In this section you will see many research studies on EFT and the general field of Energy Therapy. This will include very similar Energy therapies like TFT. My main objective here is to point out that EFT and Energy Therapy are not some isolated systems making claims that no one can verify. At this point, we have 30 years of success with this technology, beginning with the work of Dr. Roger Callahan.

Just a few of the very well known people if the field of personal development that are advocates of EFT and Energy Therapy:

Jack Canfield, Bob Doyle, Paul McKenna, Bob Proctor & Joe Vitale. I am certain there are countless other famous personal development teachers out there who also praise Energy Therapy methods. This is just a small sample.

Here are some quotes I would like to share:

• Dr Bruce Lipton, author of "Biology of Belief" and the DVD series "The New Biology--Where Mind and Matter Meet" has said that "EFT is a simple, profoundly powerful process that can influence gene activity, health and behavior"

• Norm Shealy, author of "Soul Medicine." "By removing emotional trauma, EFT helps heal physical symptoms too."--

• Dr. Deepak Chopra, New York Times bestselling author, "EFT offers great healing benefits"

• Dr. Candace Pert, author of “Molecules and Emotion”, "EFT is at the forefront of the new healing movement"

• Cheryl Richardson, Author of "The Unmistakable Touch of Grace." "EFT is destined to be a top healing tool for the 21st century."

If you want to see countless success stories of EFT being applied in virtually all areas, I suggest you visit www.emofree.com

Below are research studies I found on www.emofree.com, the official EFT website of creator Gary Craig.

Psychological Symptom Change in Veterans After Six Sessions of Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT); An Observational Study

Church, D., Geronilla, L., Dinter, I.[2009], Psychological Symptom Change in Veterans After Six Sessions of Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT); An Observational Study. International Journal of Healing and Caring 9:1

Abstract

Protocols to treat veterans with brief courses of therapy are required, in light of the large numbers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with depression, anxiety, PTSD and other psychological problems. This observational study examined the effects of six sessions of EFT on seven veterans, using a within-subjects, time-series, repeated measures design. Participants were assessed using a well-validated instrument, the SA-45, which has general scales measuring the depth and severity of psychological symptoms. It also contains subscales for anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive behavior, phobic anxiety, hostility, interpersonal sensitivity, paranoia, psychosis, and somatization. Participants were assessed before and after treatment, and again after 90 days. Interventions were done by two different practitioners using a standardized form of EFT to address traumatic combat memories. Symptom severity decreased significantly by 40% (p<.001), anxiety decreased 46% (p<.001), depression 49% (p<.001), and PTSD 50% (p<.016). These gains were maintained at the 90-day follow-up.

Gallo, F. P. (2009). Energy Psychology in Rehabilitation: Origins, Clinical Applications, and Theory. Energy Psychology: Theory, Research, & Treatment, 1(1), 57-72. 

Abstract

Three forces have dominated psychology and psychological treatment at different times since the early 1900s. The first force was Freudian psychoanalysis and its offshoots that focus on unconscious psychodynamics and developmental fixations, with principal therapeutic techniques including free association, dream analysis, interpretation, and abreaction. Second came behaviorism, spearheaded by Pavlov, Watson, and Skinner, which emphasized environmental stimuli and conditioning—its techniques including respondent and operant condition- ing, exposure, desensitization, schedules of reinforcement, modeling, and more. The third force involved humanistic and transpersonal approaches that attend to values and choice, including client-centered therapy, gestalt therapy, phenomenology, and cognitive therapy, some of the principal leaders being Rogers, Maslow, Perls, Rollo May, Binswanger, and Ellis. Recently the new paradigm of energy psychology has emerged, which may be considered psychology’s fourth force. The earliest pioneers included Goodheart, Diamond, and Callahan. This theoretical and practice approach offers the field some unique findings, as it views psychological problems as body–mind interactions and bioenergy fields, providing treatments that directly and efficiently address these substrates. Some of energy psychology’s techniques include stimulating acupoints and chakras, specific body postures, affirmations, imagery, manual muscle testing, and an emphasis on intention. This review covers energy psychology’s historical development and experimental evidence base. Case illustrations and treatment protocols are discussed for the treatment of psychological trauma and physical pain, two of the most important and ubiquitous aspects common to rehabilitation conditions. Additionally, the research on energy psychology is highlighted, and the distinction between global treatments and causal energy diagnostic-treatment approaches to treatment is addressed.

