Could Adding EFT to Your Toolkit Transform Your Clinical Practice?

May 21, 2025

As therapists, we're trained to listen deeply — not just to our clients’ words, but to the non-verbal signals of stuckness, overwhelm, or emotional pain that those words alone can’t reach. So, what happens when talking isn’t enough? What if we had a way to integrate the wisdom of the body into our work — without stepping outside the boundaries of clinical integrity?

For many practitioners, Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) has become exactly that: a research-backed, somatically informed modality that supports both therapist and client in navigating complex emotional terrain.

So we’re opening up the conversation:

Could adding EFT enhance the depth and effectiveness of your therapeutic work?

What Is EFT, Clinically Speaking?

EFT is a brief, evidence-based intervention that combines exposure therapy and cognitive-emotive reframing with somatic stimulation. Specifically, it involves tapping on primo-vascular points in the body’s connective tissue, causing mechanosensory transduction (electrical stimulation) while holding specific thoughts, memories, or emotional states in awareness. It’s simple in form, but clinically sophisticated in effect: by engaging both the midbrain and the body’s energy system, EFT reduces physiological arousal and creates a window of opportunity for emotional regulation and trauma processing.

In many ways, it integrates: the attunement of person-centred therapy, the precision of cognitive work, and the nervous system awareness of trauma-informed care.

What Does the Research Tell Us?

EFT has grown from a niche technique into a rigorously researched modality. Over 100 peer-reviewed studies have explored its clinical applications. Here are some interesting highlights from that research:

🔹 Anxiety and Depression A meta-analysis by Clond (2016) found that EFT produced a significant reduction in anxiety symptoms, with an effect size (d = 1.23) considered large. Church et al. (2012) also reported significant improvement in depression symptoms after EFT treatment, with gains sustained at follow-up.

🔹 PTSD Multiple studies have demonstrated EFT’s efficacy with trauma. A randomised controlled trial published in Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease (Church et al., 2013) found that veterans with PTSD who received six sessions of EFT showed clinically significant improvement, with 90% no longer meeting criteria for PTSD. These results were sustained at 3- and 6-month follow-ups.

🔹 Physiological Markers of Stress EFT isn’t just “felt” — it’s measurable. A study in Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease (2012) showed that EFT significantly reduced cortisol levels (a key biomarker of stress) after a single session.

🔹 Somatic and Emotional Conditions Other research supports its use in chronic pain, food cravings, insomnia, and even autoimmune-related symptoms — all areas where emotional dysregulation and stress play a significant role.

If you’d like a comprehensive overview, Feinstein (2019) offers a strong summary of EFT’s empirical grounding inEnergy Psychology: Theory, Research, and Treatment.

Beyond Technique: What EFT Offers the Therapist

One of the unique aspects of EFT — particularly as we teach it at EFT Plus — is that it changes the therapist, not just the therapy.

Many clinicians report that adding EFT:

• Helps them to regulate themselves and therefore facilitate co-regulation.

• Deepens their ability to understand non-verbal cues and somatic states.

• Offers a reliable, trauma-informed way to help clients regulate in-session — enabling meaningful processing without overwhelming or reactivating them.

• Enhances general client engagement and agency. Many clients use EFT between sessions, giving them tools for self-regulation.

• Offers new hope and traction with “stuck” cases or long-standing issues.

Training with Integrity

At EFT Plus, we view EFT not as a quick fix, but as a powerful tool that requires skilful application.

That’s why our trainings emphasise:

🟠 Self-awareness — We believe the therapist’s presence is the most important tool in the room. So, we encourage you to use EFT for yourself.

🟠 Ethical clarity — EFT is always taught within the bounds of established therapeutic frameworks.

🟠 Clinical supervision — Learning is supported by case consultation and reflective practice.

🟠 Community — Because integration doesn’t happen alone.

So — What’s Your Experience?

Have you tried EFT with clients — or even personally?

What questions come up when you consider bringing more of the body into the therapeutic process?

What would you want to feel confident in before integrating a new modality?

We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments — especially if you’re curious, cautious, or somewhere in between.

References:

• Church, D., Yount, G., & Brooks, A. J. (2012). The effect of emotional freedom technique on stress biochemistry: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 200(10), 891–896.

• Church, D., Hawk, C., Brooks, A., Toukolehto, O., Wren, M., Dinter, I., & Stein, P. (2013). Psychological trauma in veterans using EFT: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 201(2), 153–160.

• Clond, M. (2016). Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) for anxiety: A systematic review with meta-analysis.Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 204(5), 388–395.

• Feinstein, D. (2019). Energy psychology: Efficacy, speed, mechanisms. Energy Psychology: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 11(2), 37–54.