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Evidence of Effectiveness of Energy Psychotherapy Methodology

 

Claustrophobia and Thought Energy Study

Published in: Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual Conference of the International Society for the Study of Subtle Energy & Energy Medicine, June 15, 2001, Boulder CO: ISSSEEM, Arvada, CO.

 

In the Spring and Summer of 1999 psychologists George Pratt and Peter Lambrou constructed a pilot study to examine the effects of thought energy therapy on claustrophobia. They recruited four people with a self-report of difficulty in small closed spaces such as elevators and four normal individuals with no history of claustrophobia.

 

After initial screening with the Symptom Checklist 90-Revised, all subjects were administered the following measures: State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, EEG (single channel on non-dominant hemisphere), EMG (trapezius muscle & frontalis muscles on non-dominant side), Heart Rate, Respiration Rate, Transdermal Electrical Conductance using the Apparatus for Meridian Identification (AMI), Subjective and Behavioral Measures.

 

All subjects were asked to enter and remain (up to 5 minutes) in a small closed space 8 feet by 12 feet, ( a room that resembles a medium-sized elevator). Subjects could exit at any time they were too uncomfortable to continue. State Anxiety, behavioral, and subjective measures were taken before and after exposure to the small room. Physiological measures were taken immediately after exposure and again after a 30- minute treatment with Thought Field Therapy.

 

Control subjects were asked to remain seated and listened to 30 minutes of classical music (a concerto by Mozart), and were also measured before and after this time period that represented the time phobic subjects received treatment.

 

All subjects were measured for subjective and State Anxiety levels at an approximately 2 week follow-up.

 

It was discovered that two of the phobic subjects were not significantly distressed by the simulated elevator (Subjective Units of Distress reported as only 2 out of 10 points) and they reported their claustrophobic symptoms occurred when an elevator was crowded. It is believed that their data dampened the differences between control and phobic groups and a greater difference would have been observed had all phobic subjects been distressed by the small room. One of the subjects, before treatment, was unable to remain in the small room with the door closed. After treatment that person was able to remain in the small room for the 5 minute period with the door fully closed. A second subject, before treatment, was unable to remain in the small room for more than 2 minutes even with the door fully open. After treatment that person was able to remain in the small room for the full 5 minutes, with the door open and reported only mild discomfort.

 

What was observed in the course of this pilot study was that several of the claustrophobic subjects actually had multiple phobias and that a more complex treatment process would have been needed to see greater behavioral improvements. However, in one case the subject was able to ride elevators at work, in crowded conditions that had previously been completely intolerable. That individual's improvement was dramatic and endured at the two-week follow-up.

Several methodological changes would be recommended in a larger follow-up study.
1. Include a sham treatment sequence for a second group of experimental subjects.
2. Use more precise psychological measures of anxiety and administer the SCL-90-R also at the follow-up.
3. Include a follow-up at 30 days and again at 6 months to better evaluate the endurance of treatment effects.
4. Screen phobic subjects to ensure a more homogeneous group or include statistical processes (ANOVA) to account for variances in symptom severity.

 

All subjects were measured by computerized bio-feedback equipment and measures of the electrical properties in the acupuncture system. A 3-volt square wave pulse of 1/1000 second duration measures the peak current conductance at acupuncture points. Significant changes were recorded for the phobic group after treatment, which then correlated with the control group.	An analysis of the data was conducted that revealed significant differences before and after TFT treatment between the control group and the claustrophobic group. Some of these measures include autonomic functions that are less susceptible to placebo or positive expectancy effects.

 

Click here to view tables providing the data comparisons