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{{Short description|Fringe psychological treatment recognized as a pseudoscience.}}
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{{Infobox alternative medicine
'''Thought Field Therapy''', or '''TFT''', is a controversial psychological treatment, developed by a psychologist, Dr. Roger Callahan. Its proponents claim that it can heal of a variety of mental and physical ailments through specialized "tapping" with the fingers at meridian points on the upper body and hands.
| name = Thought Field Therapy
| image = TFTLogo.jpg
| claims = Tapping on ] on the body, derived from ], can release energy blockages that cause negative emotions.
| topics = ], ]
| orig_year = 1980s<ref name="30yearstft"></ref>
| orig_prop = Roger Callahan
| later_prop =
| see_also = ], ]
}}
{{Alternative medicine sidebar |fringe}}
'''Thought Field Therapy''' ('''TFT''') is a ] ] developed by American psychologist Roger Callahan.<ref name="npr">{{cite news|title = Unorthodox Therapy in New Orleans Raises Concern | publisher = ] | first = Alix | last = Spiegel | url = https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5309328 | date = 2006-03-29 | access-date = 2008-12-16}}</ref> Its proponents say that it can heal a variety of mental and physical ailments through specialized "tapping" with the fingers at ] on the upper body and hands. The theory behind TFT is a mixture of concepts "derived from a variety of sources. Foremost among these is the ancient Chinese philosophy of ], which is thought to be the 'life force' that flows throughout the body". Callahan also bases his theory upon ] and physics. There is no ] that TFT is effective, and the ] has stated that it "lacks a scientific basis" and consists of ].<ref name="npr"/><ref name="csicop">{{cite web |last1=Gaudiano |first1=Brandon A. |last2=Herbert |first2=James D. |title=Can We Really Tap Our Problems Away: A Critical Analysis of Thought Field Therapy |url=https://skepticalinquirer.org/2000/07/can-we-really-tap-our-problems-away/ |website=skepticalinquirer.org |publisher=CFI |access-date=20 March 2021 |date=1 August 2000|archive-url = https://archive.today/20210320051951/https://skepticalinquirer.org/2000/07/can-we-really-tap-our-problems-away/| archive-date = 2021-03-20 | url-status = live}}</ref>


==Theory and treatment==
Callahan claims that the process can relieve a wide variety of problems including psychological trauma, phobias, anxiety, panic, obsessive-compulsive disorder, addictive urges, and depression. He has also claimed in a recent interview on that TFT can successfully treat physical illnesses such as Malaria in as little as 15 minutes. In articles on his website, Callahan has also claimed that TFT can successfully and sudden death and that TFT has successfully . In 1985, in his first book on TFT, he claimed that specific phobias could be cured in as little as five minutes (Callahan, 1985). He also asserts that his most advanced level, Voice Technology (VT) can be performed and taught over the phone using an undisclosed "technology". The fee for this training is $100,000. Trainees must sign a confidentiality agreement not to disclose the trade secret behind VT. However, former VT trainees have noted that the core secret behind VT is already in the public domain (Craig, 1998; Pignotti, 2004).
Callahan terms his treatment "Thought Field Therapy" because he theorizes that when a person thinks about an experience or thought associated with an emotional problem, they are tuning into a "thought field." He describes this field as "the most fundamental concept in the TFT system," stating that it "creates an imaginary, though quite real scaffold, upon which we may erect our explanatory notions".<ref>Callahan, R.J. and Callahan, J. (2000). Stop the Nightmares of Trauma. Chapel Hill: Professional Press. p. 143</ref>


Perturbations are said to be precisely encoded information contained in the thought field; each deformation of a person's thought field is connected to a particular problem, and is activated by thinking about that problem. Callahan maintains that these perturbations are the root cause of negative emotions and that each perturbation corresponds to a meridian point on the body. In order to eliminate the emotional upset, Callahan says that a precise sequence of meridian points must be tapped. He posits that tapping unblocks or balances the flow of ].<ref name="TapHeal2001">{{cite book |author1=Trubo, Richard |author2=Callahan, Roger | title = Tapping the healer within: using thought field therapy to instantly conquer your fears, anxieties, and emotional distress | publisher = Contemporary Books | location = Chicago, Ill | year = 2001 | isbn = 978-0-8092-9880-8 }}</ref>
Less than 0.05% of the tens of thousands of TFT practitioners worldwide have chosen to train in and use VT and instead use predetermined algorithm treatments for which self-help training is available from around $150. If the common algorithms fail, individuals are encouraged to see a therapist trained in the more expensive "diagnostic" techniques that use specific individualized treatment sequences which Callahan claims will help most people not helped by algorithms (Callahan & Trubo, 2001) and VT demonstrations are done at many of the algorithm trainings (Pignotti, 2005). If the lower level methods fail, Callahan recommends the VT.


