Hi TAP therapy was mentioned recently on Tips I believe. Here is something from PsyUSA on it. Best wishes Jim ============================================================================ James M. Clark (204) 786-9757 Department of Psychology (204) 774-4134 Fax University of Winnipeg 4L05D Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E9 [EMAIL PROTECTED] CANADA http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/~clark ============================================================================ ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 13:21:08 -0500 From: Ken Pope <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: "Psychology Practice Forums & Databases @ PsyUSA Network" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [\|/USA] news:> Tap Therapy; Energy Field Therapy; Thought Field Therapy Tap Therapy Has Its Devotees And Critics The Record, Bergen County, NJ PETER MUCHA, Special from The Philadelphia Inquirer March 12, 2001 It sounds like a psychological magic wand. A few taps and part of your mind is healed, or at least improved. Easier still, you just tap with your fingers no wand required. A single treatment, practitioners say, is often enough to alleviate a straightforward case of anxiety, phobia, jealousy, guilt, food cravings, or many other ills. Because the system, which borrows ideas from acupuncture, is based on notions of the body as an energy field, it's sometimes called "energy field therapy" or just "energy therapy." Skeptics, including a committee of the American Psychological Association, say the system, while not dangerous, is far from proven. And its success stories could have an alternative explanation, such as the placebo effect. If the creators of these "energy therapy" systems are right, "they should get the Nobel Prize," says one critic, James Herbert, an associate professor of psychology at MCP-Hahnemann School of Medicine in Philadelphia. "I know that it's worked for me," says Patti Giroski, 41, of West Middlesex, Pa., outside Pittsburgh. A single session helped her overcome traumatic memories of an assault, she says. "From that point on for me, that whole situation is nothing more than a snapshot in time. The emotion that goes with it is gone. It's pretty much resolved." And Giroski speaks as a therapist herself, although not one who practices the system with patients. The approach is so simple, painless, and inexpensive, even its advocates admit it sounds too good to be true. When psychologist Roger Callahan started developing the system in the 1970s, he dubbed it "Thought Field Therapy." In the last decade, it has increasingly attracted new advocates, who have put forth their own versions and names. It's called "Energy Tapping" in the book of the same name by Pennsylvania psychologists Fred Gallo and Harry Vincenzi. It's "Emotional Self-Management" in "Instant Emotional Healing: Acupressure for the Emotions" (Broadway Books) by California therapists Peter Lambrou and George Pratt. Despite the different names, most versions prescribe similar steps. The patient does the tapping, following the directions of a therapist (even over the phone) or, in simple cases, the steps in one of the books. Here's an outline of what "Energy Tapping" (New Harbinger Publications) advises for "Fear of Tests, Public Speaking, and Meeting New People": First, rate your fear from 1 to 10. Next, while repeating an affirmation "I deeply accept myself, even though I am afraid my audience will not like my speech" you rub a spot on your chest ("the sore spot") or tap a spot toward the outside of your hand five times. Then you tap spots on the body that correspond to "meridian points," places in acupuncture where needles are inserted. For that test or speech anxiety, for example, you tap gently five times in each of three places: under an eye (in the center, on the tip of the bone); about 6 inches under an armpit; and an inch under the collarbone, near the center of the chest. After the tapping, rate yourself again. The anxiety should be much lower. If it's not a 2 or less, do the above steps again. Once your anxiety is low, finish with an "eye roll," in which you tap that back-of-the-hand spot while slowly lifting your eyes from floor to ceiling. That's it. Energy therapists say many basic difficulties can be treated, including shame, feelings of rejection, obsessional thinking, and memories of trauma. But it's not for complex or severe cases involving multiple problems, or for possibly hereditary disorders such as autism or schizophrenia. In most versions, different spots are tapped for different problems. Another approach, Emotional Freedom Techniques, parts company with the rest by having one long, all-purpose routine. "Psychoanalytical approaches could take years to resolve a phobia and maybe never get there," says Gallo, a licensed psychologist with a doctoral degree who has used energy tapping on thousands of patients in his practice near Pittsburgh. "This approach is like light speed. When this works, it's very fast, very thorough, and very lasting." "Quite honestly, it does look weird, but it is extremely robust and reliable," says Pratt, chairman of psychology at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, Calif. He and Lambrou have treated thousands of clients over the past six years. "This method is just so easy for people to learn and to apply themselves, the results are stunning." Although Gallo's not sure how or why the method works, he suspects sound physiological reasons will be found, relating to parts of the brain being stimulated, or biochemical releases being triggered. Research supports the notion that acupuncture stimulates parts of the brain, says Lambrou, and energy therapies may have similar roots. Philadlephia acupuncturist Stephanie Tyiska can't vouch for energy therapies, but pointed out that, in the West, "15 years ago, acupuncture was called quackupuncture," and now it's a respected therapy, especially for the treatment of pain. Skeptics, though, wonder if the placebo effect, not tapping, might be the reason for the successes. Herbert says that even in tests of antidepressant medicines, "the biggest chunk of that improvement is due to the placebo effect. That's something we're just now discovering." Properly controlled research is needed, Herbert says, to know if tapping on meridian points has any effect at all. "In a nutshell, there is no scientific evidence whatsoever to support the claims of these proponents of thought field therapy or its many variations," he says. Last year, a committee of the American Psychological Association expressed similar objections about lack of evidence when it ruled against approving continuing-education courses in energy therapies. "The greatest challenge to this field is that there aren't peer- reviewed studies yet, but they will be forthcoming," Pratt answers. "Just as with any emerging field, first we get the anecdotal support, then the controlled studies." NOTE: If you have any news or citation material for PSYUSA this week, please send it directly to Ken Pope [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] ***Please do NOT send it to the list (and please do not use the reply function to send it!) *** It is PSYUSA's goal to provide a completely accurate source citation for each news item posted. If there are errors in the citation, please let us know back-channel at your earliest convenience so that we may post a correction. 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