Six Trauma Imprints Treated with Combination Intervention: Critical Incident Stress Debriefing and Thought Field Therapy (TFT) or Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)

Green, M. M., (2002). Six Trauma Imprints Treated with Combination Intervention: Critical Incident Stress Debriefing and Thought Field Therapy (TFT) or Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT). Traumatology. 8:1, 18.

Abstract

Green Cross Project volunteers in New York City describe a unique intervention which combines elements of Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) with Thought Field Therapy and Emotional Freedom Techniques. Six trauma imprints were identified and treated in a number of the clients. The combination treatments seemed to have a
beneficial effect in alleviating the acute aspects of multiple traumas. Here are the stories of two Spanish speaking couples who were treated in unison by bilingual therapists two to three weeks after the attack on the World Trade Center.

Church, D. (2009). The Effect of EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) on Athletic Performance: A Randomized Controlled Blind Trial. Open Sports Sciences Journal, 2, 94-99.

Abstract

The present study investigates the effect of a psychophysiological intervention, Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), on athletic performance. It evaluates whether a single EFT treatment can produce an improvement in high- performance men’s and women’s PAC-10 college basketball team members (n = 26). The treatment group received a 15 minute EFT session while a performance-matched attention control group received a placebo intervention of similar duration. Performance was measured on free throws and vertical jump height. The time frame of data collection and treatment simulated an actual basketball game. A statistically significant difference between the two groups was found for free throws (p<.03). On post-test, players who received the EFT intervention improved an average of 20.8%, while the attention control group decreased an average of 16.6%. There was no difference between treatment groups in jump height. When performance was analyzed separately by gender, trends toward significance were found for the women’s team on both performance measures with better results for the EFT intervention group. This indicates that EFT performed as an intervention during the course of an athletic event may improve free throw performance . 

The Treatment of Combat Trauma in Veterans Using EFT

Church, D. (2009). The Treatment of Combat Trauma in Veterans using EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques): A Pilot Protocol. Traumatology, in press.

Abstract

With a large number of US military service personnel comIraq and Afghanistan with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and co- morbid psychological conditions, a need exists to find protocols and treatments that are effective in brief treatment timeframes. In this study, a sample of 11 veterans and family members were assessed for PTSD and other conditions. Evaluations were made using the SA-45 (Symptom Assessment 45) and the PCL-M (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist - Military) using a time-series, within-subjects, repeated measures design. A baseline measurement was obtained thirty days prior to treatment, and immediately before treatment. Subjects were then treated with a brief and novel exposure therapy, EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques), for five days. Statistically significant improvements in the SA-45 and PCL-M scores were found at posttest. These gains were maintained at both the 30- and 90-day follow-ups on the general symptom index, positive symptom total and the anxiety, somatization, phobic anxiety, and interpersonal sensitivity subscales of the SA-45, and on PTSD. The remaining SA-45 scales improved posttest but were not consistently maintained at the 30- and 90-day follow-ups. One-year follow-up data was obtained for 7 of the participants and the same improvements were observed. In summary, after EFT treatment, the group no longer scored positive for PTSD, the severity and breadth of their psychological distress decreased significantly, and most of their gains held over time. This suggests that EFT can be an effective post-deployment intervention

An Objective Experiment on the Use of EFT for Depression

By Dawson Church, PhD

One of the exciting and growing trends in EFT is the use of research to validate the experiences people have. While stories are valuable, research allows us to give numerical scores to the improvement people experience. If you have a cut on your arm, you can observe how long it takes to heal. You can also see visually if the healing process slows or speeds up. Using scores for psychological wellbeing allows us to do the same thing for the mind and emotions as observation allows us to do for the body.

I recently did an experiment evaluating the use of EFT in treating depression. The subject of the experiment was Anne, a 45 year old woman who was diagnosed with clinical depression more than ten years previously. She used an antidepressant medication called Zoloft for the first few years, and it allowed her to function, though she found the side effects to be unpleasant. Her depression lifted temporarily three years previously when she fell in love, but after the brief relationship ended, she found herself back in the hole. Rather than going back on antidepressants, she decided to “white knuckle it” without them.

