Church, D. (2008a). The effect of a brief EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) self-intervention on anxiety, depression, pain and cravings in healthcare workers. Presented at Science and Consciousness, the Tenth Annual Energy Psychology Conference, Toronto, Oct 24.
Abstract
This study examined a cross section of 194 healthcare professionals, including physicians, nurses, psychotherapists, chiropractors, psychiatrists, alternative medicine practitioners, and allied professionals. It examined whether self-intervention with Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), a brief exposure therapy that combines a cognitive and a somatic element, had an effect on subjects’ levels of anxiety, depression, and other psychological symptoms. The study utilizes a within-subjects, time-series, repeated measures design.
It evaluates symptoms using the SA-45, a well-validated 45 item questionnaire. Besides measuring the breadth and intensity of psychological distress, this instrument has nine subscales for specific conditions, including anxiety and depression. It was administered to subjects before and after an EFT demonstration and self-application that lasted about 90 minutes.
Subjects also self-reported physical pain, emotional distress, and cravings on a 10 point Likert-type scale. The SA-45 followup was administered 3 months later, to determine whether any improvement held over time. Subjects received a single page homework EFT reminder sheet, and their frequency of practice was tracked at followup. EFT self-application resulted in statistically significant decreases in pain, emotional distress, and cravings, and improvements for all nine subscales. On the two general scales on the SA-45, symptom severity dropped by 34%, and symptom breadth by 40% relative to normal baselines (both p<.001). Pain scores dropped by 68%, the intensity of traumatic memories by 83%, and cravings by 83% (all p<.001).