Callahan states that the process can relieve a wide variety of psychological issues, including ], ], ], ], and ].<ref name="npr"/> A typical treatment session lasts up to fifteen minutes, and is not repeated.<ref name="npr"/> Callahan has also stated that TFT can treat or prevent physical problems, including ].<ref> by Roger Callahan</ref> In 1985 in his first book on TFT, he wrote that specific phobias could be cured in as little as five minutes.<ref name="5Min_Phobia">{{cite book |author1=Callahan, Roger |author2=Roger J. Stancliffe | title = Five minute phobia cure: Dr. Callahan's treatment for fears, phobias and self-sabotage | publisher = Enterprise Publishing | location = Wilmington | year = 1985 | isbn = 978-0-913864-89-0 }}</ref>
Callahan gave his treatment the name “Thought Field Therapy” because he believes that when we think about an experience or thought associated with an emotional problem, we are tuning into a “thought field,” which he describes as “the most fundamental concept in the TFT system” and which “…creates an imaginary, though quite real scaffold, upon which we may erect our explanatory notions” (Callahan & Callahan, 2000, p. 143). Perturbations are said to be precisely encoded information contained in the thought field, which become activated whenever a person thinks about a problem. Callahan maintains that these perturbations are the root cause of negative emotions and that each perturbation corresponds to an acupressure point on the body (he calls this an isomorphism). In order to eliminate the emotional upset, Callahan believes that a precise sequence of acupressure points must be tapped on. He theorizes that tapping unblocks or balances the flow of Qi, a Chinese term used to describe vital life energy (Callahan & Trubo, 2001). The sequences can be determined by two of Callahan's proprietary "causal diagnostic" techniques: 1) an in-person method using muscle testing (]) and 2) the Voice Technology, as described above. There is concern by clinical psychologists of the adoption of TFT as an unvalidated, potentially harmful, and pseudoscientific therapy by government bodies and the public at large.


Callahan also asserts that his most advanced level, Voice Technology (VT), can be performed over the phone using an undisclosed "technology". Training for the advanced VT is provided by Callahan. The fee listed on Callahan's website for this training is $5,000. Thought Field Therapy in the media: a critical analysis of one exemplar{{Clarify|date=January 2022|reason=The sentence doesn't make sense and looks more like a misplaced reference.}}.<ref>The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice, 3(2) p.&nbsp;60-66.
==Inception of the Therapy==
</ref><ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071126065217/http://rsw.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/17/3/392 |date=26 November 2007 }} Thought Field Therapy: A former insider's experience. Research on Social Work Practice, 17(3), 392-407.
The first patient Callahan tried tapping with was in 1980, on a 42 year old woman named , who he reported had a lifelong severe phobia of water. Her phobia was so severe that she could only take sponge baths, experienced intense fear every time it rained and could not bear to go near the ocean. Although he had been treating her with more conventional treatments such as systematic desensitization and hypnosis, he had been working with her for a year and a half and the only progress they had made was that she could sit at the side of a swimming pool, but her feeling of terror remained. Mary had reported that every time she thought of water, she got a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. Callahan, who had recently been studying a course in applied kinesiology that also covered meridian points, decided as an experiment to have her tap on the stomach meridian end point, which was under her eye. Immediately after doing so, she reported that her fear of the water was gone, and she ran out to the pool, unafraid. Later that evening it rained and she reported going to the ocean, still with no trace of her prior phobia and she reported in a video 17 years later that she had no recurrences (Callahan, 1997).
</ref>


== Assessments and critiques ==
Callahan then began treating his other patients who had phobias and other problems such as trauma and he reports that with most, more meridian points needed to be tapped in various sequences. He also added a procedure called “the nine gamut” which consists of tapping on the back of the hand while performing eye movements, humming, and counting, believed to balance the left and right brain and he also came up with a putative correction for recalcitrant patients who he believed had a condition called psychological reversal (Callahan & Trubo, 2001). All of his decisions on what treatments to include in the claimed advances he made were based on the clients’ reports of decreased subjective emotional distress level. He utilized the Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUD) originally developed by the psychologist Joseph Wolpe, where the person reports on their distress level on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 represents a complete absence of distress and 10 represents the worst distress possible (alternatively a scale of 0-10 can be used). Callahan claims that his further developments increased TFT's success rate, which climaxed with his development of VT, which he claims has a 97% success rate and is on a par with hard science. Callahan claims:
There is concern by clinical psychologists of the adoption of TFT as an unvalidated and pseudoscientific therapy by government bodies and the public at large.<ref name="npr"/><ref></ref>


In 2000, an article was published in the '']'' which argued that there is no plausible mechanism to explain how TFT could work, and described it as a baseless ].<ref name = "csicop"/>
"As I have made more discoveries over the last two decades, my success rate has been gradually increasing and getting very close to perfection. This work is now on a par with hard science, physics and chemistry. We are no longer floundering in the wispy world of social science" (Callahan & Callahan, 2000, p. 164).


