help to be understood. The complexity of a classroom is often too much and the amazing teachers within schools are being stretched to capacity. Provision of additional time and support is essential, and when provided by practitioners who have experienced working in a classroom and school, an added understanding is offered.