EFT Research Paper
Heart Rate Variability as an Outcome Measure for Thought Field Therapy in Clinical Practice
Citation: Pignotti, M., & Steinberg, M. (2001). Heart rate variability as an outcome measure for Thought Field Therapy in clinical practice. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 57(10), 1193-1206. Click here to view Abstract http://goo.gl/xsGCgc
Abstract
The need for empirical, objective, clear, and practical outcome measures for therapy has long been recognized by clinicians and researchers. Pragmatic tools for objective determination of the efficacy of therapy have been scarce in clinical practice settings. Heart rate variability (HRV) is increasing in popularity for use in clinical settings as a measure of treatment success. Since HRV is stable and placebo-free, it has the potential to meet this need. Thirty-nine cases are presented from the clinical practices of the authors and three other clinicians where HRV was used as an outcome measure for Thought Field Therapy (TFT). The cases included TFT treatments which addressed a wide variety of problems including phobias, anxiety, trauma, depression, fatigue, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning difficulties, compulsions, obsessions, eating disorders, anger, and physical pain. A lowering of subjective units of distress was in most cases related to an improvement in HRV.
Craig’s Comments
This 2001 article in the Journal of Clinical Psychology used Heart Rate Variability (HRV) to measure the effectiveness of Thought Field Therapy (TFT). Heart rate variability (HRV) is the physiological phenomenon of variation in the time interval between heartbeats. It is measured by the variation in the beat-to-beat interval. In this report 39 cases targeted a wide variety of problems including phobias, anxiety, trauma, depression, fatigue, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning difficulties, compulsions, obsessions, eating disorders, anger, and physical pain. Improvements in HRV was correlated to a decreased SUDS (emotional intensity score).