A 2006 Delphi poll of psychologists on discredited therapies, published in an APA journal, indicated that on average, participants rated TFT as "probably discredited".<ref>Norcross, Garofalo & Koocher, 2006</ref> The sample included both practicing clinical psychologists and academic psychologists. Devilly states that there is no evidence for the claimed efficacy of power therapies including TFT, ], and others such as ], and they all exhibit the characteristics of ].<ref>Devilly 2005 p.444</ref> Lilienfeld, Lynn & Lohr also use TFT as an example of a therapy that contains some of the hallmark indicators of a pseudoscience. Specifically, they note its evasion of the peer review system and absence of boundary conditions.<ref></ref>
==Scientific evidence==
There is scant conventionally-accepted scientific evidence to back the claims of the proponents of TFT. The only study published on TFT was an exploratory study done by (1999) on four novel therapies, which was not designed to be a comparison study and the methodology, according to two reviews on TFT ( (2000), , 1998) was insufficient to demonstrate efficacy. Although Callahan & Trubo (2001a) attempted to claim that TFT was shown to be superior to the other approaches in the Carbonell & Figley study, this is not what the authors' report actually demonstrates since they explicitly stated in their report that their study "fell short of reaching it goals. Moreover, the nature of the study precludes comparison of the approaches, and such a comparison was never planned" and "In contrast to conventional psychotherapy research, the SCD methodology is not meant to compare the various treatments, and thus does not necessarily meet the criteria proposed for empirically validated treatments." () There are, however, two studies published in peer reviewed journals that falsify the claims of TFT as it relates to tapping on meridian points. One study, conducted by , was done on ] (EFT), an offshoot of TFT that also taps on meridian points and thus the evidence from this study would also apply to TFT. It was published in and four groups were studied: a group that tapped on the correct acupressure points; another group that tapped on sham points; a third group that tapped on a doll and a fourth group that had no treatment. There was no significant difference between the first three groups, but all were statistically significantly better than the no treatment group. The fact that there was no difference between the group that tapped on the meridian points, the sham points and the doll indicates that placebo effect could be an explanation for the changes.


Previous studies performed on TFT have received criticism in the medical literature. For example, an exploratory study done by ],<ref name="Carbonell & Figley 1999"></ref> a psychologist who endeavored to find more effective treatments for ] (PTSD). He examined four novel therapies with a six-month follow-up evaluation (using measures that were not used immediately post treatment) and did not conduct statistical significance testing to compare the therapies. The authors stated that "In contrast to conventional psychotherapy research, the SCD methodology is not meant to compare the various treatments, and thus does not necessarily meet the criteria proposed for empirically validated treatments, although it does meet some of those criteria," and also stated that "Unfortunately, because of problems with client screening and data collection, the study fell short of reaching its goals. Moreover, the nature of the study precludes comparison of the approaches, and such a comparison was never planned."<ref></ref>
The main is that EFT taps on the main meridian points in no particular sequence, whereas Callahan claims that with TFT, sequence is critical to treatment success. Another controlled published study conducted by Pignotti (2005c) was done to test Callahan's claims that treatment sequence makes a difference. One group received the claimed precise sequences of TFT Voice Technology and a control group received random sequences and the participants were blind to which treatment they were receiving. There was no difference between the two groups. Taken together, the results of these two studies could be said to provide evidence falsifying TFT's claims for both tapping on meridian points and for the sequence of those points making a difference. The Pignotti (2005c) study is the only published controlled study related directly to TFT. Other studies are currently underway and will no doubt be reported in due course, if they are accepted for publication.


The authors also noted that because they did not prescreen participants for PTSD, not all participants necessarily met the criteria for PTSD. The authors acknowledged that the study of TFT and the other three methods were incomplete, and noted that "these treatment approaches appear to be promising in helping clients remove the most painful aspects of their traumatic memories." The authors noted that all four approaches warranted further study.<ref name="Carbonell & Figley 1999"/>
The evidence adduced in support of TFT by Callahan and other proponents comes from uncontrolled case reports and studies that were not peer reviewed. In 2001, in an unprecedented move, the Editor of the Journal of Clinical Psychology agreed to publish without peer review, five articles on TFT of Callahan’s choosing (Callahan, ; ; Pignotti & Steinberg, 2001; Sakai et al, 2001; Johnson et al., 2001). In lieu of peer review, critiques were published alongside each article (McNally, 2001; Kline, 2001; , 2001; Lohr, 2001; Rosner, 2001). The critics agreed that each of the five studies contained serious flaws that rendered them uninterpretable. They pointed out flaws which included: selecting only successful cases; focusing on a diversity of problems; failure to use a control group; failure to control for placebo effect, demand characteristics, and regression to the mean; lack of valid assessment measures; use of the SUD as the only measure of efficacy other than HRV; using an out of context physiological measure (HRV) in an inappropriate manner; and lack of a credible theory. One the critics, Harvard Psychology Professor Richard J. McNally, noting the lack of evidence for TFT, stated that “Until Callahan has done his homework, psychologists are not obliged to pay any attention to TFT.” (McNally, 2001, p. 1173). Psychologist John Kline wrote that Callahan’s article (Kline, 2001, p. 1188). One of the authors of the original articles (Pignotti, 2005a,b), published a retraction and had a subsequent exchange with Callahan in the March 2005 issue of the same journal. The only other studies adduced in support of TFT are ones that were reported on in Callahan’s newsletter, The Thought Field and an uncontrolled study on Voice Technology consisting of radio show call-ins in a proprietary archive of a journal of collected papers on Applied Kinesiology.


