Energy Psychology is a set of body- and energy-based tools for mental and emotional issues. These tools are gaining traction among clinicians and clients. That’s because they work. Indeed, there is a substantial base of evidence supporting these tools. Here are five takeaways from the research on energy psychology:

The body of research is robust:

More than 275 articles in peer-reviewed journals discuss EP. Among these are 125+ studies, including 70+ randomized controlled trials, 55+ outcome studies, 5 meta-analyses, 5 systematic reviews, 14 comparative reviews.

In fact, among the 400 or more psychotherapeutic approaches, EP is in the top 10% in terms of research base.

It is gaining momentum:

In the 12 years between 2000 and 2012, there were 18 RCTs on EP. Then, in the four years between 2012 and 2016, that number jumped by 27 to a total of 45.

Additionally, the research includes more than 50 studies in non-English language journals. Most of these studies haven’t been translated into English; many come from Indonesia, but the list also includes Spanish language, Turkish, Iranian, Indian, and other international publications.

It’s also gaining traction:

The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has created a specific category for EFT, TFT and Somatic Experiencing called Combined Somatic and Cognitive Therapies (CSACTs). They also acknowledged that these are “worthy of further research.”

On this side of the Atlantic, in 2017, the US VA stated that EFT is a “generally safe therapy.” And in Asia, the momentum continues, with South Korea’s medical system approving the use of EFT in 2019.

EP Helps – often faster and better than traditional approaches:

According to the research, EP helps with a host of issues including anxiety, depression, food cravings, pain, PTSD and trauma; several studies show EP helps boost athletic performance.

To date, eight studies compare cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and EP head-to-head. These studies show that EP is either equivalent to or more effective than CBT. Moreover, in several studies, EP achieved results in significantly less time.

In fact, studies show 86% of veterans no longer had PTSD symptoms when treated with EP. That is twice as effective and two times faster than prolonged exposure therapy.

The research also shows how EP affects our physiology

Several studies show significant drops in cortisol (a stress hormone) after EFT: One was authored by Dawson Church in 2012; another was led by Anastasia Bougea in 2013; one from Indonesia came out in 2018; the most recent was a 2019 study led by Bach.

An fMRI study led by Peta Stapleton documented neural changes after EFT. Finally, other research documents physiological & immunological changes and gene expression with EP methods. All of these studies show how EP affects us physically.

Want to add to the data?

If you are a clinician and are interested in participating in the research, you can do that easily using the online research database ep-research.com. The informed consent and various metrics are there at your fingertips; professional scholars will add your data to an ongoing study of a variety of EP methods.