Research on Thought Field Therapy®

Growing Evidence of Its Efficacy

The following studies have been done on Thought Field Therapy® (TFT).
• Blaich (1988) found that readers improved in their reading speed by 45% after using Dr. Callahan’s treatment
of tapping the side of the hand for Psychological Reversal.

• Yancey (2002) found that middle school students used Thought Fielding Therapy® to eliminate angry
and violent feelings, to achieve at higher levels in school, and to overcome difficulties in relationships
with friends and family. Adults used TFT with students to assist them in improving their scores on tests,
relieve stress, get along better with family members and friends, overcome violent feelings, and grow in
self-confidence. They also used it with themselves, their families, and their friends to overcome stress.

• In 714 participants who were treated by 7 therapists for 1,594 problems, paired-samples t-tests indicated
significant reduction on the Subjective Units of Distress (1-10) self-report scale in 31 categories of distress
from pretest to posttest (Sakai et al., 2001).*

• Thought Field Therapy® significantly decreased phobia of needles as measured prior to the treatment
and a month later using the questions on the Fear Survey Schedule (FSS) related to blood-injection-injury
phobia and the Subjective Units of Distress (1-10) self-report scale (Darby, 2002).

• Thought Field Therapy® significantly decreased fear of speaking in public as measured by the Subjective
Units of Distress (1-10) self-report scale and the Speaker Anxiety Scale (Schoninger, 2004).

• Of 105 survivors in Kosovo who had 249 traumas, 103 reported complete absence of the trauma with
247 of the traumas. Presence or absence of the “bad moment” (p. 1238), or trauma, was used due to
cultural taboos against the use of the Subjective Units of Distress (1-10) self-report scale. The results
remained an average of five months later (Johnson, 2001).*

• Thirty-one immigrants to the United States showed a statistically significant decrease in posttraumatic
symptoms as indicated by scores on the Posttraumatic Checklist-C, as well as on their Subjective Units
of Distress (1-10) self-report scale from before the Thought Field Therapy® treatment to 30 days later
(Folkes, 2002). 

References

Blaich, R. (1988). Applied kinesiology and human performance. Selected papers of the International
College of Applied Kinesiology, (Winter), 1-15.

Darby, D. W. (2002). The efficacy of Thought Field Therapy as a treatment modality for individuals
diagnosed with blood-injection-injury phobia. Dissertation Abstracts International, 64 (03), 1485B.
(UMI No. 3085152)

Folkes, C. (2002). Thought Field Therapy and trauma recovery. International Journal of Emergency
Mental Health, 4(2), 99-104.

Johnson, C., Shala, M., Sejdijaj, X., Odell, R., & Dabishevci, D. (2001). Thought Field Therapy:
Soothing the bad moments of Kosovo. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 57(10), 1237-1240.*

Sakai, C., Paperny, D., Mathews, M., Tanida, G., Boyd, G., Simons, A., Yamamoto, C., Mau, C., &
Nutter, L. (2001). Thought Field Therapy clinical applications: Utilization in an HMO in behavioral
medicine and behavioral health services. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 57(10), 1215-1227.*

Schoninger, B. (2004). Efficacy of Thought Field Therapy (TFT) as a treatment modality for persons
with public speaking anxiety. Dissertation Abstracts International, 65 (10), 5455. (UMI No. AAT
3149748)

Yancey, V. (2002). The use of Thought Field Therapy in educational settings. Dissertation Abstracts
International, 63 (07), 2470A. (UMI No. 3059661)
*The Journal of Clinical Psychology articles were not peer reviewed and were published with invited

critical reviews.