The Lefkoe Method: The Complete Guide to Morty Lefkoe’s Belief-Elimination Process, Evidence and Costs

The Lefkoe Method is a belief-elimination approach created by Morty Lefkoe in the mid-1980s. Its core Lefkoe Belief Process asks you to trace a limiting belief to its childhood sources, see it as one possible interpretation, and let it go. It is taught mainly through paid programmes, and only one small trial has been published.

Psychology technique · Helps with: limiting beliefs, confidence, fear of rejection or public speaking, procrastination, self-sabotage (claims largely untested)

Last updated: 23 October 2026

Reading time: about 30 minutes

How we wrote this guide
We read the Lefkoe Institute’s own websites, FAQ, blog, programme pages and price pages, Morty Lefkoe’s own accounts of his life, and the original text of the 2006 trial of his method. We searched PubMed and Crossref for any other study, and read an unpublished 2013 manuscript. We checked comparison methods against their official sites and the research. Every research claim links to the original paper. Where evidence is missing, we say so. Prices were checked in October 2026 and converted at the 23 October 2026 exchange rates. This guide is information, not medical or psychological advice.

Quick answer: does the Lefkoe Method work?

• Possibly for some specific fears, but the proof is thin. One randomised wait-list trial of fear of public speaking (36 people, one facilitator who was also an author) found large self-reported drops in fear (Cunningham, Lefkoe & Sechrest, 2006). We found no independent replication.
• The big claims go further than the research. The Institute says beliefs are eliminated “permanently” and that the method is “proved effective” for depression and anxiety. No published trial tests that.
• It is a commercial system with a private credential. Free demo, then $199 to $215 for the self-study programme, $1,705 or more for the training course, and facilitators who set their own fees. A “Certified Lefkoe Method Facilitator” is certified by the Institute, not licensed by any government.
• It is not therapy for a serious condition. For depression, trauma, an eating disorder or OCD, start with a licensed clinician.

Need help now?
The Lefkoe Method is not an emergency service or a treatment for a mental health crisis. If you are thinking about suicide or cannot keep yourself safe, contact a crisis line now. USA: call or text 988. Canada: call or text 9-8-8. UK and Ireland: Samaritans, free on 116 123. Australia: Lifeline on 13 11 14. India: Tele-MANAS on 14416. Anywhere else: find a free, local line at findahelpline.com. If someone’s life is at immediate risk, call your local emergency number (for example 911, 999, 112 or 000). Lines: 988 Lifeline, Samaritans, Lifeline Australia, Tele-MANAS.

Contents

1. What is the Lefkoe Method?
   • The Lefkoe Method at a glance
2. Morty Lefkoe: background and origin
3. The belief-elimination process, step by step
4. What a session or online programme involves
5. A safe exercise: Lefkoe’s published steps on a mild belief
6. How it relates to CBT, EFT, the Sedona Method and Byron Katie
7. Does the Lefkoe Method work? The evidence, honestly
   • Evidence at a glance
8. Risks and who should take care
9. How much does the Lefkoe Method cost?
10. How to find a facilitator, wherever you live
11. Books
12. Watch, listen and follow
13. Frequently asked questions
14. Key takeaways
15. Sources

What Is the Lefkoe Method?

You can know a presentation is fine and still feel your stomach tighten. The Lefkoe Method explains that gap this way: under the pattern sits a belief, and the belief can be dissolved by looking again at how it formed.

The Lefkoe Institute describes the method as “based on the notion that all of our behavior and much of what we feel is the result of our beliefs” (Lefkoe Institute FAQ). A belief feels like a fact you saw in the world, such as “I’m not good enough”, when it is really a meaning you gave to events as a child. When you see that you never observed the belief, only the events, the belief is said to lose its hold.

“Lefkoe Method” is an umbrella name for several processes. The best known is the Lefkoe Belief Process (LBP), alongside techniques for conditioned emotional reactions and for stress in the moment. Almost everything written about it comes from the Institute, its trainees and its fans, so we separate what sellers claim from what has been tested.

