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The World Health
Organization lists over 50 conditions—including psychological
problems such as anxiety, depression, and insomnia—for which
acupuncture is believed to be an effective treatment. Early
empirical studies within energy psychology build upon substantial
peer-reviewed efficacy research of acupuncture in beginning
to establish that the manual (non-needle) self-stimulation
of acupuncture points (combined with energy psychology's use
of cognitive and imagery methods) is effective in treating
a range of psychological conditions. Also striking, and perhaps
unique among new clinical innovations, is that the number
of clinical cases documenting unusually rapid and powerful
outcomes is extremely large, with reports coming in from hundreds
of therapists (many of the 600 professional members of the
Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology have each
documented at least a few) who represent the full spectrum
of backgrounds and theoretical orientations.
For instance,
105 victims of ethnic violence in Kosovo, after receiving
energy psychology treatments from an international team over
a period of several months (TFT or "Thought Field Therapy"
was the primary modality), reported complete recovery from
the post-traumatic emotional effects of 247 of the 249 memories
of torture, rape, and witnessing the massacre of loved ones
they had identified. Although such anecdotal reports are scientifically
equivocal, their impact on the local community was profound,
with the equivalent of the Surgeon General of Kosovo, Dr.
Skkelzen Syla, stating in a letter of appreciation:
Many well-funded
relief organizations have treated the posttraumatic stress
here in Kosova. Some of our people had limited improvement
but Kosova had no major change or real hope until . . .
we referred our most difficult patients to [the international
treatment team]. The success from TFT was 100% for every
patient, and they are still smiling until this day [i.e.,
on follow-up, each was free of relapse].
Beyond such anecdotal accounts,
systematic research has been corroborating the clinical reports.
An early study
examined whether the reported outcomes after stimulating acupressure
points (acupoints) are simply a placebo effect. Published
in the Journal of Clinical Psychology (2003, 59:
943-966), the subjects were seeking help for strong irrational
fears of insects or small animals, including rats, mice, spiders,
and roaches. Single-session treatments using acupoint stimulation
were compared with sessions using a relaxation technique that
incorporated diaphragmatic breathing. Significantly greater
improvement was found, based on standardized phobia scales
and other measures, in the group that received the acupoint
treatment. On follow-ups, 6 to 9 months later, the improvements
held. A study conducted at Queens College in New York to see
if these findings could be replicated produced markedly similar
results.
With preliminary
evidence suggesting that the stimulation of acupoints is more
effective than relaxation training in a single-session treatment
of a phobia, a next logical question is whether it matters
which points are tapped. Is there something about simply tapping
the body that has a curative effect, or are there actually
curative properties associated with the points that were identified
by the ancient Chinese physicians? A preliminary investigation
of this question suggested that in treating 49 people with
height phobias, those who stimulated the traditional points
showed significantly more improvement than those who stimulated
"placebo" points. In a subsequent study, published in the
medical journal Anesthesia & Analgesia, treatments
that involved stimulating acupoints were applied by the paramedic
team after a minor injury and compared with treatments that
stimulated areas of the skin that do not contain acupoints.
Again, the treatments that used the traditional points were
more effective, resulting in a significantly greater reduction
of anxiety, pain, and elevated heart rate.
Existing research
also sheds light on the mechanisms involved in stimulating
acupoints. A 1998 study, published in the Proceedings of
the National Academy of Science, used functional
MRI measurements. It found that an acupuncture treatment in
a toe affected blood activity in the brain, though no nerve,
vascular, or other physical connections are known to exist.
Another study, coming out of Harvard Medical School, also
based on functional MRI readings, demonstrated that "acupuncture
needle manipulation modulates the activity of the limbic system
and subcortical structures." Stimulating specific points on
the skin changed brain activity and, significantly, deactivated
areas of the brain that are involved with the experience of
fear and pain.
Brain scan images
tell the story visually. One series shows a patient’s progression
over 12 treatment sessions, conducted during a 4-week period.
The treatment involved tapping electrochemically sensitive
areas of the skin while bringing to mind anxiety-provoking
images. The patient was being treated for generalized anxiety
disorder, and the progression shown in the scans is both striking
and typical (click here to view).
The first large-scale
preliminary clinical trial of energy psychology is reported
in some detail in Energy Psychology Interactive and
summarized here.
Some 29,000 patients
from 11 allied treatment centers in South America whose psychiatric
treatment included energy interventions were followed during
a 14-year period. In addition to the general impressions that
the methods were effective, a variety of randomized, controlled
pilot studies were conducted. The principal investigator was
Joaquín Andrade, M.D.
In the largest
of the controlled studies, conducted over a 5-½-year period,
approximately 5,000 patients diagnosed at intake with an anxiety
disorder were randomly assigned to an experimental group (imagery
and self-statements paired with the manual stimulation of
selected acupuncture points) or a control group (Cognitive
Behavior Therapy/medication) using standard randomization
tables and, later, computerized software. Ratings were given
by independent clinicians who interviewed each patient at
the close of therapy, at 1 month, at 3 months, at 6 months,
and at 12 months. The raters made a determination of complete
remission of symptoms, partial remission of symptoms, or no
clinical response. The raters did not know if the patient
received CBT/medication or energy interventions. They knew
only the initial diagnosis, the symptoms, and the severity,
as judged by the intake staff. At the close of therapy:
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If subsequent
research corroborates these early findings, it will be a notable
development since CBT/medication is currently the established
standard of care for anxiety disorders and the greater effectiveness
of the energy approach suggested by this study would be highly
significant. The preliminary nature of these findings must,
however, be emphasized. The study was initially envisioned
as an exploratory in-house assessment of a new method and
was not designed with publication in mind. Not all the variables
that need to be controlled in robust research were tracked,
not all criteria were defined with rigorous precision, the
record-keeping was relatively informal, and source data were
not always maintained. Nonetheless, the sub-studies did use
randomized samples, control groups, and "blind" assessment,
and the clinical outcomes were striking.
One of the research
team's most intriguing observations was that, in a sample
of patients, the team found that the superior responses attained
with the acupoint treatments compared with the CBT/medication
treatments were corroborated by electrical and biochemical
measures. Brain mapping revealed that subjects whose acupuncture
points were stimulated tended to be distinguished by a general
pattern of wave normalization throughout the brain which,
interestingly, not only persisted at 12-month follow-up, but
became more pronounced. An associated pattern was found in
neurotransmitter profiles. With generalized anxiety disorder,
for example, acupoint stimulation was followed by norepinephrine
levels going down to normal reference values and low serotonin
going up. Parallel electrical and biochemical patterns were
less pronounced in the CBT/medication group. While these reports
are as preliminary as they are provocative, if subsequent
research supports them, key mechanisms explaining the surprising
effectiveness of energy-based treatment approaches will have
been identified.
Click
here for a sampling of the brain scan images
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