A controlled study on Thought Field Therapy Voice Technology published in the peer reviewed journal ],<ref>TFT VT, Pignotti, M. (2005c). Thought Field Therapy Voice Technology vs. random meridian point sequences: a single-blind controlled experiment. The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice, 4(1), 72-81</ref> which showed no difference between the TFT VT and randomly selected tapping sequences, which provides evidence against Callahan's assertion that precise sequences derived from his claimed specialized technology make a difference in result.<ref></ref>
==Characterization as pseudoscience==
Devilly (1996 p.444) states that there is no evidence for the claimed efficacy of power therapies such as TFT and they exhibit the characteristics of a pseudoscience. Lilienfeld, Lynn & Lohr (2003, ) also use TFT as an example of a therapy that contains some of the hallmark indicators of a pseudoscience. Specifically, they note its evasion of the peer review system and absence of boundary conditions. Additionally, has noted its use of obscurantist jargon (scientific-sounding terms such as thought fields, and perturbation that have no basis in evidence) and Callahan's using the idea of energy toxins to explain away treatment failures.


Much evidence adduced in support of TFT by Callahan and other proponents comes from uncontrolled case reports that were not peer reviewed. For example, Diepold and Goldstein demonstrated that TFT altered the brain patterns of a single traumatized subject.<ref>Diepold, J. H., & Goldstein, D. (2008). Thought field therapy and QEEG changes in the treatment of trauma: A case study. Traumatology, 15, 85 – 93.</ref>
==See also==

In 2001, in an unprecedented move, the Editor of the '']'' agreed to publish, ''without peer review,'' five articles on TFT of Callahan's choosing; these were: Callahan, 2001b<ref></ref> and 2001c;<ref></ref> Pignotti & Steinberg, 2001;<ref>Pignotti & Steinberg, 2001</ref> Sakai et al., 2001;<ref>Sakai et al., 2001</ref> and Johnson et al., 2001.<ref>Johnson et al., 2001</ref> In lieu of peer review, critiques were published alongside each article.<ref name=McNally>McNally, R.J. (2001). Tertullian’s motto and Callahan’s method. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 57(10) 1171-1174</ref><ref>Kline, J.P. (2001). Heart Rate Variability does not tap putative efficacy of Thought Field Therapy. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 57 (10), 1187-1192.</ref><ref></ref>

The critics agreed that each of the five studies contained serious flaws that rendered them uninterpretable by them. They pointed out flaws which included: ]; focusing on a diversity of problems; failure to use a ]; failure to control for ], ] and ]; lack of valid assessment measures; use of the SUD{{Clarify|date=January 2022}} as the only measure of efficacy other than HRV{{Clarify|date=January 2022}}; using an out of context physiological measure (HRV) in an inappropriate manner; and lack of a credible theory. One of the critics, Harvard psychology professor Richard J. McNally, noting the lack of evidence for TFT, stated that “Until Callahan has done his homework, psychologists are not obliged to pay any attention to TFT.”<ref name=McNally/> Psychologist John Kline wrote that Callahan's article “represents a disjointed series of unsubstantiated assertions, ill-defined neologisms, and far-fetched case reports that blur boundaries between farce and expository prose”.<ref></ref>

