EFT has been the subject of three scientific studies or peer-reviewed publications:
The first study, published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology in 2003, involved 35 patients with a phobia of small animals receiving a single treatment with EFT. The authors concluded that their findings were “largely consistent” with the hypothesis that EFT can reduce phobias of small animals in a single treatment session, but that methodological limitations of the study prevented any firm conclusions being drawn.
The second study, published in The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice in 2003, was conducted by Waite and Holder on 119 University students who reported specific fears or phobias. This study compared four groups:
* A group that received a single-round regular EFT;
* a second group that received the same treatment, except that they tapped on points in the arm that are not part of the standard EFT protocol;
* a third group that received the same treatment, except that they tapped on the corresponding meridian points on an inanimate object (a doll)
* and a fourth group that was asked to make a toy.
The participants were asked to self-report their fears before and after treatment on a SUDS scale(Subjective Units of Disturbance Scale). The first three groups did statistically better than the fourth group, but there were no significant differences between the three tapping groups. That is, the groups that tapped on sham points and on the doll did just as well as the EFT group, but all three groups did better than the no-treatment group. Since the group that used the doll was not tapping on meridian points yet still benefited equally, the authors suggested this as a falsification of the theory that EFT works because of the body’s energy meridian system.
The third study, published in Counseling and Clinical Psychology in 2005, a psychological test called the SA-45 was used to test the levels of psychological distress on 102 participants of an experiential Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) workshop and to examine the long-term effects. The SA-45 was given before the workshop, after the workshop, 1 month after the workshop, and 6 months after the workshop. There was a statistically significant decrease in all measures of psychological distress as measured by the SA-45 from pre-workshop to post-workshop which held up at the 6 month follow-up. This study, however, does not show that EFT in isolation yielded positive effects, and lacked valid controls.
Tags: EFT