The Lefkoe Method at a Glance

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Morty Lefkoe: Background and Origin

Morty Lefkoe’s own account is that for the first 38 years of his life he wanted to be rich and famous, and was mostly unhappy. He took the est training in 1975 and worked on its staff for several years. He says est “made me feel less a victim” but did not eliminate his specific problems (Lefkoe Institute, “I Want To Tell You A Story About Me”). est (Erhard Seminars Training) was a large-group awareness training of the 1970s created by Werner Erhard, who, says the writer Joe Vitale, was best man at Lefkoe’s wedding (Vitale’s tribute).

His professional background was in business. The Institute’s biography says he received an A.B. from the University of Chicago, where he also attended the Graduate School of Business, and wrote over 100 articles and columns for publications including the Wall Street Journal and Fortune (Lefkoe Institute biography).

The Flight and the First Process

Shelly Lefkoe tells the origin story. By the mid-1980s Morty had noticed that consulting clients agreed with his advice and then did not act on it, and he concluded that beliefs were the missing piece. On 2 January 1986, on a flight from New York to California to pitch a department-store chain, he asked himself what he believed that could explain the pattern of struggle in his own life. His answer was “I’m someone who overcomes obstacles”. He wrote for almost five hours, landed feeling that something had shifted, and the client signed. From those notes he built the first version of the process, and Shelly was his first trainee (Lefkoe Institute, “How One Year Of Struggle Led Morty To Create The Belief Process”).

That is a founder’s story told by his widow. It shows where the method came from: a consultant’s introspection on a plane, refined with clients, not a research programme.

From Decision Maker to Lefkoe Belief Process

The process was first called the Decision Maker Process, and he later renamed it to make it distinctive (Who was Morty Lefkoe?, a facilitator’s site). We could not confirm the date of the change. His 1997 book Re-Create Your Life set out the method for general readers, and his biography lists him as a member of the American Counseling Association (Institute biography). He died on 11 November 2015 of cancer, according to Steve Pavlina, a self-development writer (Pavlina, 2015). Shelly Lefkoe and their daughter Blake continue the Institute (Lefkoe Institute, 2016).

Two cautions. First, Morty Lefkoe was not a clinician: we found no evidence of a degree in psychology, counselling or medicine, and the Institute’s biographies do not claim one. Second, the Institute’s reach numbers differ from page to page and are self-reported: “over 14,000 clients” in private sessions and about 150,000 people in 154 countries on the web programme on the home page, and elsewhere 13,000 clients and 90,000 programme users (Lefkoe Institute; about page). The Jack Canfield Podcast page for Shelly Lefkoe’s episode quotes yet another figure, 30,000 lives. None is audited.

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The Belief-Elimination Process, Step by Step

This outline draws on the Institute’s blog posts, a facilitator steps sheet and its short self-help version, in our words with quotations marked. It is a description, not a training: a real session is a conversation.

The Theory in Three Claims

1. Beliefs drive behaviour and feeling. A belief such as “I’m not good enough” makes some actions feel natural (overworking, avoiding risk) and others dangerous.
2. Beliefs form early, from many similar events. Fundamental beliefs about yourself “usually are formed before the age of six”, mostly from interactions with caregivers, and “a great many similar events are required” (Lefkoe, “How the Lefkoe Belief Process Works, Part 1”).
3. Events have no inherent meaning. In Lefkoe’s words, “There’s no meaning in the world. All meaning is in our minds.”

The last claim is a philosophical position, not a research finding. Treat it as a working lens.

The Questions, in Order

A facilitator typically takes you through these stages.

