Preliminary Report of the First Large-Scale Pilot Study of Energy Psychology

by Joaquin Andrade, M.D.
and David Feinstein, Ph.D.
Revised 06-02-04

This report summarizes 14 years of using variations of Callahan Treatment Technique which involves tapping on acupressure points. Dr. Andrade has studied Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) and has found similar results with EFT as those described below. The book, Emotional Freedom, teaches the simple, easy to learn EFT acupressure technique that will work well with most all emotional issues. More than 50 percent of all persons who buy this book will find that it works with their issues.

In preliminary clinical trials involving more than 29,000 patients from 11 allied treatment centers in South America during a 14-year period, a variety of randomized, double-blind pilot studies were conducted. In one of these, approximately 5,000 patients diagnosed at intake with an anxiety disorder were randomly assigned to an experimental group (tapping) or a control group (Cognitive Behavior Therapy/medication) using standard randomization tables and, later, computerized software. Ratings were given by independent clinicians who interviewed each patient at the close of therapy, at 1 month, at 3 months, at 6 months, and at 12 months. The raters made a determination of complete remission of symptoms, partial remission of symptoms, or no clinical response. The raters did not know if the patient received CBT/medication or tapping. They knew only the initial diagnosis, the symptoms, and the severity, as judged by the intake staff. At the close of therapy:

63% of the control group (CBT/Med) were judged as having improved.
90% of the experimental group (Tapping) were judged as having improved.
51% of the control group (CBT/Med) were judged as being symptom free.
76% of the experimental group (Tapping) were judged as symptom free.

At one-year follow-up, the patients receiving tapping treatments were less prone to relapse or partial relapse than those receiving CBT/medication, as indicated by the independent raters’ assessments and corroborated by brain imaging and neurotransmitter profiles. In a related pilot study by the same team, the length of treatment was substantially shorter with energy therapy and related methods than with CBT/medication (mean = 3 sessions vs. mean = 15 sessions).

If subsequent research corroborates these early findings, it will be a notable development since CBT/medication is currently the established standard of care for anxiety disorders and the greater effectiveness of the energy approach suggested by this study would be highly significant. The preliminary nature of these findings must, however, be emphasized. The study was initially envisioned as an in-house assessment of a new method and was not designed with publication in mind. Not all the variables that need to be controlled in robust research were tracked, not all criteria were defined with rigorous precision, the record-keeping was relatively informal, and source data were not always maintained. Nonetheless, the studies all used randomized samples, control groups, and double blind assessment. The findings were so striking that the team decided to report them.

Click here for Andrades and Feinstein’s full report

[N.B. The link (to the full report) above is working. The link (to the same full report) below is now defunct however the publisher details are still relevant.]

The paper can be downloaded from www.innersource.net/energy_psych/energy_psychology.htm and will appear as part of the Energy Psychology Interactive multi-media textbook/training program (Ashland, OR: Innersource, in press).