According to a report from the National Center for Biotechnology Information of the National Institutes of Health , EFT is an effective therapy .
“ EFT has been extensively investigated for anxiety and depression . In the first large-scale study of 5,000 patients seeking treatment for anxiety across 11 clinics over a 5.5-year period , patients received either traditional anxiety treatment in the form of cognitive behavioral therapy ( CBT ), with medication if needed , or acupoint tapping with no medication ,” the report said . “ An improvement was found in 90 % of patients who received acupoint tapping therapy compared to 63 % of the CBT participants . Only three acupoint tapping sessions were needed before an individual ’ s anxiety reduced , while an average of 15 was needed for CBT to show results .”
While the Covid-19 pandemic created a greater need for mental health services , the rapid adoption of virtual meeting platforms provided a solution that allowed people to access services . For many providers , the advent of virtual therapy was a new frontier , but for IMPOWER , an Orlando-based provider of telehealth mental health care , it was the normal business model .
“ We went virtual about nine years ago ,” said Amy-Erin Blakely , Vice President of Behavioral Health at IMPOWER . “ We do drug prevention programs in schools and we also work a little bit in child welfare and adoptions .”
Blakely said because IMPOWER offers virtual therapy they can provide services anywhere in the state .
And when the pandemic hit and people started to shelter in place , access to healthcare in general and mental health services in particular became a challenge .
“ The pandemic gave us an influx of patients [ who ] needed services [ and ] would no longer be seen by their regular practitioners ,” she said . “ We had a huge influx of clients that we ’ re still trying to catch up with .”
Among those new partners are AdventHealth and Flagler County Schools . The Palm Coast hospital announced an agreement with IMPOWER earlier this year to allow staff physicians to refer patients needing mental health services to IMPOWER .
“ We are thrilled that our patients will be able to access counseling and other mental health care through IMPOWER right from their laptop or smartphone ,” said Ron Jimenez , AdventHealth Palm Coast CEO , in a media release . “ We want to break down the stigma around seeking help in this way and also make it as easy as possible .”
The agreement with AdventHealth followed an earlier arrangement the company made with Flagler Schools to provide mental health services .
“ Flagler Schools worked to establish what is known as Memorandum of Understandings with community agencies in an effort to address the mental and emotional well-being of Flagler students and families ,” said Brandy Williams , coordinator of counseling services for the school district . “ Currently , there are nine active MOU providers for Flagler Schools . The MOUs specifically
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