The Tapping Evidence Base
How It Works (Biology)

Words to tap by: The use of language in Energy Psychology protocols

Feinstein, D. Β· Energy Psychology: Theory, Research, and Treatment Β· 2019

Case seriesPreliminaryβœ“ Source-checkedπŸ“ United States
In plain English. This paper studies exactly what a therapist says while a client is tapping, drawing on video recordings from one clinician's sessions to identify 62 specific kinds of helpful phrasing, which fall into three broad functions: tuning in to the client, exploring their issue, and guiding them toward resolution. It's an early, single-clinician qualitative study meant to seed future research on session language rather than a trial measuring symptom improvement, so it doesn't offer patient outcome numbers.

What they found

A qualitative analysis of videotaped EFT sessions identified 62 therapeutic functions of language, grouped into three categories (attune, explore, lead), that moved treatment forward during tapping-based sessions.

How the study worked

Who took partVideotaped statements from one clinician's EFT sessions
What they didThis is a detailed report following a small number of individual cases through tapping.

The full record

DesignCase series
PopulationVideotaped statements from one clinician's EFT sessions
JournalEnergy Psychology: Theory, Research, and Treatment
Year2019
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
MethodEFT / tapping
Publication typeCase report
Verificationβœ“ Confirmed against the primary source

Read the original study β†’

Cite this study

APA

Feinstein, D. (2019). Words to tap by: The use of language in Energy Psychology protocols. Energy Psychology: Theory, Research, and Treatment. https://doi.org/10.9769/EPJ.2019.11.1.DF

This record is part of the Tapping Evidence Base β€” an openly-sourced, fully-referenced directory of the research on EFT/tapping. Explore more studies on How It Works (Biology)

Share this study

A ready-made graphic β€” right-click or long-press to save the image.

Show shareable card
THE TAPPING EVIDENCE BASE How It Works (Biology) βœ“ Case series WHAT THEY FOUND A qualitative analysis of videotaped EFTsessions identified 62 therapeutic functionsof language, grouped into three… Case series Feinstein Β· 2019 Β· evidence.thetappingsolution.com