1. Name the pattern. You state something you do or feel and want to change, for example “I put off sending work because I’m afraid it will be judged”.
2. Find a belief that could logically cause it. For example, “If people see my work, they’ll find out I’m not good enough”. You say it aloud and check that you hold it and that it accounts for the pattern (Lefkoe facilitator steps sheet).
3. Trace it to its source. You look for your earliest experiences that led to the belief. Lefkoe says this usually takes “five or ten minutes”, and you are looking for a pattern of events, not one incident.
4. Validate the belief. You are shown that, given what you knew as a child, the belief was a reasonable reading of events. “The client is never told that his beliefs are irrational or wrong.”
5. Generate other meanings. You make up several other interpretations that fit the same events equally well.
6. Ask whether you saw the belief. You imagine the childhood events and are asked whether it seemed you could see the belief in the world. The answer is yes. Then comes the heart of the process: “Is it clear, right now, that you never saw the belief in the world?” Next: “If you didn’t see I’m not good enough in the world, where has it been all these years?” The expected answer is “in my mind”.
7. Separate events from meaning. You are asked whether the events had a meaning before you gave them one.
8. Test. You say the belief aloud again. Lefkoe says that when it has worked, the words “sound empty and meaningless” and clients look “lighter, as if they had been relieved of a heavy burden”.
9. The “creator” step. The facilitator asks what it is like to be the creator of your beliefs rather than their result. Lefkoe says clients report calm and “infinite possibilities” (Part 2).

Lefkoe called the process “more spiritual than psychotherapeutic”, a “cognitive gateway” to a non-ordinary state of consciousness. The first eight steps stand without that language.

The Version for “Feelers”

The Institute says about 80 to 85 percent of people are “predominantly visual”, so the “did you see it?” question works for them. The remaining 15 to 20 percent are “emotionally kinesthetic” and answer “I didn’t see it; I felt it.” For them the facilitator asks whether the events seemed to make you feel the belief, then points out that meaningless events cannot cause a feeling and asks “What really caused the feeling?” (Part 2). We found no research testing this visual and kinesthetic split.

Other Processes Under the Same Name

The Institute also teaches “de-conditioning” processes for learned emotional associations, and a ten-week Occurring Process on separating events from the meaning you add in the moment (Lefkoe Institute offerings). Lefkoe says finding all the beliefs behind a problem such as an eating disorder, “sometimes as many as fifty or more”, takes training and skill.

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What a Session or Online Programme Involves

The Free Online Demo

The Institute offers a free interactive programme that takes you through the process on a few common beliefs, taking about 30 minutes on one page’s description. You join the Institute’s email list (free programme). It is the cheapest way to see what the process feels like.

Natural Confidence (Self-Paced Video)

Natural Confidence is a streaming programme of 19 belief-elimination modules and four de-conditioning modules. The Institute says it addresses eight problems, including lack of confidence, procrastination and fear of rejection (Natural Confidence). It has lifetime access and a 365-day refund guarantee on the sales page. Rapid Release is a separate home-study stress programme built on a shortened Occurring Process (Rapid Release).

One-to-One Sessions

A Certified Lefkoe Method Facilitator works with you by phone or video, usually for about an hour. In the 2006 trial, participants had a mean of 3.3 sessions of about an hour (range two to five) for one fear (Cunningham et al., 2006). The Institute offers a free strategy session (details) but no public session price list. In a typical first session you name a pattern, word a candidate belief, describe early scenes, list other meanings and re-test the belief. If it has gone, you move to the next belief under the same pattern.

The FAQ says people under the influence of drugs or alcohol “would not be good candidates” (FAQ).

Training

Core Belief Training (LMT1) is a nine-week online course that teaches the process; later courses are by invitation. The page says registration for the next course opens in January 2027 (Core Belief Training). It feeds the certification route below.

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A Safe Exercise: Lefkoe’s Published Steps on a Mild Belief

The full facilitated process is taught in paid programmes, and we cannot reproduce it. But the Institute publishes a short version, with the note that these are steps “Certified Lefkoe Method Facilitators use with clients that you might be able to use on your own” (Lefkoe, “Self-discipline”). We summarise them in our own words, with safety guidance.

Three caveats first:

• The Institute says most people will struggle alone. Its FAQ says “most people will not be able to” use the process on themselves. Treat this as an experiment.
• It has not been tested as a self-help exercise.
• Do not use it on anything painful. It asks you to recall childhood events. Pick a mild belief such as “I’m no good at maths”. Skip it if you are grieving, in crisis, or could recall abuse or trauma. Allow about 20 minutes and stop if you feel worse.

