Why They Say There’s Not Enough Research On EFT

When you’re passionate about EFT you want to tell everyone! 

You might also want to get EFT into health services or schools. So you share all about EFT with great enthusiasm and excitement. How could anyone not love EFT? But then, you're met with the response: “There’s not enough research”.

To EFT-ers this response is especially frustrating because we know that it is untrue. 

Here Are Some Thoughts About What’s Going On.

My comments are based on ten years of research where we sought to understand why governments and health departments don't introduce an intervention even when there's a ton of evidence that it works.

The Meta-Analysis on EFT by Dawson Church et al says there is now more research on EFT than on most other therapies. This includes the "best" research - of Systematic Reviews, Meta-Analyses and Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs). Sometimes, sharing this information helps. It may be that after a quick Google search they just found random information or only read the heavily anti-EFT Wikipedia page (see link below to Sejual Shah's article) so they will appreciate being able to dive into a whole range of studies.

You could ask, “How many studies do you need to see?” But there isn't a magic number. In fact, there are stories in medicine of certain interventions being used even before any research proved they worked. Indeed, some interventions were used until they were proven to be harmful!

Perhaps the claim that there’s “not enough research” reflects that they have no idea how to understand research and what it means for implementing EFT into practice or into their department.

If they say there's not enough “good” research, you could ask, “What do you mean by ‘good’?” You might ask for examples of something they did introduce and what evidence underpinned it. You could promise not to bother them until EFT is at that level.

However, it’s most likely that the amount or quality of research isn’t the problem. Certain people are more persuaded by other types of evidence, not just research evidence. 

Other types of evidence are broad and can range from: 

• What their family thinks, 
• What the media says is suspicious, or
• What their doctor tells them. 

Some Health Ministers, for example, are more responsive to personal stories than to heaps of quantitative studies. One Minister used to ask, “How would this benefit uncle Frank? And what do average people think about this in the local pub?”

Still another person might be persuaded by personal preferences. They might believe that nothing works except pharmaceuticals. Or they may be against new things until someone else ‘takes the risk’ in trying them. They could also be worried about disagreeing with colleagues, or think they’ll lose a promotion if introducing EFT upsets their boss.

The professor I worked with concluded that when people say, “There's not enough (good) research” about something, they probably have no intention of being interested. Maybe they’re scared EFT might actually help a lot of people feel better faster, and that in some way threatens their identity, their income or their power.

So What Can You Do?

Instead of hitting your head against a brick wall, look for a change champion to take EFT forward. Surprisingly, they might not even need to see any research. They might love knowing it exists and draw more on the lay evidence from consumers, knowing EFT works because it worked for them or for someone they know. 

Maybe, next, we could inspire possibilities with an EFTi Symposium on “Getting EFT on the Health Agenda: Successes and Strategies”. 

Meanwhile, we can, of course, tap on our frustrations and blocks we perceive in connecting with “the right people”.

Thoughts on Wikipedia:

https://eftinternational.org/moving-forward-from-wikipedias-entry-on-eft-sejual-shah/

ScienceofTapping.org website lists EFT Research

Meta-Analysis Summarising EFT Research
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.951451/full

Introducing EFT into Schools
https://youtu.be/C_-kaQloIS8?si=zmK2KDYMEtp-O3ja

EFT Science and Research on the EFTi website

Lareen Newman PhD's EFT practice builds on her 10 years in the corporate and government sectors, and almost 20 years in Australian universities as a social-health researcher.