Acupuncture, coaching, music therapy, meditation, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) – a wide variety of approaches and methods aim to achieve psychological and mental balance.
Acupuncture is a very traditional form of treatment, popular to this day, which aims to treat very different health conditions. In the process, a therapist stimulates specific pressure points in different zones of the body through acupuncture points.
Emotional Freedom Technique, also known as EFT, is an alternative body therapy method in which a therapist (or ourselves) taps certain acupressure points on the body to improve psychological well-being or even relieve pain. This method is also called psychological acupressure. There are eight different acupressure points that are tapped during Emotional Freedom Technique:
- Upper part of the head
- Beginning of the eyebrow
- Lateral to the eye
- Under the eye
- Under the nose
- Chin tip
- Beginning of the clavicle
- Under the arm
The EFT treatment technique involves tapping the above acupuncture points in the order in which they are mentioned.
Studies over the past 5 years, supported and published by the government’s National Center for Biotechnology Information, have demonstrated significant efficacy of EFT in the treatment of anxiety, depression, pain, stress and post-traumatic stress disorder.
A 2016 study that examined the effectiveness of CBT and ETF for anxiety and depression showed that both treatment approaches resulted in significant reductions in depressive symptoms, with the CBT group reporting a significant reduction after the intervention, but this did not persist over time. The EFT group was found to have a delayed effect, producing a significant reduction in symptoms only at the 3-month and 6-month follow-ups. Examination of individual cases revealed clinically significant improvements in anxiety symptoms with both interventions.
A May 2021 NCBI study showed that the use of EFT over an 8-week period can significantly lower mean depression scores in postmenopausal women. The study therefore recommends the use of this method for postmenopausal women.
The results of an October 2021 NCBI study demonstrate the effectiveness of EFT in relieving PMS symptoms. As a quick and efficient self-treatment method, EFT is therefore recommended as an easy-to-use non-pharmacological intervention.
According to other studies, EFT also works for eating disorders, multiplesclerosis-related fatigue and premenstrual syndrome.
The special thing about the EFT method is that it can be learned quickly and can also be practiced successfully in self-application.
Sources: Springer 2019, NCBI April 2016, May 2021, October 2021, November 2021
This article is about a medical topic, a health issue or one or more medical conditions. This article is not intended for self-diagnosis and does not replace a diagnosis by a doctor.