One of the original authors of the non-peer reviewed studies later retracted her conclusions and has reversed her earlier favorable position on TFT.<ref>Pignotti, M. (2005a). Regarding the October 2001 JCLP Special Issue on Thought Field Therapy: Retraction of conclusions in the article “Heart Rate Variability as an outcome measure for Thought Field Therapy in clinical practice.” Journal of Clinical Psychology, 61(3), 361-365.</ref><ref>Pignotti, M. (2005b). Callahan fails to meet the burden of proof for Thought Field Therapy claims: Rejoinder to Callahan. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 61(3), 251-255.</ref> The only other studies adduced in support of TFT are ones that were reported on in Callahan's newsletter, ''The Thought Field'', and an uncontrolled study on Voice Technology consisting of radio show call-ins in a proprietary archive of a journal of collected papers on ]. Callahan's claims about the TFT Voice Technology having unique properties and being on a par with hard science were not supported in a controlled experiment that used random sequences vs. TFT Voice Technology.<ref>Pignotti, M. (2005c). Thought Field Therapy Voice Technology vs. random meridian point sequences: a single-blind controlled experiment. The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice, 4(1), 72-81</ref>

== See also ==
* ] * ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]


==External links== == References ==
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== Sources ==
References:
{{refbegin}}
*Callahan, R.J. (1985). The Five Minute Phobia Cure. Wilmington: Enterprise.
*Callahan, R.J. (1996). The Case of Mary. Traumatology 3(5), Article 5. *Callahan, R.J. (1996). The Case of Mary. Traumatology 3(5), Article 5.
*Callahan, R.J. (2001b). The impact of thought field therapy on heart rate variability (HRV). Journal of Clinical Psychology. 57 (10), 1153-1170 ''(Not Peer Reviewed)''.
*Callahan, R.J. (1997) Videotape: Introduction to TFT, TFT Training Center, La Quinta, CA.
*Callahan, R.J. and Callahan, J. (2000). Stop the Nightmares of Trauma. Chapel Hill: Professional Press.
*Callahan, R.J. and Trubo, R. (2001a). Tapping the Healer Within. Chicago: Contemporary Books.
*Callahan, R.J. (2001b). The impact of thought field therapy on heart rate variability (HRV). Journal of Clinical Psychology. 57 (10), 1153-1170 ''(Not Peer Reviewed)''.
* Callahan, R.J. (2001c). Raising and lowering heart rate variability: Some clinical findings of Thought Field Therapy. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 57 (10), 1175-1186 ''(Not Peer Reviewed)''. * Callahan, R.J. (2001c). Raising and lowering heart rate variability: Some clinical findings of Thought Field Therapy. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 57 (10), 1175-1186 ''(Not Peer Reviewed)''.
*Carbonell, J.L. & Figley, C. (1999). A systematic clinical demonstration of promising PTSD treatment approaches. Traumatology, 5(1), Article 4. Available: http://www.fsu.edu/~trauma/promising.html *Carbonell, J.L. & Figley, C. (1999). A systematic clinical demonstration of promising PTSD treatment approaches. Traumatology, 5(1), Article 4. Available: http://www.fsu.edu/~trauma/promising.html
*Devilly, Grant J. Source: Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, June 2005, vol. 39, no. 6, pp.&nbsp;437–445(9)
*Craig, G. (1998) The evolution of EFT from TFTtm. EFT: Emotional Freedom Technique: A Universal Healing Aid. Available: http://www.emofree.com/articles/scien-i.htm
*Gaudiano, B. A., & Herbert, J. D. (2000a, July/August). Can we really tap our problems away?: A critical analysis of Thought Field Therapy. Skeptical Inquirer, 24, 29–36. Available: http://www.csicop.org/si/show/can_we_really_tap_our_problems_away_a_critical_analysis_of_thought_field_th/
*Devilly, Grant J.
* Herbert, J.D. & Gaudiano, B.A. (2001). The search for the holy grail: Heart Rate Variability and Thought Field Therapy. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 57(10), 1207–1214. Available: http://www.psychology.drexel.edu/papers/herbert-holygrail.pdf
Source: Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, June 2005, vol. 39, no. 6, pp. 437-445(9)
*Gaudiano, B. A., & Herbert, J. D. (2000a, July/August). Can we really tap our problems away?: A critical analysis of Thought Field Therapy. Skeptical Inquirer, 24, 29-36. Available: http://www.csicop.org/si/2000-07/thought-field-therapy.html *Hooke, W. (1998). A review of Thought Field Therapy. Traumatology, 3(2), Article 3. Available online: https://web.archive.org/web/20060617085754/http://www.fsu.edu/~trauma/v3i2art3.html .
* Herbert, J.D. & Gaudiano, B.A. (2001). The search for the holy grail: Heart Rate Variability and Thought Field Therapy. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 57(10), 1207-1214. Available: http://www.psychology.drexel.edu/papers/herbert-holygrail.pdf *Kline, J.P. (2001). Heart Rate Variability does not tap putative efficacy of Thought Field Therapy. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 57 (10), 1187–1192.
*Hooke, W. (1998). A review of Thought Field Therapy. Traumatology, 3(2), Article 3. Available online: http://www.fsu.edu/~trauma/v3i2art3.html .
*Kline, J.P. (2001). Heart Rate Variability does not tap putative efficacy of Thought Field Therapy. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 57 (10), 1187-1192.
*Lilienfeld, SO, Lynn, SJ, Lohr JM (eds) (2003). Science and Pseudoscience in Clinical Psychology. New York: Guilford Press. *Lilienfeld, SO, Lynn, SJ, Lohr JM (eds) (2003). Science and Pseudoscience in Clinical Psychology. New York: Guilford Press.
*McNally, R.J. (2001). Tertullian’s motto and Callahan’s method. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 57(10) 1171-1174. *McNally, R.J. (2001). Tertullian's motto and Callahan's method. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 57(10) 1171–1174.
*Norcross, J.C., Garofalo, A., Koocher, G.P. (2006). Discredited Psychological Treatments and Tests: A Delphi Poll, Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 37(5), 515–522.
*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.''(Not Peer Reviewed)'' ''The first author published a retraction''.
*Pignotti, M. (2004, Fall/Winter). Thought Field Therapy in the media: a critical analysis of one exemplar. The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice, 3(2) p. 60-66. * Waite, W.L. & Holder, M.D. (2003). Assessment of the Emotional Freedom Technique: An Alternative Treatment for Fear. Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice, 2 (2), 20–26.
{{refend}}
*Pignotti, M. (2005a). Regarding the October 2001 JCLP Special Issue on Thought Field Therapy: Retraction of conclusions in the article “Heart Rate Variability as an outcome measure for Thought Field Therapy in clinical practice.” Journal of Clinical Psychology, 61(3), 361-365.
*Pignotti, M. (2005b). Callahan fails to meet the burden of proof for Thought Field Therapy claims: Rejoinder to Callahan. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 61(3), 251-255.
* Pignotti, M. (2005c). Thought Field Therapy Voice Technology vs. random meridian point sequences: a single-blind controlled experiment. The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice, 4(1), 72-81.
* Waite, W.L. & Holder, M.D. (2003). Assessment of the Emotional Freedom Technique: An Alternative Treatment for Fear. Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice, 2 (2), 20-26.