How to Try the Published Steps on a Mild Belief

1. Choose a mild belief. Write it as a sentence you can say aloud, for example “I’m no good at maths”. Say it and rate how true it feels from 0 to 10.
2. Look for early events. Ask what earliest experiences led you to form it. Write two or three scenes in a sentence each. Treat these as your best recollection, not proof.
3. Find other meanings. Write three or four other reasonable explanations of the same events. A teacher in a hurry or a bad textbook can be candidates.
4. Check whether you “saw” it. Imagine one scene. Does it seem as if you could see the belief out there? Lefkoe says most people answer “of course”.
5. Describe what you “saw”. Anything you can see has a shape, size, colour and place. Try to describe the belief that way, and notice what you observed (what people said and did) and what you added.
6. Ask what the events mean. What do you know for sure from those events? Notice how many conclusions are possible.
7. Say the belief aloud and re-rate it. If it feels about the same, that is a normal result, and Lefkoe’s FAQ says the method will not work for everyone. If you feel distressed, stop and talk to someone you trust or a health professional.

We do not know how likely these steps are to shift a belief or how long a shift lasts. The nearest well-tested relatives are CBT’s cognitive restructuring and imagery rescripting, covered next.

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How It Relates to CBT, EFT, the Sedona Method and Byron Katie

Here is how the Lefkoe Method compares with four well-known approaches, and where the evidence stands for each.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

CBT is a family of structured treatments in which you identify unhelpful thoughts and beliefs, test them against evidence and try new behaviours. It has the broadest research base of any talking therapy: a review of 106 meta-analyses found the strongest support for anxiety disorders, somatoform disorders, bulimia, anger problems and general stress (Hofmann et al., 2012).

The Institute says its method is not like CBT. Its FAQ says cognitive therapies change beliefs “by challenging the validity of the evidence”, whereas the Lefkoe Method “validates people for forming the belief” and does not talk anyone out of it (FAQ). That is a fair description of a difference in technique, though both hold that interpretations shape feelings and behaviour. The Lefkoe Method has no behavioural experiments or planned exposure, the core of most CBT for fear.

What matters is results. For social anxiety, a network meta-analysis of 101 trials found individual CBT had a large effect against a wait list (standardised mean difference -1.19) and beat psychological placebo, while self-help without therapist support had a smaller effect (-0.75) (Mayo-Wilson et al., 2014). No study has compared the Lefkoe Method with CBT.

EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques)

EFT combines tapping on acupressure points with stating a problem, and blends elements of exposure and cognitive therapy. A meta-analysis of 14 randomised trials (658 people) found EFT cut anxiety more than control conditions (pre-post effect 1.23 against 0.41), but too few trials compared it with standard care such as CBT (Clond, 2016). See our guides to EFT tapping and Thought Field Therapy.

EFT works through the body, the Lefkoe Method through reasoning about early events. EFT has more trials on anxiety, though many are small.

The Sedona Method

The Sedona Method, developed from the teachings of Lester Levenson and taught by Hale Dwoskin, is a “releasing” practice: you notice a feeling, welcome it and ask whether you can let it go. Its FAQ calls it “a technique to let go of unwanted feelings, emotions and everything else that is holding you back” (Sedona Method FAQ). It does not require tracing the feeling to a source.

That is the opposite order from the Lefkoe Method, which finds the belief and its origin first and says feeling follows. We searched PubMed for “Sedona Method” in titles and abstracts on 25 October 2026 and found nothing, so we found no published trials of it.

Byron Katie’s The Work

The Work is a self-inquiry method in which you take a stressful thought and ask whether it is true, whether you can absolutely know it is true, how you react when you believe it, and who you would be without it. Then you “turn around” the thought (The Work instructions). See our guide to Byron Katie’s approach.

