Overcoming Hurdles: N.I.C.E. Recommends EFT of Being Worthy of Research Funding

December 16, 2018 EFT in the News

For the first time in world history a government agency has officially recommended EFT as worthy of government research funds for trauma/PTSD.

This huge milestone came about as a direct collaborative behemoth effort led by AAMET with tremendous support from ACEP, EFT Universe and EFT researcher Dr David Feinstein. With AAMET being what is called a stakeholder (an enormous amount of paperwork to even reach that level of inclusion) AAMET submitted to NICE (the UK government body responsible for determining medical and psychological treatments recommended for use in the UK NHS aka the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) via the consultation process in July 2018 for their Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) treatment guidance review.

This would be somewhat equivalent to the US Department of Health’s National Institute of Mental Health and American Psychological Association working together to put out such a publication.

Thank you to all those involved for not only the huge effort but for the following clearly articulated information as well!

The bottom line: EFT was not mentioned in the draft revised PTSD guidance issued in June 2018.  AAMET International coordinated a worldwide collaborative effort based around presentation of research evidence and examination of the evidence and arguments NICE had used in their draft materials in order to make the case for EFT to NICE.

BUT, the FINAL result:  EFT is now mentioned in the final NICE PTSD Guideline (NG116) issued on 5 December 2018, on page 25 under “Other recommendations for research”.  You can download the Guideline here: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng116 and NICE’s response to the comments contained within our stakeholder response here: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng116/documents/consultation-comments-and-responses-2 and the reasoning behind NICE’s recommendation for EFT Research on pages 285 and 1286 of Evidence Review D, here: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng116/evidence (select and download Evidence Review D from the list of evidence reviews).

EFT is also mentioned on this page https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng116/chapter/Recommendations-for-research

What Does This Mean?

This is the first time that EFT has been acknowledged in any UK government guideline, signifying that there is an initial and promising evidence base, worthy of government-funded further research. Already I am in communication with researchers who are excited and inspired to collaborate and submit research grants for funding which potentially could lead to EFT studies which would allow for larger study cohorts of individuals which is desperately needed.

What This Doesn’t Mean

At this point it would be damaging to EFT to say that the government has “approved EFT”. So please be judicious and professional in how you share this…EFT does however now qualify for official government research funding. With the rate of EFT research published year on year and our continued persistence we expect moments like this to keep happening.

This is a real vindication of all the hard work by EFT researchers worldwide; well designed studies with rigorous methodologies are more important than ever before.

Craig Weiner

www.EFTTappingTrainingInstitute