I measured her depression in two distinct ways. One was by using a widely used questionnaire called the Beck Depression Inventory or BDI. It has 63 questions that measure various aspects of depression, and a low score indicates a low level of depression, while a high score indicates greater depression.

I also used a second test called a “bioassay.” This particular bioassay was developed by a research team at the University of Arizona led by a distinguished psychologist named Gary Schwartz. Bioassays measure the degree of plant growth. The theory is that if the life energy of a seed is compromised, it will grow less rapidly. If the life energy is enhanced, it will grow better. I have set up a research nonprofit, Soul Medicine Institute (http://www.SoulMedicineInstitute.org) which is undertaking rigorous scientific studies of EFT. We are looking at the effects of EFT on depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), wound healing, and other conditions. All these studies are being done to the highest standard of scientific proof, called a Randomized Controlled Double Blind Clinical Trial. We draw on the wisdom of many other researchers, such as those at the University of Arizona, in designing our experiments.

In my experimental design, my research assistant had Anne hold a packet of 20 seeds in her hands at the beginning of the session, after completing a BDI questionnaire. Gary Craig then did a 2 ½ hour session with Anne, addressing many aspects of her depression. Anne then held a second packet of seeds in her hand, and completed a second BDI.

Back at Soul Medicine Institute, the seeds were carefully prepared for germination in Petri dishes, and sprouted for 72 hours. A third group of seeds was simultaneously sprouted; this third control group had not been held by anyone. All three groups of seeds were treated identically. The person caring for the seeds did not know which group was which, this is called a blind experiment.

The results of this experiment are now available on the Soul Medicine Institute web site. The photographs are striking.

Seeds held before treatment: 5 failed to germinate, 4 developed root hairs.

Seeds held after treatment: 1 failed to germinate, 14 developed root hairs.

Seeds not held: 2 failed to germinate, 4 developed root hairs.

You can see these photographs at: http://www.SoulMedicineInstitute.org/bioassay.html.

The results of the BDI echoed the growth rate of the seeds. Anne scored 23 out of 63 on the BDI before treatment. Right after treatment, she scored 3. This was a very large drop. We tested her again 30 days after the session to see if the results had held, and her score was 16. In 60 days, it had gone down even more, to 13. So her score of depression on the BDI, which is the most widely used questionnaire for anxiety, was 43% lower two months after just ONE EFT treatment. And the plant growth measurements corroborated this change.

It is not possible to generalize Anne’s results to others until we do the same experiment with many more people. But the fact that both the bioassay and the BDI gave similar results indicates that this method of measuring depression is worth further study. I have summarized all the other research using EFT in my book The Genie in Your Genes (www.GenieBestseller.com), which explores the scientific basis for such rapid healing. I have several larger experiments underway using EFT for other conditions, and I will report the results of these to you as the results come in.

Dawson Church, PhD

Thought Field Therapy and its derivatives: rapid relief of mental health problems through tapping on the body

Mollon, P., (2007). Thought Field Therapy and its derivatives: rapid relief of mental health problems through tapping on the body. Primary Care and Community Psychiatry. 12 [3-4] December. 123-127.

Abstract

A genre of psychotherapeutic enquiry, involving work with the body's energy system as well as the mind, began in the 1970s, arising from the field of Applied Kinesiology as elaborated by psychiatrist Dr. John Diamond. Clinical psychologist, Roger Callahan, built on this work to develop simple procedures for the rapid relief of anxieties and phobias. This approach, called Thought Field Therapy, was later applied to trauma and other forms of mental distress. In recent years a number of derivative methods have been developed. These can be combined with conventional psychodynamic or CBT approaches. A variety of forms of evidence support the use of these 'energy psychology' techniques, including a very large South American study.

EFT for Libido: Study Results Summarized -- 80% report an improvement of 50% or more

Note: This article assumes you have a working knowledge of EFT. Newcomers can still learn from it but are advised to get our Free EFT Get Started Package or our Affordable DVDs for a more complete understanding.

Hi Everyone,

A thank you to Nancy Morris for giving us the details of her fascinating one month study with 10 participants. Note that none of the participants were familiar with EFT before signing up and almost everyone reported improvement. This topic represents a huge market for those willing to pursue it.

Hugs, Gary