Has anyone tried EFT or Temporal Tapping for their ADD symptoms? It looks interesting.

I'm not familiar with it. What exactly does it involve?

I hope it is all right to post a link here:

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This is the article I read. It is an interesting system involving tapping accupressure points while repeating affirmations to yourself. It reminds me of Rapid eye movement thereapy because it brings up the hidden emotional issues behind a problem when you do the exercises. For example, you might use an affirmation about being late all the time. After tapping, you might have a memory that you were early to a party as a child and you felt that your friend rejected you because you were over-eager. Then you use a new affirmation about fearing rejection if you're not "cool." The theory is that this clears up the REAL issue and after a few times of doing a session like this you find yourself being on time.

The thing that bothers me about the article on the Website is that it seems like this guy is saying ADD is not organic in nature. And it is! However, I am willing to try this therapy on specific symptoms because I know that many ADD issues are compounded by low self esteem caused by hardships.

ADD, strangely, seems to respond to any kind of treatment you can come up with. It's almost as if the brain just wants someone to pay attention to it. I would bet money that if you picked something silly, like vacuuming the house, and did a study on making people vacuum to treat their ADD, it would get positive results! Our brains hate being ignored, so they refuse to run automatically. You must manually operate this machine. Hee Hee!:wacko:

So I was wondering if anyone has used EFT at all and what you think about it?

lol so true!

I would bet money that if you picked something silly, like vacuuming the house, and did a study on making people vacuum to treat their ADD, it would get positive results!

The Flowbee? Hmmm, I feel an infomercial coming on here somewhere.

Seriously tho, I dont know about temporal tapping but it sounds like Thought Field Therapy, which is being viewed around the nation as an inappropriate treatment. I read not long ago about 2 psychologists in the SouthWest US losing their licenses. If Im not mistaken, it had to do with "tapping" a patients aura over the phone.In addition, the originator refers to himself as "the master". I have a real problem with people who proclaim they have the answers for a price. At any rate, no one at our agency practices it due to obvious ethical concerns

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, this is the reason I posted the question here. I wanted to get everyone's feedback.

It does smack of too-good-to-be-true to me. However, there are things that sound interesting. To a lot of people ADD sounds like a wish-washy excuse to be undiciplined. If I believed them and didn't research it for myself, I would be missing out on a lot of essential tools the treatment has given me.

The guy doing "aural tapping" over the phone sounds like one of those people who perverts legitimate alternative things like supplements. It makes me nuts that our Capitalist system drives people to give wonderful things a bad reputation, just so they can make a buck. Maybe they have ADD and can't find a job any other way. I should have compassion I guess.

What interests me about EFT is that it is based on the accupressure points. Chinese medicine is getting more and more respect in the West as research repeatedly comes up with positive results of it's effectiveness to treat physical problems. However, it is expensive. EFT is free if you teach yourself from the manuals. It is so easy that I'm not sure why someone would see a therapist for this. I can imagine, however, incorporating it into a complex therapy plan.

I am going to try it on myself because it's harmless, easy and free. I will let you all know what happens in a few months when I can make a conclusion about the results.

Much peace to you all.

Im not familiar with EFT per se', unless it is another name for Thought Field Therapy. Accupressure is thousands of years old and is legit. Again, I dont know enough about EFT to make an informed opinion. I will say that one of the many ethical problems presented by Thought Field Therapy is that its not researched based. Sound practice efficacy demands that what you expose your patient (client) to has been proven to be safe and effective.That is also the basis of Informed Consent and a cornerstone of The Client Bill of Rights, which should be posted in your therapist's office( along with their degrees and license/certification,etc).

I wish you luck and will be looking forward to hearing the outcome.

I have done a lot of reading about EFT lately (on his web site, I downloaded and printed out the whole manual) and have had some modest results with bad memories using it on myself without even seeing the video. Just wondering if anyone has any updates or ideas on treating ADD with it since the last time someone posted to this thread? I asked my therapist about it and she verified it is a 'real' technique, that is, this guy is not just making it all up. I ordered the video (well my mom ordered it for me) and I should be getting it soon...

I'm not saying it was "made up". I'm saying I haven't heard any of my colleagues ever mention it.It certainly can be "real," and I hope that you find it helpful. I am skeptical tho of all techniques that I haven't seen validated by research.I say this because Thought Field Therapy has been "debunked" and therapist's have lost their licenses.

