What is “SUDS” and why is it important to know my SUDS level?
A. “SUDS” stands for Subjective Units of Distress Scale. It was a scale developed by a psychiatrist in the 1950’s to help patients rate their discomfort or distress levels, and has become a standard tool for self-evaluating individual experience. Considering that what brings people to seek help for the problems they are experiencing is their subjective experience of distress, it makes sense to give their perception a voice in evaluating change or progress. SUDS is used to monitor the change that occurs during the EFT process. Before you start an EFT tapping round you will tune into the level of intensity that you are feeling and give it a number from 1-10. As you process through the EFT rounds, you will stop and check your SUDS level; the changing intensity level is your measure of effect. Tuning into the level of distress requires that you are focused on the problem; this helps keep the body activated on the energy frequency of that issue, so the problem can be more easily “tapped out
