15/06/2020
II am often asked if you can tap anywhere on your body and maybe it might help?
Studies have explored 'sham' tapping which means tapping where there is no identified acupoint.
This one looked at EFT for stress versus sham tapping for American university students. The students were enrolled in a fourth year thesis psychology program (close to my heart!). They were randomly assigned to either the EFT or sham group. They were all assessed for 9 common stress symptoms before and after a single 15–20 minute group session.
They were asked to rate (within the past six months), if their sleeping or appetite had changed (more or less than usual). On the day of the group they were also asked to rate whether they were feeling physical tension, experiencing more emotional stress than normal, how worried or anxious they were about future events, whether they had difficulty taking deep breaths, concentrating on tasks, experiencing any physical pain, and whether today was a good day.
Participants in both groups then repeated statements from a script containing eight sets of stressful cognitions centered on feeling overwhelmed and hopeless, and ending with positive affirmations.
The EFT group tapped as per The EFT Manual points. The sham group used an identical procedure except that participants were taught to tap with their fingertips on sham points. These included the top of the hand, elbow, shoulder, forehead, stomach, knee, and thigh. Every effort was made to keep the two protocols identical with the exception of the body points.
Stress symptoms declined significantly more in the EFT group than they did in the sham tapping group (as you can see in the graphic).
This comparison study showed that when all other components of treatment remain identical, stimulation of actual points is indeed superior to sham points.