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Latest revision as of 19:22, 2 July 2024

Fringe psychological treatment recognized as a pseudoscience.

Thought Field Therapy
Alternative medicine
ClaimsTapping on meridian points on the body, derived from acupuncture, can release energy blockages that cause negative emotions.
Related fieldsAcupuncture, acupressure
Year proposed1980s
Original proponentsRoger Callahan
See alsoTapas Acupressure Technique, Emotional Freedom Techniques
Part of a series on
Alternative medicine
General information
Fringe medicine and science
Controversies
Classifications
Traditional medicine
Alternative diagnoses

Thought Field Therapy (TFT) is a fringe psychological treatment developed by American psychologist Roger Callahan. Its proponents say that it can heal a variety of mental and physical ailments through specialized "tapping" with the fingers at meridian points on the upper body and hands. The theory behind TFT is a mixture of concepts "derived from a variety of sources. Foremost among these is the ancient Chinese philosophy of chi, which is thought to be the 'life force' that flows throughout the body". Callahan also bases his theory upon applied kinesiology and physics. There is no scientific evidence that TFT is effective, and the American Psychological Association has stated that it "lacks a scientific basis" and consists of pseudoscience.

Theory and treatment

Callahan terms his treatment "Thought Field Therapy" because he theorizes that when a person thinks about an experience or thought associated with an emotional problem, they are tuning into a "thought field." He describes this field as "the most fundamental concept in the TFT system," stating that it "creates an imaginary, though quite real scaffold, upon which we may erect our explanatory notions".

Perturbations are said to be precisely encoded information contained in the thought field; each deformation of a person's thought field is connected to a particular problem, and is activated by thinking about that problem. Callahan maintains that these perturbations are the root cause of negative emotions and that each perturbation corresponds to a meridian point on the body. In order to eliminate the emotional upset, Callahan says that a precise sequence of meridian points must be tapped. He posits that tapping unblocks or balances the flow of qi.

Callahan states that the process can relieve a wide variety of psychological issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, addiction, and phobia. A typical treatment session lasts up to fifteen minutes, and is not repeated. Callahan has also stated that TFT can treat or prevent physical problems, including atrial fibrillation. In 1985 in his first book on TFT, he wrote that specific phobias could be cured in as little as five minutes.

Callahan also asserts that his most advanced level, Voice Technology (VT), can be performed over the phone using an undisclosed "technology". Training for the advanced VT is provided by Callahan. The fee listed on Callahan's website for this training is $5,000. Thought Field Therapy in the media: a critical analysis of one exemplar.

Assessments and critiques

There is concern by clinical psychologists of the adoption of TFT as an unvalidated and pseudoscientific therapy by government bodies and the public at large.

In 2000, an article was published in the Skeptical Inquirer which argued that there is no plausible mechanism to explain how TFT could work, and described it as a baseless pseudoscience.

