A pilot study was conducted byDawsonChurch, PhD of the Foundation for Epigenetic Medicine, and Audrey Brooks, PhD of the Department of Psychology, UniversityofArizona. This data was presented at Science and Consciousness, the Tenth Annual Energy Psychology conference,Toronto, October 24, 2008.
This study examined the effect of EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques), on 39 adults self-identified with addiction issues. Psychological distress was measured by two global scales assessing intensity and breadth of symptoms and nine symptom subscales such as anxiety and depression. The assessment was made using the SA-45, a well-validated questionnaire. The SA-45 was administered before and after the workshop. Twenty-eight participants completed a 90-day follow-up.
A statistically significant decrease was observed after the workshop, indicating a reduction in psychological distress. Improvements on intensity and breadth of psychological symptoms, and anxiety and obsessive-compulsive subscales were maintained at the 90-day follow-up. These findings suggest EFT may be an effective adjunct to addiction treatment by reducing the severity of general psychological distress.
Recently, the Foundation for Epigenetic Medicine (FEM) research team found that EFT seemed to access the development of stress on both a physical and an emotional level. EFT was able to bypass the conscious, logical part of the brain and go right to the more primitive parts that control fear and stress in the midbrain. In FEM’s study, they found that individuals receiving EFT had a 24% drop in stress-hormone levels as compared to those receiving only talk therapy or no intervention at all. The EFT group also reported lower levels of anxiety and depression.