If you know anyone who's watched "The Secret," with its emphasis on "the Law of Attraction" -- heck, if you know anyone who's watched Oprah, who promoted "The Secret" extensively on her shows -- you know someone who's probably heard of EFT.
What you might not realize is there's a body of work developing that shows its effectiveness with PTSD. And some of its biggest fans are the veterans themselves, who've tried it.
"EFT," or "Emotional Freedom Technique," is a form of what's known as "energy psychology," or "energy work." It was developed by a Stanford engineer -- note, not a psychologist -- Gary Craig, who calls it accurately "a needle-free form of acupuncture."
Craig and EFT practitioners have done some remarkable work with PTSD veterans. If this subject interests you, or you've looked into various forms of treatment before, and you're even slightly open-minded about trying something with a large upside and very little (or nonexistent) downside, this video in particular is worth watching. Here's the link.
The most moving part of the video, in my opinion, is the obvious before and after shots of the veterans themselves, going from visibly struggling, to visibly coping, in very short amounts of time. The excitement of a family member, shown later on the video, is also palpable. A few studies have also been done on EFT and PTSD -- a book has also just been published -- with more studies to come. The results are refreshingly impressive, though, for such a low-tech technique. According to the video, veterans report symptoms drop 63% after treatment, according to a self-reporting scale used by the military. Symptoms of depression and anxiety reduced by 50%, on average. Cortisol levels -- we've talked about their significance here, here and here -- drop 25% after one hour-long treatment.
Watch the video first, to orient yourself as to what EFT is and how the sample of combat veterans from various wars -- Vietnam, the Gulf War, and Iraq -- responded to it. Then, to learn more, here's an article from the Scottish press about a combat vet and his experience with it. Here's a story about a Vietnam vet and his experience with EFT. There's a new book by Gary Craig on EFT for PTSD. If you're a veteran, there's a study you can be part of that we blogged about the other day, and that study includes several sessions of EFT. (That post is linked here.)
But if you're intrigued -- after watching the video -- and you want to know more, you probably want to find an EFT practitioner to try it out with. There's a subset of practitioners listed on the Web, linked here, who are interested in working with veterans, including -- gasp! -- some who already work at the VA. If there's no one in your area, you could try this link instead, to find an EFT practitioner who may not have a special interest in veterans, and yet could introduce you to the practice. It seems to be something low-tech, affordable, simple to learn, and an after an initial introduction, very much DIY (Do It Yourself). Practitioners may also be willing to negotiate or lower their fees for veterans: Ask.
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Editor's note: Talking about EFT, or any other technique, should not imply or be misread as an endorsement. In any case, YMMV (your mileage may vary).