I do sincerely wish you luck tho.:)

My mother had talked to a guy that had depression and anger and he told my mom that this EFT completely worked for him. He had these issues from things that happend in his child hood. I deal with depression and ADD and I haven't had great results with meds that would last for long so I gave this a try and it didn't work for me. I feel that my situation is completely chemical though. I'm sure stating positive comments to myself should be helpful but it wasn't really. Maybe I didn't try it long enough. I don't think the guy is just out for money because you can get all of the info on how to do it for free. I'd say it is worth a try for anyone but it didn't do a thing for me.

EFT is a knockoff from TFT.

I'm surprised that someone thinks that TFT has been considered inappropriate. It has been strongly researched. I have even done research with a couple of TFT techniques with respect to their impact on a certain ADHD condition. My wife (a TFT therapist) and I presented the research results at the annual TFT conference in October, 2004.

We found that one tapping point helps ADHD children get back on track when they have become really out of contact with their context.

Three years ago I used TFT to cure my gout. Both pain and swelling were eliminated. It only required one session to learn the tapping sequence, and I did the work myself. I performed the tapping sequence every time I felt the pain. It only took a minute to perform the sequence and the pain went away. It faded over 6 weeks and since then, I have not felt any pain; I have not had any sewlling.

I know the developer of TFT. I have read all his books and articles. I have attended many of his workshops. I have visited with him often in his home. I never heard anyone refer to him as "the master." And, he does not refer to himself that way.

There is nothing in TFT that refers to, talks about, or teaches anything about auras. If someone was tapping auras, that person was not performing a TFT intervention.

Rodger,
What does TFT stand for? Google gave me results, but not what I think you are describing?

Three years ago I used TFT to cure my gout. Both pain and swelling were eliminated. It only required one session to learn the tapping sequence, and I did the work myself. I performed the tapping sequence every time I felt the pain. It only took a minute to perform the sequence and the pain went away. It faded over 6 weeks and since then, I have not felt any pain; I have not had any sewlling.

Rodger,
Was your Gout diagnosed by a medical doctor?


The Arthritis Society of Canada has information about Gout at:
http://www.arthritis.ca/types%20of%20arthritis/gout/default.asp?s=1

TFT is Thought Field Therapy. This was mentioned several times in earlier posts in this thread.

My gout was diagnosed by an MD based in some tests.

. . . Thought Field Therapy, which is being viewed around the nation as an inappropriate treatment. I'm sorry, Rodger, I must have stopped reading after the word infomercial. :o

You might want to get a second opinion about the Gout diagnosis. :confused:
From The Arthritis Society of Canada:
With reference to Gout:
". . .If left untreated, an acute attack will usually end by itself in seven to ten days."

I don't understand why I should be concerned about the gout that I currently don't have. I have had no symptoms or attacks for over 3 years (without meds).

Four years ago I received the diagnosis of gout, and those two doctor visits cost me over $1000 (US) for the visits and tests. I don't have medical insurance, so that came out of my pocket. I don't have a way of thinking that I should spend any more money for this.

Do you have a paradigm that tells you my experience and those original test results cannot be true?

BTW: MM was the head of the Anthropology Dept at Fordham, where I got my BS in Anthropology.

I don't understand why I should be concerned about the gout that I currently don't have. I have had no symptoms or attacks for over 3 years (without meds).It is not unusual for people to experience only one acute attack of gout.

Three years ago I used TFT to cure my gout. Rodger, I am very concerned with your statement that TFT cured your gout. Gout is caused by an excessive blood level of uric acid, a waste product formed from the breakdown of purines.


BTW: MM was the head of the Anthropology Dept at Fordham, where I got my BS in Anthropology.
Awesome!

I had gout symptoms for years before diagnosis. I controlled it before diagnosis with ibuprofen and accupuncture. I still had attacks during this time.

I took a prescribed med for about a year after diagnosis. I didn't like taking a med every day with or without symptoms.

I have used EFT or Emotional Freedom Technique for several years and find it to be very effective for any number of things and I do not consider it to be quack related at all. I have not specifically tried it on my ADD, as I think that something of this nature is best left to a qualified practitioner, but I have used it to great effect on my ADD med side-effects.

EFT is probably considered a slight spin-off of TFT. EFT is sort of like using acupressure, but with tapping on certain points, mostly on the head and upper body, while using certain affirmations that relate to the problem or symptom, such as if you are having trouble with focusing. My view is kind of simplistic, but I hope you get the idea.

EFT can be used in conjunction with NLP, or other healing modalities, such as hypnosis. EFT is very easy to learn from the free manual, but I bought the EFT CDs that are offered, as I wanted to learn all I could about EFT. The developer of EFT, Gary Craig, lets you make several copies of your EFT CDs, so that you can give them to others.

