Money Attitudes After Clinical Emotional Freedom Techniques: Psychological Change in a Virtual vs In-Person Group.

Context: Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFTs) can reduce anxiety, depression, PTSD, and phobias. Research has found correlations between attitudes toward money and anxiety and depressive symptomatology. No research has yet examined the effectiveness of EFT in changing money attitudes. Objective: The study intended to measure the effectiveness of EFT in changing money attitudes and to contrast EFT's effects delivered virtually or in-person by evaluating multiple markers of stress, including anxiety, depression, pain, happiness, and PTSD. Design: The research team performed a retrospective controlled study. Participants: Participants were a convenience sample of 54 nonclinical individuals. Intervention: The study included participants into an in-person group and a virtual group. The 24 participants in the in-person group met prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 35 participants in the virtual group participated in the workshop toward the end of 2020. Both used EFT to address money-related issues during a two-day workshop. Outcome Measures: The research team used: (1) the brief version of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), GAD-2, to assess participants' anxiety; (2) the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) to assess symptoms of depression over the two weeks prior to the testing; (3) the PTSD Checklist (PCL-2) to assess symptoms of PTSD over the month prior to the test; (4) the Happiness Scale, an 11-point Likert scale that indicates whether respondents feel happy in general; (5) the Numeric Pain Rating Scale, a self-rated average of pain that participants had experienced in the 24 hours prior to the test; and (6) the Money Attitudes Scale (MAS) to measure change in attitudes. Results: Postintervention, the in-person group has significant reductions in anxiety (P = .023), PTSD (P = .013), and pain (P = .029) as well as significant improvements in happiness (P < .001). The group's MAS scores for Power-Prestige (P = .008), Distrust (P < .001) and Money Anxiety (P < .01) also decreased significantly. At the six-month followup, the group's mean scores showed significant decreases for PTSD (P < .001) and pain (P < .001) as well as significant improvements in happiness (P < .05). Postintervention, the virtual group had a significant increase in happiness (P < .001), but while anxiety, depression, and pain decreased, the changes weren't statistically significant. The group's money attitudes also showed a significant increase in Retention-Time (P < .001) as well as significantly decreased scores for Distrust (P < .001), Money Anxiety (P < .01) and Power-Prestige (P < .01). At the six-month followup, the virtual group's mean differences from baseline were greater than that of the in-person group. Conclusions: The current study's findings point toward EFT's potential to improve money attitudes as well as psychological symptoms and indicated that EFT can be effective when delivered virtually. The study demonstrated improvements in anxiety, depression, pain, and happiness. The current research team recommends delivering EFT and other evidence-based therapies virtually, through apps, on-demand therapy sessions, virtual reality (VR), and artificial intelligence (AI).

Clinical EFT as an evidence-based practice for the treatment of psychological and physiological conditions: A systematic review.

Background: Since the turn of the century, Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) has come into widespread use in medical and psychological treatment settings. It is also used as self-help by tens of millions of people each year. Clinical EFT, the manualized form of the method, has been validated as an "evidence-based" practice using criteria published by the American Psychological Association (APA) Division 12 Task Force on Empirically Validated Therapies. Its three essential ingredients are exposure, cognitive framing, and acupressure. Objectives: In 2013 we published a paper defining Clinical EFT and reviewing published research. It has been viewed or downloaded over 36,000 times, indicating widespread interest in this treatment modality. Here we update our findings based on subsequently published literature and propose directions for future research. Method: We performed a systematic review of the literature to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and meta-analyses. Retrieval of 4,167 results resulted in the identification of 56 RCTs (n = 2,013), 41 of which were published subsequent to our earlier review, as well as eight meta-analyses. Results: RCTs have found EFT treatment to be effective for (a) psychological conditions such as anxiety, depression, phobias, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); (b) physiological issues such as pain, insomnia, and autoimmune conditions; (c) professional and sports performance; and (d) biological markers of stress. Meta-analyses evaluating the effect of EFT treatment have found it to be "moderate" to "large." Successful independent replication studies have been carried out for anxiety, depression, PTSD, phobias, sports performance, and cortisol levels. We outline the next steps in EFT research. These include determining its impact on cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and cognitive impairment; analysis of the large-scale datasets made possible by mobile apps; and delivery through channels such as virtual practitioner sessions, artificial intelligence agents, online courses, apps, virtual reality platforms, and standardized group therapy. Conclusions: Subsequent research has confirmed the conclusions of earlier studies. These find Clinical EFT to be efficacious for a range of psychological and physiological conditions. Comparatively few treatment sessions are required, treatment is effective whether delivered in person or virtually, and symptom improvements persist over time. Treatment is associated with measurable biological effects in the dimensions of gene expression, brain synchrony, hormonal synthesis, and a wide range of biomarkers. Clinical EFT is a stable and mature method with an extensive evidence base. Its use in primary care settings as a safe, rapid, reliable, and effective treatment for both psychological and medical diagnoses continues to grow.