Energy Psychology Research
2025 Research Symposium
May 29, 2025 | Wigwam Resort | Litchfield, AZ
Right before the 27th International Energy Psychology Conference
(Free with conference registration. Learn More)
Overview
Updated March 2025
While energy psychology as a field is still relatively young, its evidence base continues to grow in both quantity and quality.
As of March 2025...
- 103 randomized control trials,
- 95 pre-post clinical outcome studies,
- 9 meta-analyses,
- 10 systematic reviews and
- 27 comparative reviews
have been published on energy psychology methods in English-speaking, peer-reviewed journals.
In addition, over 100 research studies have been published in non-English journals. These modalities have been researched by more than 200 investigators in over 12 countries.
The results of these studies have been published in more than 15 different peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology, the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease and the APA journals Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training and Review of General Psychology. While questions about mechanism remain - specifically how these techniques work - a robust and growing body of research continues to document their effectiveness.
Energy psychology is a mind-body approach. The next frontier of EP research involves exploring the mechanisms of action of these modalities and investigating concurrent physiological changes using such tools as qEEG and fMRI and PET scans, and documenting changes in cortisol levels, gene expression and immunological function (to date, research has shown these changes to be positive).
A recent article by David Feinstein reported,“….The review derives 6 premises about the method’s efficacy, speed, durability, and physiologic effects that have enough empirical support …. in delineating and making claims about the approach. These include that acupoint tapping protocols (a) are effective in treating a range of clinical conditions, (b) are rapid compared to conventional treatments, (c) lead to durable benefits, (d) produce changes in biologic markers that corroborate the subjective assessments of clients, (e) are a critical ingredient for the demonstrated clinical effects and (f) send signals that can increase or decrease arousal in specific areas of the brain."
“Further consideration of the mechanisms that lead to the reported rapid, durable outcomes suggest that the approach has an unusual capacity for revising outdated mental models….” Published in Advances in Mind Body Medicine, Spring 2021,35(2).
Science of Energy Psychology Quick Facts
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Review of the research
Read David Feinstein's published reviews of energy psychology research.
“Six Empirically-Supported Premises About Energy Psychology: Mounting Evidence for a Controversial Therapy,” published Spring 2021 in the journal Advances.
“Energy psychology: Efficacy, speed, mechanisms,” published in 2019 in the journal Explore
Feinstein's original review article was published in November, 2012 in The Review of General Psychology, a peer-reviewed APA journal, and is still worth a read.
How the research section is organized
We’ve done our best to organize our research section to meet diverse needs. Many articles are listed in several sections. If you know of a study that you don’t see listed, please email John Freedom.
Organized by scientific rigor
Research studies are categorized in order of increasing scientific rigor (or the hierarchy of evidence). They range from case studies to randomized controlled studies to meta-analyses.
Organized by specific condition/category
These studies look at the effectiveness of energy psychology in treating different conditions such as trauma, addictions, stress, depression, anxiety, athletic performance, and more. Abstracts are included.
Clinical case studies
Studies of one individual in a clinical setting. They are formal reports using established pre and post intervention assessments.
Complete list of EP studies - citations only
Includes all energy psychology studies from 1990-2024, organized in reverse chronological order.
EP Research in Non-English Language Journals
Over 50 clinical trials of energy psychology have been published in foreign language journals. These studies report encouraging outcomes on a wide range of issues. They have not been translated into English.
Need some help making sense of all the research?
Want to learn how it all ties together and how you can tell others about it?
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Study at your own pace with videos, audio files, transcripts and summaries.
Energy healing research bibliography
Energy healing is closely related to energy psychology.
Want to support energy psychology research? Here's 3 ways.
1. Conduct a clinical case study
We need more research studies on the effectiveness of energy psychology, and you can help.
We are seeking energy psychology practitioners to conduct clinical case studies. Clinical case studies are a form of research that clinicians can conduct in the natural laboratory of their own offices. ACEP and Dr. Peta Stapleton have set up a web portal where practitioners and participants can log in, fill out informed consents, and complete assessments (pre, post and 3 month follow up) as they progress through the process of therapy. This simplifies data collection and analysis, as the website does all the work for you.
Visit ep-research.com
2. Conduct an outcome study or randomized control trial
In this 45 minute video, TFT trainer and researcher Suzanne Connolly discusses seven steps to creating quality studies, as well as pitfalls to avoid. This video is a “must watch” for anyone creating a research study for the first time. This talk, titled "Research Matters Seven Steps to Creating High-Quality Studies," was the keynote in our 2022 Research Symposium.
Requirements and recommendations for energy psychology research studies.
Publishing guidelines for conducting tapping studies, by Peta Stapleton Download PDF
3. Donate funds to support more energy psychology research
The research has come a long way in 20+ years, and we're proud of that. But there's so much more research needed. Like research on...
- Using energy psychology to treat ACEs
- Using energy psychology for PTSD in veterans
- The impact of energy psychology on gene expression, hormones, the brain and more
- Research on the other EP methods, including those based on the chakras. Most EP research has been conducted on tapping methods.
Since 2003, ACEP has provided over $70,000 for 13 different energy psychology research projects. Please help us support more research.
Questions or suggestions about our research section?
Please contact John Freedom, Chair, ACEP Research Committee