A 2006 Delphi poll of psychologists on discredited therapies, published in an APA journal, indicated that on average, participants rated TFT as "probably discredited". The sample included both practicing clinical psychologists and academic psychologists. Devilly states that there is no evidence for the claimed efficacy of power therapies including TFT, Emotional Freedom Techniques, and others such as Neuro-Linguistic Programming, and they all exhibit the characteristics of pseudoscience. Lilienfeld, Lynn & Lohr also use TFT as an example of a therapy that contains some of the hallmark indicators of a pseudoscience. Specifically, they note its evasion of the peer review system and absence of boundary conditions.

Previous studies performed on TFT have received criticism in the medical literature. For example, an exploratory study done by Charles Figley, a psychologist who endeavored to find more effective treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He examined four novel therapies with a six-month follow-up evaluation (using measures that were not used immediately post treatment) and did not conduct statistical significance testing to compare the therapies. The authors stated that "In contrast to conventional psychotherapy research, the SCD methodology is not meant to compare the various treatments, and thus does not necessarily meet the criteria proposed for empirically validated treatments, although it does meet some of those criteria," and also stated that "Unfortunately, because of problems with client screening and data collection, the study fell short of reaching its goals. Moreover, the nature of the study precludes comparison of the approaches, and such a comparison was never planned."

The authors also noted that because they did not prescreen participants for PTSD, not all participants necessarily met the criteria for PTSD. The authors acknowledged that the study of TFT and the other three methods were incomplete, and noted that "these treatment approaches appear to be promising in helping clients remove the most painful aspects of their traumatic memories." The authors noted that all four approaches warranted further study.

A controlled study on Thought Field Therapy Voice Technology published in the peer reviewed journal The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice, which showed no difference between the TFT VT and randomly selected tapping sequences, which provides evidence against Callahan's assertion that precise sequences derived from his claimed specialized technology make a difference in result.

Much evidence adduced in support of TFT by Callahan and other proponents comes from uncontrolled case reports that were not peer reviewed. For example, Diepold and Goldstein demonstrated that TFT altered the brain patterns of a single traumatized subject.

In 2001, in an unprecedented move, the Editor of the Journal of Clinical Psychology agreed to publish, without peer review, five articles on TFT of Callahan's choosing; these were: Callahan, 2001b and 2001c; Pignotti & Steinberg, 2001; Sakai et al., 2001; and Johnson et al., 2001. In lieu of peer review, critiques were published alongside each article.

The critics agreed that each of the five studies contained serious flaws that rendered them uninterpretable by them. They pointed out flaws which included: selecting only successful cases; focusing on a diversity of problems; failure to use a control group; failure to control for placebo effect, demand characteristics and regression to the mean; lack of valid assessment measures; use of the SUD as the only measure of efficacy other than HRV; using an out of context physiological measure (HRV) in an inappropriate manner; and lack of a credible theory. One of the critics, Harvard psychology professor Richard J. McNally, noting the lack of evidence for TFT, stated that “Until Callahan has done his homework, psychologists are not obliged to pay any attention to TFT.” Psychologist John Kline wrote that Callahan's article “represents a disjointed series of unsubstantiated assertions, ill-defined neologisms, and far-fetched case reports that blur boundaries between farce and expository prose”.

One of the original authors of the non-peer reviewed studies later retracted her conclusions and has reversed her earlier favorable position on TFT. The only other studies adduced in support of TFT are ones that were reported on in Callahan's newsletter, The Thought Field, and an uncontrolled study on Voice Technology consisting of radio show call-ins in a proprietary archive of a journal of collected papers on applied kinesiology. Callahan's claims about the TFT Voice Technology having unique properties and being on a par with hard science were not supported in a controlled experiment that used random sequences vs. TFT Voice Technology.