It is the closest cousin in spirit: you examine a thought and discover it is not simply a fact. The difference is that The Work questions the thought in the present, while the Lefkoe Method goes back to the source events. The research is slightly broader. A single-group pilot of 197 people on a nine-day course reported improvements on all measures, but only 102 completed the six-month follow-up (Smernoff et al., 2015). A randomised trial of Inquiry Based Stress Reduction, the clinical application of The Work, gave it for 12 weeks to 56 adults who stutter (28 per group) and found greater improvement in stuttering experience and anxiety than in controls (Feldman et al., 2021). Neither tests the Lefkoe Method.

The Nearest Evidence-Based Cousin: Imagery Rescripting

The part of the Lefkoe Method that revisits early events and reinterprets them resembles imagery rescripting, a clinical technique in which a person revisits an aversive memory and changes its meaning or ending. A meta-analysis of 19 trials (363 adults, seven of them randomised) found large pre-post effects (Hedges’ g about 1.2) (Morina et al., 2017). That supports working with early memories in some conditions, but not the Lefkoe Method’s particular steps.

For other work that revisits the past, see our guides to inner child healing, shadow work and the Hoffman Process. The Lefkoe Method is not NLP, but is often grouped with NLP and Theta Healing as “limiting belief” work.

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Does the Lefkoe Method Work? The Evidence, Honestly

Short answer: nobody knows. The evidence is thin, and most of it comes from the people who sell the method. Its FAQ says the method “has been proved effective in eliminating the beliefs that cause depression and anxiety”, and its research page boasts of “three independent university research studies”. Here is what those studies are.

Study 1: The 2006 Public-Speaking Trial

This is the only peer-reviewed study: Cunningham, Lefkoe and Sechrest, “Eliminating fears: An intervention that permanently eliminates the fear of public speaking”, in Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy (Cunningham et al., 2006).

• Design. Forty volunteers, mostly recruited through Toastmasters clubs, were randomly assigned to treatment now or to a wait list. Thirty-six remained (17 treated, 19 waiting).
• Treatment. A mean of 3.3 telephone sessions of about an hour. The sole facilitator was Morty Lefkoe, a co-author.
• Outcome. Self-rated fear of public speaking, reported by email or fax. In the treated group it fell from about 6.7 to about 1.4 on a ten-point scale, a very large effect, and 94 percent rated the sessions seven or more out of ten.
• Follow-up. At six months, 23 of 37 people responded, with a mean of 1.9. Informal conversations with a random sample of seven people two years on “indicated that the fear was ‘still gone'”.

In fairness, the wait-list group’s scores did not change before treatment, then fell to nearly the same level afterwards, as a real treatment effect would. The authors admitted limits: self-report, a small sample, and a post-test straight after giving a speech, which is itself exposure. They called the claim of elimination a “category change” and “bold”.

Further limits: people qualified by self-rating their fear at 5 or more out of 10, with no clinical diagnosis; the founder delivered every session and co-wrote the paper; and nobody was blinded. The comparison group did nothing, and wait-list groups can flatter a treatment: in depression trials, no-treatment controls have been found to do better than wait-list controls (Furukawa et al., 2014). There was no active comparison such as CBT, the six-month data are incomplete, and we found no replication.

Study 2: The Prison Study (Unpublished)

In the mid-1990s the Institute worked with Lee Sechrest, a University of Arizona psychologist, on a project with 16 incarcerated young people and adults at two Connecticut sites. The 2006 paper says it was never published, “in part because of the small sample”, although it reported statistically significant effects. The FAQ says the experimental group had weekly one-to-one sessions for 13 weeks. Sechrest is quoted calling it “a fairly remarkable success” that “justifies efforts to carry out further testing” (Lefkoe Institute, scientific studies; FAQ). That is a call for more research, not a finding, and with no paper we cannot judge it.

Study 3: The Natural Confidence Pilot (Unpublished Draft)

A manuscript attributed on ResearchGate to Sarah Berger, “A Benchmarking Approach to Evaluating Effectiveness Research: Benchmarking The Lefkoe Method”, is posted online (Berger, 2013). The version we read is a draft marked for peer review, and we found no published version.

