EFT is being used in the NHS by highly respected clinicians such as Dr Phil Mollon, a clinical psychologist at the mental health unit of the Lister Hospital, Stevenage. He is also a psychotherapist, who trained at the Tavistock Clinic, north-west London, and an accredited practitioner of EMDR (eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing, see panel facing page) and an advanced practitioner of meridian energy therapies, of which EFT is one.
EFT passes randomised trial! Therese McGoldrick, a behavioural psychotherapist who works for NHS Forth Valley, in Larbert, Scotland, began using EFT with patients. Her team of seven have all undergone training and are convinced of its benefits. “It’s very effective where there’s been traumatic experience. It also works well for grief, phobias, some pain conditions and morbid jealousy. A colleague has observed that it has been helpful, too, with people who self-harm by cutting themselves.” Because EFT works in a few sessions — sometimes only one — it’s very cost-effective and McGoldrick says that patients can be shown how to practise it at home. McGoldrick, who is hoping to attract research funding for the technique, pioneered EMDR, in Scotland ten years ago. It is now accepted internationally as a mainstream procedure.
Here is an Abstract Report issued June 2011:
The present study reports on the first ever controlled comparison between eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) and emotional freedom techniques (EFT) for posttraumatic stress disorder. A total of 46 participants were randomized to either EMDR (n = 23) or EFT (n = 23). The participants were assessed at baseline and then reassessed after an 8-week waiting period. Two further blind assessments were conducted at posttreatment and 3-months follow-up. Overall, the results indicated that both interventions produced significant therapeutic gains at posttreatment and follow-up in an equal number of sessions. Similar treatment effect sizes were observed in both treatment groups. Regarding clinical significant changes, a slightly higher proportion of patients in the EMDR group produced substantial clinical changes compared with the EFT group. Given the speculative nature of the theoretical basis of EFT, a dismantling study on the active ingredients of EFT should be subject to future research