See also

References

  1. 30 Years Of Thought Field Therapy
  2. ^ Spiegel, Alix (29 March 2006). "Unorthodox Therapy in New Orleans Raises Concern". National Public Radio. Retrieved 16 December 2008.
  3. ^ Gaudiano, Brandon A.; Herbert, James D. (1 August 2000). "Can We Really Tap Our Problems Away: A Critical Analysis of Thought Field Therapy". skepticalinquirer.org. CFI. Archived from the original on 20 March 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  4. Callahan, R.J. and Callahan, J. (2000). Stop the Nightmares of Trauma. Chapel Hill: Professional Press. p. 143
  5. Trubo, Richard; Callahan, Roger (2001). Tapping the healer within: using thought field therapy to instantly conquer your fears, anxieties, and emotional distress. Chicago, Ill: Contemporary Books. ISBN 978-0-8092-9880-8.
  6. TFT Stops Atrial Fibriliation by Roger Callahan
  7. Callahan, Roger; Roger J. Stancliffe (1985). Five minute phobia cure: Dr. Callahan's treatment for fears, phobias and self-sabotage. Wilmington: Enterprise Publishing. ISBN 978-0-913864-89-0.
  8. The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice, 3(2) p. 60-66.
  9. Pignotti, M. (2007) Archived 26 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine Thought Field Therapy: A former insider's experience. Research on Social Work Practice, 17(3), 392-407.
  10. The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice
  11. Norcross, Garofalo & Koocher, 2006
  12. Devilly 2005 p.444
  13. Lilienfeld, SO, Lynn, SJ, Lohr JM (eds) (2003). Science and Pseudoscience in Clinical Psychology. New York: Guilford Press, Chapter 1
  14. ^ Carbonell & Figley (1999)
  15. see full report
  16. TFT VT, Pignotti, M. (2005c). Thought Field Therapy Voice Technology vs. random meridian point sequences: a single-blind controlled experiment. The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice, 4(1), 72-81
  17. Pignotti, 2005
  18. Diepold, J. H., & Goldstein, D. (2008). Thought field therapy and QEEG changes in the treatment of trauma: A case study. Traumatology, 15, 85 – 93.
  19. Callahan 2001b
  20. 2001c
  21. Pignotti & Steinberg, 2001
  22. Sakai et al., 2001
  23. Johnson et al., 2001
  24. ^ McNally, R.J. (2001). Tertullian’s motto and Callahan’s method. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 57(10) 1171-1174
  25. Kline, J.P. (2001). Heart Rate Variability does not tap putative efficacy of Thought Field Therapy. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 57 (10), 1187-1192.
  26. Herbert & Gaudiano 2001
  27. Kline, 2001, p. 1188
  28. Pignotti, M. (2005a). Regarding the October 2001 JCLP Special Issue on Thought Field Therapy: Retraction of conclusions in the article “Heart Rate Variability as an outcome measure for Thought Field Therapy in clinical practice.” Journal of Clinical Psychology, 61(3), 361-365.
  29. Pignotti, M. (2005b). Callahan fails to meet the burden of proof for Thought Field Therapy claims: Rejoinder to Callahan. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 61(3), 251-255.
  30. Pignotti, M. (2005c). Thought Field Therapy Voice Technology vs. random meridian point sequences: a single-blind controlled experiment. The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice, 4(1), 72-81

Sources

  • Callahan, R.J. (1996). The Case of Mary. Traumatology 3(5), Article 5.
  • Callahan, R.J. (2001b). The impact of thought field therapy on heart rate variability (HRV). Journal of Clinical Psychology. 57 (10), 1153-1170 (Not Peer Reviewed).
  • Callahan, R.J. (2001c). Raising and lowering heart rate variability: Some clinical findings of Thought Field Therapy. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 57 (10), 1175-1186 (Not Peer Reviewed).
  • Carbonell, J.L. & Figley, C. (1999). A systematic clinical demonstration of promising PTSD treatment approaches. Traumatology, 5(1), Article 4. Available: http://www.fsu.edu/~trauma/promising.html
  • Devilly, Grant J. Source: Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, June 2005, vol. 39, no. 6, pp. 437–445(9)
  • Gaudiano, B. A., & Herbert, J. D. (2000a, July/August). Can we really tap our problems away?: A critical analysis of Thought Field Therapy. Skeptical Inquirer, 24, 29–36. Available: http://www.csicop.org/si/show/can_we_really_tap_our_problems_away_a_critical_analysis_of_thought_field_th/
  • Herbert, J.D. & Gaudiano, B.A. (2001). The search for the holy grail: Heart Rate Variability and Thought Field Therapy. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 57(10), 1207–1214. Available: http://www.psychology.drexel.edu/papers/herbert-holygrail.pdf
  • Hooke, W. (1998). A review of Thought Field Therapy. Traumatology, 3(2), Article 3. Available online: https://web.archive.org/web/20060617085754/http://www.fsu.edu/~trauma/v3i2art3.html .
  • Kline, J.P. (2001). Heart Rate Variability does not tap putative efficacy of Thought Field Therapy. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 57 (10), 1187–1192.
  • Lilienfeld, SO, Lynn, SJ, Lohr JM (eds) (2003). Science and Pseudoscience in Clinical Psychology. New York: Guilford Press.
  • McNally, R.J. (2001). Tertullian's motto and Callahan's method. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 57(10) 1171–1174.
  • Norcross, J.C., Garofalo, A., Koocher, G.P. (2006). Discredited Psychological Treatments and Tests: A Delphi Poll, Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 37(5), 515–522.
  • Waite, W.L. & Holder, M.D. (2003). Assessment of the Emotional Freedom Technique: An Alternative Treatment for Fear. Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice, 2 (2), 20–26.

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