Does EFT really work?

What science has to say about EFT, emotions and health

Most anyone who first learns of Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), is at first very skeptical. I know I was. Moreover, you too, are probably skeptical; that is why the title of this article grabbed your attention and caused you to begin reading.

EFT and Science

In this early part of the 21st century, as good as our knowledge of neuroanatomy and neurophysiology might be, the truth is that science is merely beginning to understand the complexity of the physical aspect of the brain, to say nothing about what we think we know about how the mind and emotions originate and influence us.

Many popular news magazines, like Newsweek and Discover, or popular informational publications like Science, Scientific American, National Geographic, or even Reader’s Digest, will frequently feature articles about recent scientific breakthroughs as the simple anatomy of the human brain is better understood. With all of science’s advancement in space exploration and cancer research, and as we all enjoy the many benefits of the computerized life, it is humbling to remember that the human brain remains largely a mystery. Many brain areas have no proven function, and many brain functions are not associated with any known brain area.

It is no surprise that many of the normal brain functions and healthy emotions are not fully understood or mapped in the brain, to so nothing of stressful and abnormal emotions and brain functions. The lack of scientific knowledge and understanding is well-known and acceptable not only within in the scientific community, but the lay public also understand that there is much to be learned about what is going on between our ears, because, well, its complicated, that’s why!

And so when we come to the interesting subject of Emotional Freedom Techniques, it should not be a great surprise to anyone that there is not a lot of hard evidence or solid science to explain the how and why it accomplishes what it does. While there are those who hesitate to use EFT because it is unknown how it works, they are the same people who use mind-controlling drugs even though it is unknown how they work.

Actually, there is much that is unknown in science, and yet we still use those drugs or those procedures because they have been shown to be helpful and useful. EFT can be put in that same category, as well.

What science does not know

Science does not completely understand electricity, magnetism or flight. Science does not know how an aspirin works, either. Therefore, considering how briefly EFT has been on the scene of human therapy, it is not surprising that there is not a complete understanding of this perfectly simple and benign little part of energy psychology.

Not knowing how your color television works, or the complexity of your automobile or telephone messages that instantaneously bounce of satellites hundreds of miles overhead, does not prevent us from using these things and more, constantly.

No one has to know how hair grows in order for hair to get longer. No one has to know how to digest food in order to process breakfast into living tissue. No one has to know how to monitor and control blood pressure in order to maintain our internal environment in that area of 120/80. We take advantage of the fact that our body, for the most part, knows how to operate and does well without our personal knowledge or intervention to keep us alive and well – for the most part.

If humankind were only to partake in those areas of life in which there was full and complete understanding, we would still be living in caves – and we certainly would not be talking to each other, because we as humans are the largest mystery of all.

EFT and research

Greater understanding of EFT is taking place at an acceptable rate of discovery, but science is always slow. That is the nature of scientific development. This should not be taken to mean that EFT does not have a good scientific basis or that there could be something wrong with EFT. It really only means that EFT is involved with a very complex function of a very complex pat of the body. Therefore, please do not allow gaps in our understanding of EFT prevent you from safely using and participating in the large and growing community of people who benefit from it.

The science of EFT is early in development, and we all agree to the complexity of brain anatomy and function. Since EFT has been around only since the early 1990s, it is no wonder that it is just now being seriously explored. However, it is important that anyone who is looking at EFT from the outside to realize that there is almost no potential profit for the drug and hospital industry that typically motivates and stimulates real research inquiry. Emotional Freedom technique can be done simply by people with little or no formal medical training. As such, there is no stimulus to bring EFT to the medical marketplace, and therefore little interest to investigate it.

ACE and three peer-reviewed publications as of 2007 – all favorable

The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study is an ongoing research project, between the U. S. government Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente of California. The ACE Study is directed by co-principal Investigators Robert F. Anda, MD, and Vincent J. Felitti, MD. It is the largest scientific research study of its kind, that analyzes the relationship between multiple categories of specific childhood trauma (or Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs), and health and behavioral outcomes for those individuals exposed to those ACEs later in life.

