The Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), or Tapping, is combination of ancient Chinese Acupressure and modern psychology. Tapping works to rewire the brain, calm the amygdala, and create safety in the body to ease stress and release trauma. It is the emotional version of acupuncture, so no needles are used. Instead, the energy meridian points on the head and body – same as used in traditional acupuncture – are stimulated by tapping on them with the fingertips. EFT is a natural healing system and is very easy to learn. The technique helps to release negative emotions, limits created by the mind, reduce cravings (food / bad habits), reduce or eliminate pain and so much more. It has revolutionised the field of health and wellness. EFT can be carried out with a practitioner, or alone. Emotional health is absolutely essential to your physical health and wellbeing – no matter how devoted you are to proper diet and lifestyle, you will not achieve your body’s ideal healing and preventative powers if emotional barriers stand in your way.
Studies using EFT for PTSD
Dawson Church, an award-winning health researcher and founder of The National Institute for Integrative Healthcare in the US, recently performed two pilot studies of EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The first smaller study demonstrated highly significant results indicating a robust treatment effect. This led to a randomized controlled trial, published in the oldest peer-reviewed psychiatry journal in North America, showing highly significant results. It demonstrated that 86% of veterans with clinical PTSD were subclinical after six sessions of EFT, and remained so on follow-up. A concurrent study by an independent research team working for the NHS (UK) showed similar findings, indicating that EFT meets the criteria of the American Psychological Association (APA) Division 12 Task Force as an empirically validated treatment for PTSD. An independent replication of Church’s PTSD study found similar results.