Experiences with EFT?

Yes, actually, though in a relationship therapy setting. I convinced my dismissive ex to go with me after she had cheated on me to try and salvage the relationship. The therapist used Sue Johnson's 'Hold me tight' as a starting point for the therapy. My ex ended up going 3 times before breaking things off completely.

In my experience, focusing on emotions is the last thing a dismissive will want to do. Even voicing her own emotions proved impossible for her (likely due to the alexithymia most dismissives show) and the therapy made her clamp shut, even though she said she was doing all she could (which may even be the truth, but I have my doubts. I think she just went through the motions to be able to say to the outside world that she'd tried everything. ).

The other thing is that it will force them to look critically at this persona (or armor) they have created to keep the world and closeness out. Losing that would mean to acknowledge the fact that they are largely to blame for the failed relationships in their past and they will resist that heavily.

So going by just my personal experience, which is by no means enough to base a larger conclusion on, it doesn't work very well for avoidants. I hope this goes a little way to answering your question.

Given my experiences I have to agree with soho and Jaeger's comments above.

I think that EMT can be helpful but it has severe limitations. My experience is that the DA just becomes way too overwhelmed. In a lot of cases they can't identify emotions or connect with them, so I often hear things like "exhausting" and "too much" when asked to attend multiple sessions.

I know a DA who was so proud of owning the two Sue Johnson books (Hold Me Tight & Love Sense) and used it as proof of intent to work on relationship & self, but in actuality, never made it through Hold Me Tight (and contained activities) and has never even cracked open Love Sense. So similarly to Jaeger's experience, it often seemed like attending therapy or participating in EMT activities were to prove to the outside world that the DA had tried everything possible. When in reality, more then a session a month was too overwhelming, and homework or conversations outside therapy were totally avoided and considered "too much" in addition to everything else going on in life.

For me, jury is still out on EMDR.
www.webmd.com/mental-health/emdr-what-is-it

I think I've seen some progress from it. Less association and fixation on old wounds by the DA; acknowledgement of links of trauma; and to some degree, just a general increased interest in self awareness and vulnerability. Since it works with the subconscious, it seems to be more successful. But perhaps that is wishful thinking.

I think the therapist also has a lot to do with it. Maybe DAs work best with therapists who can give concrete solutions and actions to help them manage DA behaviors, as oppose to constantly asking the DA to identify and address feelings?