The ACE Study is examining the long-term effects of:

Recurrent physical abuse
Recurrent emotional abuse
Contact sexual abuse
An alcohol and/or drug abuser in the household
An incarcerated household member
Someone who is chronically depressed, mentally ill, institutionalized, or suicidal
Mother is treated violently
One or no parents
Emotional or physical neglect

Here is the current interpretation of findings of the ACE Study, as reported in the May 1998 issue, pages 245—258, of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. They report that as those with more exposure to these nine ACE rose, so did the likelihood that as an adult, the person would display an increased risk (from 400% to 1200% greater risk ) for alcoholism, cigarette smoking, drug abuse, depression, poor self-rated health status, more than 50 sexual partners, sexually transmitted disease, and suicide attempt; also there was a greater risk ( from 200% to 400%) for reduced physical activity, severe obesity, ischemic heart disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, skeletal fractures, and liver disease. Lastly, it was noted that persons with multiple categories ACE were likely to have multiple health risk factors later in life. As a conclusion, the ACE Study contends there is a strong graded relationship between the multiple exposure to abuse or household dysfunction during childhood, and later adult multiple risk factors for several of the leading causes of death.

The very conservative government agency, the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), states that 85 percent of all diseases have an emotional element, but the actual percentage is probably much higher. Many scientists and medical doctors who do not engage in conventional medical practice claim that nearly 100% of current health problems are due to mental and emotional reactions to events that take place over a lifetime. me.

The ACE Study makes it difficult to deny that the physical health of a person is deeply related to and an expression of their emotional experiences and beliefs, and mental health. For this reason, EFT is seen as a way of controlling not only the emotional health of an individual, but also the long term physical wellbeing.

Diagram 1. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, American Journal of Preventive Medicine

As of late 2007, EFT has been the subject of three peer-reviewed publications

The first published study, from the Journal of Clinical Psychology in 2003, was funded by the American Association fro Comprehensive Energy Psychology. It involved 35 patients, each with a phobia of small animals, who each received a single EFT session for that phobia. The study authors concluded their findings were "largely consistent" with the claim that EFT can reduce phobias of small animals in a single treatment session. They also stated that methodological limitations of the study subject (meaning a single phobia) prevented any firm conclusions being drawn about EFT being effective in a larger range of issues.

A second study, a 2003 investigation by The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice, was conducted on 119 University students who reported specific phobias or fears. In this study were four groups: 1. A group that received a single-round of standard EFT; 2. a group that received the same treatment except they tapped on arm points that are not part of the standard EFT protocol; 3. a group that received the same EFT treatment, but they tapped on the corresponding acupuncture meridian points on a doll, and finally, ; 4. a group that was asked to make a toy. The participants were asked to self-report their fears before and after treatment using a 0-10 subjective unit of distress scale, or SUDS.

The first three groups did statistically better than the fourth group, which is not a surprise. However, it is of interest to note there were no significant differences between the three tapping groups. Those groups that tapped on flase or sham points, or the group that tapped on the doll points, both did just as well as the EFT group. Yet, all three groups did better than the group that received no treatment. Advocates of EFT do not know why EFT works, and state the common explanation is based on the ancient Chinese theory for meridian energy as used in acupuncture. This theory maintains that energy movement can take place by direct physical means (needle insertion or tapping, perhaps) but also by mental intention or focus of the energy of thoughts directed through concentration and belief.

Finally, a third study, published in Counseling and Clinical Psychology in 2005, a test called the SA-45 was employed to evaluate the levels of emotional distress on 102 participants of an experiential Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) workshop group, as well as the long-term consequences after treatment. The SA-45 test was administered prior to the EFT workshop, as well as immediately after the workshop, one month and six months after the workshop, for a total of three post-treatment evaluations. This procedure demonstrated a statistically significant decrease in all measures of emotional or psychological distress, as determined by the SA-45 from pre-workshop to post-workshop. This difference persisted during the entire six months of follow-up. This particular study does not show that EFT in isolation yielded positive effects, since was not conducted with a valid control group.

Conclusion of scientific studies of EFT

What all of this shows in three recent and limited testings, is that EFT demonstrated positive and inconclusive findings, without significant negative findings. Early and limited investigation into the effects of EFT to influence emotions in a positive and desirable outcome appear to be positive. So in this sense, it would appear that early indications are that “EFT does work.” Further study, of course needs to be done, and hopefully can be done in the near future.

In the meanwhile, thousands of people each day are safely discovering the unique benefits of Emotional Freedom Technique. They have learned from first-hand experience the answer to the question, “Does EFT really work?”, and their answer is “yes.”