It compares uncontrolled results with CBT-trial benchmarks. 102 buyers of Natural Confidence completed the pre-measures, but only 32 completed the post-measures (about 69 percent dropped out). Lefkoe recruited them, offering the next programme free. Trait anxiety fell by effect sizes of 1.25 (purchasers) and 1.08 (students), against a CBT-benchmark average of 1.22. The authors called these results “impressive” given “problematic sampling techniques and abnormally low sample sizes”. With so many missing at the end, those who stayed were probably those who liked the programme. The Institute says the study “has not yet been published” and “reduced the stress measurement by over 51%” (research page).

Are the Studies “Independent”?

The Institute attributes all three to University of Arizona psychologists. But Lefkoe co-wrote and personally delivered the 2006 trial, and recruited the sample for the benchmarking study. “University-affiliated” is accurate; “independent of the Institute” is not.

What We Could Not Find

On 25 October 2026 we searched PubMed for “Lefkoe Method” and “Lefkoe Belief Process” in titles and abstracts and found no results, and Crossref turned up only the 2006 paper. We found no independent replication, no trial for depression, OCD or eating disorders (all listed as uses in the Institute’s FAQ), no comparison with CBT, no report of unwanted effects, no controlled long-term follow-up, and no independent critical commentary.

Evidence at a Glance

None of this proves the method does not work. It means nobody has shown that it does, to the standard we would expect before recommending it for a clinical condition. For anxiety, CBT has far stronger support. For everyday patterns, the Lefkoe Method is a low-evidence option you can try cheaply, with the cautions below.

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Risks and Who Should Take Care

The Institute says little about risks. We found no published data on unwanted effects, so this section rests on general knowledge about psychological therapies.

Psychological treatments can cause harm. A review argued that unwanted effects of psychotherapy are real and under-reported, and that therapists should ask about them (Linden and Schermuly-Haupt, 2014). Nothing suggests the Lefkoe Method is exempt.

Memory is fallible, and suggestion matters. The method asks you to find early events behind a belief. Research on misinformation shows people can come to accept false details about the past (Loftus, 2005), and clinicians have warned that suggestive techniques can produce false memories of abuse (Brandon et al., 1998). The method asks for patterns of ordinary events, not recovered memories, but a hunt for causes in childhood can still produce confident stories that are not accurate.

Take extra care, and prefer a licensed clinician, if you:

• have a diagnosis such as major depression, bipolar disorder, psychosis, PTSD or an eating disorder;
• have experienced abuse or trauma, since revisiting early events can be destabilising;
• have thoughts of suicide or self-harm (contact a crisis service, not a belief programme);
• are bereaved, in acute distress or in crisis; or
• are under 18, or are considering this for a child.

Do not replace medical care. The FAQ asks how the method can help “prevent and cure physical illness”. We found no evidence for that.

Beware strong promises. Claims that beliefs can be eliminated “permanently” in minutes, or one facilitator’s case study of a consultant whose income “doubled”, are marketing, not research. Feeling “lighter” after a session does not show a belief has gone or will stay gone.

Treat the method as self-development, not treatment. If you are in distress now, use the crisis box near the top of this guide.

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How Much Does the Lefkoe Method Cost?

Prices were checked on the Institute’s pages on 25 October 2026 and are in US dollars, the currency charged. Other currencies are conversions at the 23 October 2026 European Central Bank reference rates via Frankfurter (US1 = £0.748, €0.893, A1.424, C$1.400, ₹94.94), rounded and for orientation only. The Institute’s pages mention limited-time discounts, so check before buying.