One NLP/EFT practitioner says that he has about a 90% success rate dealing with ADHD. I have found that the one draw-back to EFT though, is that people are too skeptical and won't try it! All that I can tell you is that I use it daily and it works for me.

Re Thought Field Therapy. A therapist I saw weekly for several years used it. I do believe that I did find some symptom relief from the technique.

He explained that the technique is based on biology. If I thought it was a "New Age" fad, i would have run, because I think New Age techniques are garbage.

My ins. company paid this therapist 100% for several TFT sessions.

Questions : Was it ethical for him to bill the ins. company if the technique is not accepted by the therapeutic community at large?

If not accepted by the therapeutic community, is it ethical for the therapist to still lead the client to believe that it's still "okay"?

He once said that TFT is not "generally accepted"-- or words to that effect--by the therapeutic community. Does that extricate him from a charge of unethical practice?

This is somewhat painful for me to ask, because this therapist is a likable guy and I believe he truly cares about his clients. I have thought about going back to him--he is a Ed.D in Counseling Psych. and heavily trained in NLP.

Thanks in advance for any answers.

These are just my opinions. I'm not a lawyer and don't apply any special knowlege of the law in arriving at these conclusions.

Ethics and billing - probably depends on the insurance company standards. If there is a black and white list of accepted services, he might be fudging. If exact form of treatment is left up to his professional judgment, he's probably well within their guidelines.

Unethical Practice Issue: He apparently believes it would do you some good or he would not be using it, unless he's just doing whatever to get the billing time. It sounds like there are some doubts about that. The fact that it did help some suggests that he is acting in good faith.

I recently learned EFT from a therapist I go to, and it has helped me a lot. I've researched it and although not formally embraced or taught by the psych and medical establishment, it is in widespread use. Because it usually works. I don't know how different TFT is, but I suspect it is very similar. I think what your therapist may have done wrong was not clearly communicating the status of the treatment in the professional community. You took away "Not generally accepted," "not accepted," and mentioned it in the same sentence as "new age fad," and "explained as working on principles of biology," which suggests that his characterization of it seems be the most troublesome issue.

You should talk to your therapist about this, even if there was no ethical issue, because it bothers you and a caring therapist wants this kind of feedback.

He might not even realize that when he thinks he is accurately disclaiming the technique as not mainstream, he is also planting seeds of doubt in patients minds not only about the treatment, but about his integrity.

You have valuable feedback for him that could help him communicate better with his patients in the future.

I first applied EFT to a writer's block / procrastination issue in school. I was immediately calmer and quiet inside. It really helps my ADD. I don't have to apply it to the ADD, just to whatever bothers me. Any negative emotion gets addressed. Sometimes they line up and snowball but the technique works like magic for me.

I tried EFT before starting my meds but never with a professional or practitioner. I downloaded a manual from www.emofree.com and taught myself how to do it.

I found that there is something to it but I never experienced what I would consider to be a "cure" for anything I tried it on. In my view its more of a tool one can use to manage their state. When feeling stuck due to anxiety I could bring myself down via the tapping and affirmations, to a level where I could think reasonably and take action. But I never noticed any overall or lasting effects on my anxiety.

I can definately say that whatever you choose to call the technique it has not been substantiated as a treatment for ADHD.

90 percent of all biological illness will cure spontantously, without intervention.

Be wary of "cure" claims in regard to unproven therapies/treatments/medications.

ME :D

I've posted this before, but my supervisor (also a child psychologist) showed me an article, either from the APA Monitor or the National Psychologist newspater, that was about 2 psychologist's losing their respective licenses over the use of Thought Field Therapy.

If I remember correctly, it had to do with them "tapping" a client's aura over the phone.

I would support that decision.

Hi i have had EFT by a qualified EFT trained person.
And well i did help some what . this was about a year ago prior to adhd diagnosis.
But i have not used it sinse as it takes too long and i seem to forget which acupreasure point to go in which order but now i have been reminded of it i do feel tempted to find all the paper work that i had on it ( its in some pile.... ! )
and re equaint my self .
Ya know its probably worth a go whats to loose
jess

In the states, that would not be considered as an ethical/appropriate treatment for ADHD.

I am just glad that Speedo and mctavish23 weren't around the medical field in 1937, when stimulants were first tried on patients, as it seems as though the medical profession didn't know how stimulants worked back then and it looks as though good ol' Speedo and mctavish23 would have said that they wouldn't use stimulants until it was proved that they actually worked and they knew exactly how they worked!