Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is a form of “energy medicine,” a psychological form of acupressure (without needles), that’s based on  our growing awareness of the connection between our body and it’s electromagnetic field, also called, “subtle energies,” your emotions, and your health. EFT has been reported successful in thousands of cases covering a huge range of emotional, health and performance issues. Clinical reports suggests, people have responded with improvement and resolution of their symptoms, when nothing else has assisted.

 

EFT also utilizes Mind Body Medicine and addresses a recently recognized contributor to emotional issues-unbalanced meridians.  Correctly used, it has reduced the therapeutic process from months or years to hours or minutes.  Because emotional stress supports pain, disease and physical illnesses, EFT has produced amazing results.

 

It was developed by Gary Craig, and is the simpler version of Thought Field Therapy developed by Roger Callahan.  The precise mechanism is not fully understood.

 

And there’s a considerable speculation regarding how it works. Some clinicians believe it is attributable to shifts in “energy,” the biological tapping points that are the endpoints to the energy meridians, identified by Traditional Chinese Medicine.

 

 While others think there are biomedical and psychological process that could explain the immediate relief from significant emotional memories.  There are many questions and speculations regarding the mechanism to explain its effectiveness.

 

While the rapid therapeutic shifts observed have led clinicians to ascribe its effects to shifts in “energy,” the following authors point out that there are biomedical and psychological processes that could explain the immediate relief of strong emotional memories. Some authorities attribute its efficacy to the location of the tapping points, which are on the endpoints of the “energy meridians” identified in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

 

However, others suggest more conventional biological mechanisms, activation of certain parts of the brain that are involved in the regulation of the body’s response to stress.

 

EFT has been shown to be helpful in many clinical situations, to reduce pain, symptoms and chronic emotional states. The therapy used in this study, EFT, has been found useful in treating anxiety-based disorders of various kinds. EFT is one of a family of therapies collectively known as energy psychology; other therapies in this field include Thought Field Therapy (TFT), Wholistic Hybrid derived from EFT and EMDR (WHEE), and Tapas Acupressure Technique (TAT).

 

A study of 102 people found that a three day EFT workshop significantly reduced anxiety, depression and other psychological symptoms, and the reduction of the depth and severity of symptoms.  The improvements persisted three and six months later.

 

Another limited study comprised of 25 people with several conditions, and a British study of 28 persons participating in an EFT addiction workshop experienced similar decreases In depression, anxiety, paranoia, severe fears (phobias) and other conditions.

 

One of the great tragedies of any war is the psychological damage it inflicts upon soldiers and civilians alike.  A pilot study of Iraq and Vietnam veterans found that six sessions of EFT treatment resulted in statistically significant drops in participants’ levels of anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress syndrome and overall psychological distress.

 

A six session protocol of a brief and novel exposure therapy, EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) has been efficacious in reducing PTSD and co-occurring psychological symptoms in a within-subjects time series trial.

 

Ninety day follow-up showed that participants maintained their gains on these measures, and also showed improvement in paranoid ideation and interpersonal sensitivity. A six-session protocol for delivering EFT to returning veterans may be an effective method of reducing this entire group of co-occurring psychological traumas.

 

The researchers concluded that EFT warrants further study in a large, randomized, double blind clinical trial, to determine if the results of this protocol are consistently maintained under rigorous experimental conditions.

 

Sources:

http://www.stressproject.org/documents/ptsdreport.pdf

http://www.stressproject.org/documents/marshall.pdf

http://tmt.sagepub.com/cgi/rapidpdf/1534765609347549v1

 

For more information about EFT visit: http://www.emofree.com 

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