What the Prices Mean

• The free route is real but limited. Expect marketing emails, and possibly a pitch on the strategy session, which we have not tried.
• Natural Confidence is the entry-level product. It has lifetime access and a 365-day guarantee on its sales page. Premium adds bonuses, including a $50 coupon towards a facilitator session valid for 90 days, and can be paid in three monthly payments of 75.LMT1alsohasapremiumtier(1,797) and a three-payment option ($1,830).
• There is no standard session fee. The Natural Confidence page says trained professionals “charge from 1, 200−1,600″ for comparable results, undated and unclear whether per session or package. Facilitators set their own fees. The $197 practitioner describes themselves as a facilitator of “Lefkoe Method 2.0”; we could not verify their credential or any link to the Institute.
• LMT1 is training, not therapy. The next course opens for registration in January 2027, and the page says the 2021 course “sold out in less than 2 hours”.
• Certification is a big commitment. The programme is listed at $9,000 to $9,200 and requires LMT1 to LMT3 first.
• We found USD prices only. Rapid Release, a home-study stress programme, is $191. Taxes such as VAT or GST may apply.

For a cheaper start, try the free instructions for The Work, the free Lefkoe demo, or a library book. For anxiety, a licensed clinician offering CBT has stronger evidence, and low-cost options exist in many countries.

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How to Find a Facilitator, Wherever You Live

There is no public directory of facilitators. The Institute says it keeps “a private list” of Certified Lefkoe Method Facilitators (CLMF) that “anyone can ask for”, so you contact the Institute for names (CLMF programme). Its team page profiles facilitators and instructors, including one in Israel (team). Sessions run by phone or video, so location is rarely a barrier.

What Certification Means

To join the CLMF programme you must complete LMT1, LMT2 and LMT3, have one session observed by a Lefkoe Institute facilitator, and be rated as ready. Once admitted, you receive annotated feedback on transcribed sessions and an 11-point checklist (CLMF programme).

This is an internal credential from the company that owns the method. It is not a licence, and we found no independent accreditor. Some facilitators are also licensed professionals (the team page profiles a psychologist), so ask.

Questions to Ask Before You Book

1. What are your qualifications apart from the Lefkoe certification? For example, a licence in psychology, counselling or social work.
2. Which regulator or professional body do you belong to? Ask for a registration number you can check.
3. How many sessions do you expect, and what is the total cost? Get it in writing, with refund terms.
4. What will you do if I become distressed? A good practitioner will refer you on.

Rules Differ by Country

Whether a practitioner needs a licence depends on the title they use and the country. A few examples:

• United Kingdom. The Health and Care Professions Council protects specific practitioner-psychologist titles, but “counsellor”, “psychotherapist” and “therapist” are not protected (HCPC). Voluntary registers such as the BACP exist.
• United States. Counsellors and therapists are licensed state by state (American Counseling Association). The APA has advice on finding a therapist. Coaching is generally unregulated.
• Canada. In Ontario, “psychotherapist” is a protected title and “counsellor” is not (CRPO). Rules vary by province.
• Australia. “Psychologist” is a protected title (AHPRA), whereas counsellors are mostly self-regulated through bodies such as PACFA.
• India. Clinical psychologists are registered with the Rehabilitation Council of India.
• Elsewhere. Rules differ, and coaching is unregulated in most places, so check the national regulator.

A facilitator with no other licence is, in most of these places, working as a coach, so a regulator may not handle a complaint about them.

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Books

• Morty Lefkoe, Re-Create Your Life (1997). The founder’s own book, with all the strengths and limits of a founder’s account (Open Library).
• Vahan Yepremyan and Shelly Lefkoe, Hitting the Wall (2023). From within the Lefkoe community; we have not reviewed its claims (Open Library).
• Byron Katie, Loving What Is (revised 2021). The standard introduction to The Work (Open Library).
• Hale Dwoskin, The Sedona Method (2003). The introduction to releasing (Open Library).
• David D. Burns, Feeling Good. A classic CBT self-help book (Open Library).

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Watch, Listen and Follow

We checked every link in October 2026. Nearly all of this material comes from the Institute or its friends, and we found no independent critical video or podcast.

Videos

▶ How to Stop Suffering: Morty Lefkoe at TEDxHoboken – TEDx Talks. Lefkoe’s own TEDx talk. It is a founder’s presentation, so the claims are his.

▶ Watch a Belief Disappear with Morty Lefkoe (1 of 5) – Joe Vitale. Part of a series in which author Joe Vitale, a friend, goes through the belief process with him.

