Dr. Frank Patton is a psychologist who specializes in Thought Field Therapy (TFT). This technique reportedly eliminates emotional distress and gives immediate relief for PTSD, addictions, phobias, fears and anxieties.

Phyllis is our support group manager as well as a host for one of the anxiety disorders support groups on our site. She has been coping with moderate to severe anxiety for some time and has tried "Thought Field Therapy" with Dr. Patton.

David Roberts: HealthyPlace.com moderator.

The people in blue are audience members.

Online Conference Transcript

David: Good Evening. I'm David Roberts. I'm the moderator for tonight's conference. I want to welcome everyone to HealthyPlace.com.

Our topic tonight is "Thought Field Therapy." We have two guests - psychologist, Frank Patton, Psy.D. and Phyllis, who has tried "Thought Field Therapy" and will provide us with a first-hand account of her experience with it. Dr. Patton has a Doctor of Psychology degree from Baylor University. He is one of fourteen professionals worldwide trained in the use of TFT Voice Technology, the highest and most advanced level of TFT training. Dr. Patton also currently serves as a consultant nationwide to residential treatment programs for adolescents and their families.

Thought Field Therapy (TFT) is supposedly a safe and effective technique for the elimination of emotional distress. It reportedly gives immediate relief for PTSD, addictions, phobias, fears and anxieties by directly treating the blockage in the energy flow created by a disturbing thought pattern. It's proponents say it virtually eliminates any negative feeling previously associated with a thought.

Good evening, Dr. Patton, and welcome to HealthyPlace.com. Thank you for joining us tonight. Can you please tell us a bit more about yourself and how you got into "Thought Field Therapy?"

Dr. Patton: After trying all treatment modalities, thought field therapy has emerged as the most powerful and effective. Working with adolescents in a treatment facility, we were pressed to find effective methods of dealing with explosive behavior and also the many traumas in their lives. We were interested in finding an effective treatment that would help them to overcome their anger and out-of-control behavior, thus we found thought field therapy.

David: In layman's terms, can you explain how "Thought Field Therapy" works?

Dr. Patton: TFT is a gentle tapping method along the energy meridians of the body to eliminate negative emotions that are trapped in the thought field and can be released and then eliminate the root of the problem.

David: For the audience, here's a slightly more detailed explanation: The therapist asks a person to think about a situation or event and rate how uncomfortable they feel at the moment on a scale from one to ten; where ten is the worst you can feel and one is no trace of the problem. Then, at the direction of the therapist, the patient taps with two fingers on various acupressure points on the body. During this process, the patient rates how they feel. The tapping is done according to a prescribed recipe pattern (algorithm). The algorithm is based on the particular emotions elicited by the upset. After the series of tapping, which takes only five to six minutes, the treatment is complete and the distress is reportedly eliminated.

First of all, what types of disorders is TFT effective with?

Dr. Patton: Any negative emotions such as anger, depression, anxiety, fear, guilt, obsessive thinking - any emotional problem that has distress attached to it can be treated with TFT.

David: I know that TFT has only been around for about 20 years, a relatively short period of time compared to other forms of therapy. It sounds relatively easy and I'm wondering how effective it can be?

Dr. Patton: Success rates achieved with TFT are unprecedented. 75% to 80% success are achieved with TFT basic general formulas (algorithms). 95% success is obtained with causal diagnostic procedures, even with the most difficult cases.

David: I also know that a lot of people in the audience are shaking their heads right now, going "Right! I just think about what causes my problems, rate the severity on that problem on a scale of 1-10, and then I tap on some acupressure points on my body and 'poof,' I'm cured." Is it as simple as that, Dr. Patton?