Thought Field Therapy is the first organized system specifically designed to treat psychological problems by balancing the body’s energy system. It derives from the work of Dr. George Goodheart. In the 1960's Dr. Goodheart, a chiropractor, discovered a new way to diagnose his patients by testing the relative strength or weakness of muscles. This method is known as Applied Kinesiology.. In the1970s psychiatrist John Diamond, MD created Behavioral Kinesiology by incorporating Applied Kinesiology and psychotherapy. His method brought together ideas from psychiatry, psychosomatic medicine, music and the humanities. Diamond asserted that an imbalance of the Vital Force can affect a specific energy meridian and lead to psychological and physical problems. Diamond also demonstrated that life energy is influenced when we think negatively.

Psychologist Roger J. Callahan Ph.D., was looking for ways to improve his ability to treat his patients when he was introduced to muscle testing. He developed Thought Field Therapy (TFT) after studying Applied Kinesiology. Dr. Callahan believes that the cause of psychological problems is a perturbation in what he calls the individual’s thought field.

The disturbance in the thought field causes disruption in the energy system that affects other systems in the body. Callahan discovered that by stimulating specific acupuncture points in a particular sequence, negative feelings were eliminated.

Callahan treated a large number of people and studied their reactions. He created a number of recipes of specific acupuncture points that must be tapped in a distinct order. These are called algorithms, Each algorithm is designed to treat a specific emotion such as panic, anxiety, phobia, addictive urges, anger, and more. Each recipe consists of a different number of points. In TFT the therapist uses muscle testing to determine meridian disturbances and instructs the client to tap acupuncture points in the prescribed sequence to treat negative emotions, pain and many types of psychological problems.