This is a clarification/elaboration of my
Reply #56 post.
If you have the time and inclination, I ask that you review/critique this more detailed post and respond as to whether or not you think it is a worthy question to submit to Laura to consider as a question for the C's given the considerations layed out in her post:
Laura said:
I want to make an additional suggestion: I want ALL of you to think about the amount of energy I must expend in engaging with the Cs in order to ask and receive the responses to your questions. In short, a bit of external considering is in order here. With that in mind, make sure your question is clear, concise, that there is sufficient background data included so that I, myself, can decide if I think my energy is well spent on that particular question. Then, make sure that you cannot figure out the answer yourself with some research and thinking. Finally, is the question crucial to understanding our reality here and making it possible for us to learn our lessons HERE.
Then, having done that, one - or several - of you, compile the questions and background data and justifications into a document and send it as an attachment to sott(at)sott.net.
Here is my attempt at clarification and elaboration for the group.
Topic:
Emotional Freedom Techniques as another useful self-help method
Description:
From the main web site _http://www.emofree.com/
Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) is an emotional, needle free version of acupuncture that is based on new discoveries regarding the connection between your body's subtle energies, your emotions, and your health. EFT has been reported successful in thousands of cases covering a huge range of emotional, health and performance issues. It often works where nothing else will.
Question:
Are the EFT techniques a valid method complimentary to the Eiriu-Eolas (E-E) program for self improvement, or should they be avoided? If they are useful, is there some specific guidance you would provide regarding its usage and applicability to different types of problems?
Reason(s) for asking the question:
1) One of the applications of this approach seems to be healing emotional wounds and issues and if it works it could be a beneficial supplement to other techniques we learn.
2) There are many positive results reported by individuals in forums, by practitioners, and then of course there are the “official” testimonials listed on sites pushing the technique. This leads me to think that there is something helpful in this.
3) It would be helpful to know if we should avoid them, sort of like knowing that there is bad Reiki and good Reiki. This is especially helpful for those of us who aren't very familiar with the world of "alternative" therapies.
4) The claims of fraud that I have found don't seem to be backed up with anything substantial in the way of facts, although this doesn't necessarily discount them. There are, however, some arguments that seem to be good common sense when strong skepticism, but some of them are along unfounded FUD (Fear,Uncertainty,Doubt) lines.
5) I have a strong negative introject that I haven't overcome so I tend to believe to many things like this because I don't trust my own judgment. When it gets into the “alternative” realm where things like energy blockages, meridians, etc. are concerned I particularly don't have any understanding upon which to base a judgment even if I had the self-confidence. I disclose that I feel selfish for asking this question -- maybe because it is something I got excited about and wanted an answer to when there doesn't seem to be any interest noted in these forums on the topic and I can't seem to discern for myself.
6) The instructions are free and there are numerous on-line videos as well (although you can buy training DVD's etc. of course) so it doesn't seem to be an obvious bait-and-switch thing.
Background/Research:
I have searched for studies done on EFT, as well as reports of fraud, bad or no results, etc. and have found that there are people that report deriving no benefit, that there seems to be many more people reporting benefit, and there are the detractors most of which blast in a quackwatch style or worse. I also searched the forms for the keyword “EFT” and found both endorsement and an accusation of pseudoscience. I won't reproduce the forums links here unless requested because they come up easily in the search function.
First of all, here is a site that summarizes some current research done on EFT:
_http://www.thrivingnow.com/for/Health/summary-of-eft-research/
The above site generally gives a positive impression of the results of EFT research. I found the full text of one of the studies referenced (
Assessment of the Emotional Freedom Technique: An Alternative Treatment for Fear) online at _http://www.srmhp.org/0201/emotional-freedom-technique.html and went through it in detail to find that the thrivingnow.com summary page slightly biases the “positiveness” of the results from that research in that it doesn't report that the people conducting the study think that tapping on the meridians vs tapping anywhere makes any difference.
As a side note, the author of the thrivingnow.com article states that it is a summary of the content of _http://www.eftupdate.com/ResearchonEFT.html but the wierdness comes that I can access other pages on the eftupdate site just fine, but when I try to pull that particular page it just repeatedly times out.
Also the following page also lists some research done on EFT in which the results appear positive:
_http://www.energypsych.com/Content/readings-num7.htm
Now on the opposing side of the argument, it seems very suspicious that it reports to help alleviate so many different types of issues from emotional to physical maladies. This page holds a discussion asking the question of whether or not it is a scam, and the overall interaction and loyalties seem to represent what I've seen on a couple of other sites with the same question:
_http://eftcommunity.emofree.com/forums/t/2351.aspx
On this page (_http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AoiM2sVsmd714LngjXBmI19IzKIX;_ylv=3?qid=20071006051951AAZpcmf) there is a strong skeptic posting which I'll reproduce here because it does make clear points about why this seems like another new agey gimick of fancy words and juju energy:
Oh, lord. That site is so full of the obvious signs of shallow pseudoscience that no remotely critical thinker could miss them. From the site:
---------------------------
"Based on impressive new discoveries regarding the body's subtle energies, Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) has proven successful in thousands of clinical cases. It applies to just about every emotional, health and performance issue you can name and it often works where nothing else will.
For proof, here is a sampling of our actual cases. They are written for you by everyday citizens, physicians and therapists".
---------------------------
Strike one: "Based on impressive new discoveries"
Um, impressive new undocumented discoveries, huh?
Strike two: "regarding the body's subtle energies"
"Energies" typically means "we claim you can't measure this, which gets us off the hook with respect to testing".
Strike three: "Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)"
Fancy title, acronym = sales pitch, not science.
Strike four: "has proven successful in thousands of clinical cases"
That means "we're aiming this at people who think that 'clinical cases' trump actual testing". The plural of anecdote is not data.
Strike five: "It applies to just about every emotional, health and performance issue you can name"
This claim is a sure sign of BS.
Strike six: "and it often works where nothing else will".
In short, we're targeting people who are desperate enough to believe anything.
Strike seven: "For proof, here is a sampling of our actual cases"
...and we're too stupid to realize that testimonials don't mean anything.
Strike eight: "They are written for you by everyday citizens,"
Appeal to the common man.
Strike nine: "physicians and therapists".
Appeal to authority.
They've already struck out the side, and I'm only through three sentences.
Finally, the following site, in the spirit of quackwatch, also makes a decent case against:
_http://www.skepdic.com/eft.html
I wasn't sure if I should post the contents of the pages above or just the links so I opted for links unless requested otherwise. If it would be better if I post the content along with the links, then I will be happy to edit this post and do so.
Thanks.
I guess I won't say much because of the "graivty" of what's already been said 
