"It's not a real psychological treatment": the controversy over tapping

New YorkIt may seem silly. It is the tapping, a self-help technique that involves using fingertips to apply acupressure while counteracting negative emotions with breathing exercises and positive affirmations. This technique has generated skepticism among some mental health professionals. a woman on TikTok while practicing the technique, tapping herself with a finger on the top of her head, then next to her eyebrow, and finally the center of her chin. "I am my safe space." In the video, she explains that driving alone is difficult for her, but that the tapping has helped him reduce anxiety and refocus his thoughts.

Anecdotes like this are easy to find on social media. In the last fifteen years or so, tapping It's also been featured on wellness podcasts, TV shows, and even the subjects of best-selling books. This practice—also known as Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT—has attracted a loyal following and become a big business. But many experts remain skeptical about its benefits.

Where does it come from? tapping?

He tapping, which falls under the umbrella of energy psychology, originated from thought field therapy, a technique developed by American psychologist Roger Callahan in the 1980s.

It came to him while treating a patient with a severe water phobia. Dr. Callahan had tried several methods, including poolside exposure therapy. One day, when the patient complained that just looking at water gave her a stomach ache, Dr. Callahan told her to firmly pat herself under her eye, an area traditional Chinese medicine associates with the "stomach meridian." According to Callahan, after two minutes of tapping, the patient claimed that the illness had passed away. And so had the fear of water.

From there, Callahan developed Thought Field Therapy. He held that some patients needed to tap a series of acupressure points in a specific order.

The therapy was discredited by psychology experts, in part because there is no way to measure energy meridians, and no evidence even to prove their existence. But in the 1990s, Gary Craig, a Stanford University engineering graduate who later became an ordained minister, reworked the technique and created a simplified version, called EFT.

Proponents of the tapping They claim that it not only relieves stress and anxiety, but can also improve symptoms of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, addictions, and chronic pain, among others. Today, practitioners of this technique pay hundreds of euros to learn how to use it.

Works?

Although there are more than two hundred studies that analyze the tapping on meridians, this body of research isn't as solid as it might seem. Studies demonstrating EFT's effectiveness are fraught with conflicts of interest, use small sample sizes, contain statistical errors, and lack scientific rigor.

For these reasons, leading members of the American Psychological Association (APA) have asserted that the push to popularize EFT is based on pseudoscience. "When you actually examine the evidence, it all falls apart," says Cassandra L. Boness, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of New Mexico and senior author of a 2024 scholarly paper that expressed concern about the quality of research on EFT and questioned its effectiveness.

But this doesn't mean EFT isn't helpful. Some experts note that people who try the technique often expose themselves to situations they find uncomfortable or that cause them to fear. It's similar to exposure therapy, which is a powerful method for regulating emotions. tapping It also involves taking a moment to explore thoughts, which therapists say can help people better understand their behavior.

Taken together, the tapping It's "a mix of interventions, some of which I'm sure are quite effective," says David F. Tolin, director of the Anxiety Disorders Center at The Institute of Living Mental Health. But he adds that there's no high-quality research showing that tapping is, in itself, the active ingredient.

Is it harmful?

Despite the lack of conclusive evidence, some patients and therapists claim that tapping helps them. "It's not a substitute for the most effective practices for treating post-traumatic stress, depression, addiction, or other serious disorders," says David Feinstein, who with his wife teaches courses and certifications in alternative medicine. But, in his opinion, it can make these treatments more effective.

Melissa Lester, a psychotherapist in Sandy Springs, says she's found that tapping can offer quick benefits, like a calmer, clearer mind. She decided to become certified in this technique because she wanted to offer her patients an alternative when other therapists' methods, like cognitive behavioral therapy, aren't giving them the desired results.

Offering an alternative treatment can be helpful for patients, says Dr. Boness, but she questions whether it's ethical to do so without rigorous scientific evidence. "My biggest fear," she adds, "is that vulnerable people will turn to tapping and then discover that it doesn't work for them." "It's not a serious psychological treatment," he concludes.