Does EFT work?

Is there any actual research behind it?

Yes, and it’s very encouraging. EFT has been tested in many clinical trials over the last twenty years, with incredible results. Reviews that pool those trials have found that it significantly reduces anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress, and it’s often been found to be more effective than traditional therapy. Studies have also measured a drop in cortisol, the body’s main stress hormone, after an EFT session.

To me, EFT is an amazing form of healing that Hashem has gifted us. It is extremely effective, and it works fast: most clients feel a real shift in the very first session. Here is why, in plain words.

What happens when we tap

Three things happen together, and that is what makes EFT so powerful.

1. It calms the brain’s alarm system

When you feel stress, fear or a painful memory, a part of the brain called the amygdala sounds the alarm. Your body goes into fight, flight or freeze, and stress hormones like cortisol rise. Tapping on calming acupressure points while you focus on the feeling sends the opposite message: “I’m thinking about this, and I’m safe.” The memory stays, but its emotional charge fades, often very quickly.

2. It creates a new association

Usually, thinking about the problem sets off the old stress response. In EFT, you think about it while your body gets a calming signal instead. That mismatch gives your nervous system the chance to process what happened and file it differently. It also helps the emotional brain and the thinking brain work together, so you can see the situation with more perspective.

3. It releases stuck energy

EFT uses the same points as acupuncture, without any needles. Traditional Chinese medicine describes them as points on energy pathways called meridians, and sees distress as a blockage in that flow. Tapping on these points releases the stuck energy, so body and mind can return to calm and balance.

Fast, gentle and lasting

EFT works best on something specific: a feeling, a memory, a reaction you keep having. In a session, we rate how strong it feels before and after, so you can see the change for yourself. A feeling that seemed overwhelming at the start of a session is often calm and quiet by the end.

What I see in my practice, again and again, is that it works, and it works quickly. Within a few sessions, my clients notice it at home: in how they react, how they sleep, and how they speak to themselves and their families. And because we release the feeling at its root, the change lasts.

Want to read the research?

• Clond, M. (2016). Emotional Freedom Techniques for anxiety: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 204(5), 388–395.
• Nelms, J. & Castel, L. (2016). A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized and nonrandomized trials of clinical EFT for the treatment of depression. Explore, 12(6), 416–426.
• Sebastian, B. & Nelms, J. (2017). The effectiveness of Emotional Freedom Techniques in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder: a meta-analysis. Explore, 13(1), 16–25.
• Church, D., Yount, G. & Brooks, A. (2012). The effect of Emotional Freedom Techniques on stress biochemistry: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 200(10), 891–896.