Thought Field Therapy (TFT) as a treatment for anxiety symptoms: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE To investigate whether thought field therapy (TFT) has an impact on anxiety symptoms in patients with a variety of anxiety disorders. DESIGN Forty-five patients were randomized to either TFT (n = 23) or a waiting list (n = 22) condition. The wait-list group was reassessed and compared with the TFT group two and a half months after the initial evaluation. After the reassessment, the wait-list patients received treatment with TFT. All 45 patients were followed up one to two weeks after TFT treatment, as well as at three and 12 months after treatment. SUBJECTS Patients with an anxiety disorder, mostly outpatients. INTERVENTION TFT aims to influence the body's bioenergy field by tapping on specific points along energy meridians, thereby relieving anxiety and other symptoms. OUTCOME MEASURES Symptom Checklist 90-Revised, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Sheehan Disability Scale. RESULTS Repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to compare the TFT and the wait-list group. The TFT group had a significantly better outcome on two measures of anxiety and one measure of function. Follow-up data for all patients taken together showed a significant decrease in all symptoms during the one to two weeks between the pretreatment and the post-treatment assessments. The significant improvement seen after treatment was maintained at the three- and 12-month assessments. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that TFT may have an enduring anxiety-reducing effect.