• Eliminate Core Beliefs: Morty Lefkoe On The Today Show – Published on Shelly Lefkoe’s channel. A short television appearance in which Lefkoe describes the method.

Podcasts

• Breaking Free from Limiting Beliefs with Shelly Lefkoe – The Jack Canfield Podcast, episode 36. Shelly Lefkoe, who leads the Institute, explains the method to a sympathetic host.
• Are Your Beliefs Holding You Back? – The Holistic Survival Show. An interview with Morty Lefkoe.

Accounts to Follow

• The Lefkoe Institute – YouTube · Facebook

Both are linked from the Institute’s site. We found no independent account dedicated to the method.

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Frequently Asked Questions About the Lefkoe Method

What is the Lefkoe Method?

The Lefkoe Method is a belief-elimination approach created by Morty Lefkoe in the 1980s. Its main process, the Lefkoe Belief Process, traces a limiting belief to childhood events and invites you to see it as one interpretation. It is taught mainly through paid programmes, with little published research.

Who created the Lefkoe Method?

Morty Lefkoe, an American businessman and author, developed it after leaving the est organisation and founded the Lefkoe Institute in California. He died in 2015, and his wife Shelly Lefkoe and daughter Blake continue the Institute. He was not, as far as we could find, a trained clinician.

Does the Lefkoe Method work?

We do not know. One small randomised trial of 36 people with fear of public speaking reported large self-rated improvements, but the founder delivered every session. Two other studies are unpublished. Nothing has replicated it independently, tested it against CBT or tested it for depression.

Is the Lefkoe Method the same as CBT?

No. CBT usually challenges a thought’s evidence and tests new behaviour, and it has a very large research base. The Lefkoe Method says it validates the belief as a reasonable childhood conclusion, then shows it to be an interpretation. It has no behavioural experiments. The two have not been compared in a trial.

How much does it cost?

There is a free online demo, and Natural Confidence costs about $199 to $215 (roughly £149 to £161). The nine-week Core Belief Training is around $1,705. Facilitators set their own session fees; examples we found ranged from $80 to $197 for one session. Prices change, so check the Institute’s pages.

Can I do the Lefkoe Method on myself?

Partly. The Institute publishes a seven-step self-help version and sells video programmes. But its own FAQ says most people will not be able to do it alone, because finding the right beliefs is hard. Choose a mild belief, avoid anything traumatic, and treat the result as an experiment.

How long does a session take?

A typical facilitated session lasts about an hour, and the 2006 trial used a mean of 3.3 sessions per fear. Lefkoe says finding the source events usually takes minutes. The Institute’s online programmes are self-paced, and its Core Belief Training runs nine weeks. Results and timing vary and are not guaranteed.

Is it safe?

There are no published safety data. The method asks you to recall childhood events, which can be upsetting and, as with any memory work, can produce inaccurate recollections. Take extra care with trauma, severe depression, psychosis or eating disorders, and use a licensed clinician instead. Never replace medical treatment with it.

How do I find a certified facilitator?

The Institute keeps a private list of Certified Lefkoe Method Facilitators and says anyone can ask for it. There is no public directory. Certification is an internal credential, not a licence. Ask about any separate professional qualifications and the regulator or register that the practitioner belongs to in your country.

Is the Lefkoe Method regulated?

No. It is a proprietary method, and a Lefkoe certificate is not a licence. Whether a practitioner needs one depends on their title and country: “psychotherapist” is protected in places such as Ontario, but “counsellor” and “coach” often are not. Check your local regulator or professional register.

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Key Takeaways

• The Lefkoe Method is a commercial belief-elimination programme built around a question-led process that traces a belief to childhood events.
• The evidence is thin. One small randomised trial of public-speaking fear was delivered by the founder, and two other studies are unpublished or unreviewed.
• Claims run ahead of the research. No published trial supports “permanent” elimination or treating depression.
• You can sample it cheaply. A free demo and a roughly $200 video course are the entry points.
• For depression, anxiety, trauma or crisis, use evidence-based care from a licensed professional, wherever you live.

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