Where does "tapping," the mental health technique that went viral on TikTok, come from?
In recent times, People have sought physical and emotional health from various approaches and techniques. , including alternative therapies and the traditional medicine .
Such is the case of tapping , the new viral technique on TikTok that, according to information from New York Times , involves using the fingertips to perform acupressure while counteracting negative emotions with breathing exercises and positive affirmations .
Through the popular social network, thousands of anecdotes have emerged from users sharing their experiences with this technique, claiming that it works and has helped them overcome conditions such as depression and anxiety . It has also been featured in wellness podcasts and on best-selling book lists.
Tapping , also known as Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT, has attracted a following and become big business . However, Mental health professionals disagree with the effectiveness of this "positive" psychological healing technique. .
Read also: US targets three Mexican banks for money laundering. Where does tapping originate?This technique was developed by the psychologist Roger Callahan in the 1980s, who conceived it while working with a patient who suffered from a severe phobia of water , and has its origins in a technique called Thought Field Therapy.
The expert recounts that one day, when the patient complained of stomach pain caused by her fearful reaction to just looking at water, Callahan told her to tap firmly—using her fingertips—beneath her eye, an area he knew to be associated with the “stomach meridian” in traditional Chinese medicine. After this, The patient stated that both her stomach pain and her fear of water had disappeared. .
This therapy has been discredited by psychology experts, not only because of its lack of evidence, but because they claim that there is no way to measure the "energy meridians" that traditional Chinese medicine posits .
On the other hand, proponents of this technique suggest that tapping not only relieves stress and anxiety, but claim that those who practice it, improve symptoms of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction, and chronic pain .
The research that has been carried out around this technique has been rejected for several reasons that highlight the lack of a quantitative and qualitative methodological structure:
- They have been plagued by conflicts of interest
- They have been carried out on small population samples.
- Shows statistical errors
- Lack of rigor
For these reasons, prominent members of the American Psychological Association have stated that The push to popularize EFT is based on pseudoscience .
“When you really look at the evidence, it falls apart,” said Cassandra L. Boness, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of New Mexico and lead author of a peer-reviewed commentary published in 2024 that raised concerns about the quality of EFT research.
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- Alternative medicine
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