Treating Chronic Pain with EFT – Clinical Study
A clinical study was conducted in Queensland Australia through a partnership between Bond University and Griffith University to test if the Emotional Freedom Technique was effective at treating the physical and psychological symptoms of people who were suffering from chronic pain. They used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to monitor the changes in blood flow in the brain prior to and after treatment.
What is Emotional Freedom Technique?
The Emotional Freedom Technique, also known as tapping, involves tapping on acupressure points on your own body in order to calm the amygdala, the fear center of the brain. The tapping allows for the Chi (emotional energy) to move more freely and bring a sense of relief and calm to the mind and body. The researchers used 8 of the 10 most commonly used points in EFT:
Chronic Pain
The researchers defined chronic pain as someone who has experienced prolonged pain for at least 6 of the past 12 months and that it negatively impacted their overall functioning and quality of life. They also must currently be experiencing pain at a rating of 4 or high on a 0 to 10 visual pain index. They excluded participants who had recently had surgery, are undergoing cancer treatment, have autoimmune conditions or have been diagnosed with any psychiatric disorders in order to narrow the variables that can impact the research.
Participant Demographics
24 adults participated, between the ages of 18 and 77. The average age of the participants was 50 years old. Average household income was between $70,000 - $90,000.
Treatment
The participants received 2 hours of EFT treatment via Zoom each week for 6 weeks. Each week focused on a different topic during the EFT treatment:
Week 1 – Education about EFT
Week 2 – Chronic Pain & Feelings – Movie Technique (Visualizing a painful memory, moment by moment)
Week 3 – Chronic Pain & Feelings – Personal Peace Procedure (Listing out painful experiences from life and processing the emotions one experience at a time)
Week 4 – Pain as Protection
Week 5 – Sleep and Energy
Week 6 – Goal Setting and Relapse Protection
The participants were encouraged to tap outside of their weekly treatments, but it was not required.
Observations from the fMRI Scans after Treatment
The researchers detected a reduction in brain activity in three areas associated with processing pain:
Posterior Cingulate Cortex (PCC) – Contributes to feeling helpless about pain
Thalamus – Receives pain signals from the spinal cord
Medial Frontal Cortex (MedFC) – Controls the intensity of pain being felt
Results
Based on the criteria that was monitored, here are the changes that the participants experienced after the 6-week treatment was completed:
Pain Severity – Down 21%
Pain Interference – Done 26%
Quality of Life – Up 7%
Somatic/Physical Symptoms – Down 28%
Depression – Down 13.5%
Anxiety – Down 37.1 %
Happiness – Up 17 %
Life Satisfaction – Up 8.8%
Conclusion
Based on the results of the study, EFT was found to be an effective treatment for chronic pain. It does not include the typical side effects of using narcotic pain medication. It also appears to be more effective than Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) around overall pain relief and improved mood. The researchers recommend further study to continue to understand the positive effects of EFT on chronic pain.
If you, or someone you know, are suffering from chronic pain and would like to try EFT to help alleviate your symptoms, please take advantage of the free EFT guide that I have created. It provides step by step instructions and videos on how EFT works and how to use it on yourself to alleviate your symptoms.