18 studies, strongest evidence first. Search and filter to find what you need — each card explains
what the researchers did and found before giving the technical detail.
Meta-analysisModerate rigor
Wong, K.W., Wu, X., Dong, Y. · 2024
This meta-analysis reviewed 17 randomized trials of various interventions (not limited to EFT) meant to reduce nurse burnout during COVID-19, finding mixed results overall and generally low-quality evidence across the field. It concludes more well-designed trials are needed rather than endorsing any single intervention strongly.
Across 17 RCTs, not all interventions led to positive outcomes; GRADE and risk-of-bias assessment revealed low to very low certainty evidence overall, with high heterogeneity among outcomes, though subgroup analysis showed greater success for interventions targeting nurses caring for COVID-19 patients specifically.
Systematic reviewPreliminary
López-Del-Hoyo, Y., Fernández-Martínez, S., Pérez-Aranda, A. et al. · 2023
This review looked at digital (eHealth) stress-reduction programs for healthcare workers generally, not specifically EFT, finding that self-guided and 'third-wave' therapy apps often produced meaningful stress reductions. Because EFT isn't the specific focus, this entry is only indirectly relevant to tapping evidence, and the authors themselves note methodological shortcomings limit firm conclusions.
Of 22 eHealth interventions identified, 13 produced significant posttreatment reductions in healthcare professionals' stress levels (9 self-guided, 8 'third wave' psychotherapies), with significant effects also found for depression, anxiety, burnout, resilience, and mindfulness.
Systematic reviewPreliminary
Uzzi, C. · 2021
This review summarizes the scale of mental health impact on healthcare workers during COVID-19 across over 19,000 workers in 9 studies, noting that various support interventions including an online EFT program were part of what helped. EFT is only one of several interventions mentioned, not analyzed as a distinct variable, so its specific contribution is unclear from this review.
Across 9 studies covering 19,232 healthcare workers, high levels of stress, PTSD symptoms, depression, anxiety, burnout, and self-harm ideation were reported; psychosocial support including an online form of EFT was among interventions found effective in mitigating psychological stress.
Randomized trialHigher rigor
Okut, G., Alpar, S. E., Dönmez, E. · 2022
84 emergency-room nurses in Turkey during the COVID-19 pandemic were randomly assigned to either an online-guided tapping session or no intervention. The nurses who tapped reported a real drop in their fear of COVID-19, their in-the-moment distress, and their immediate anxiety, while the untreated group barely changed. Their longer-running "trait" anxiety (a more stable personality-level measure) didn't shift significantly, so the benefit showed up mainly in acute, immediate anxiety rather than deeper baseline anxiety.
Fear of COVID-19 decreased by a mean of 4.58±2.47 in the EFT group versus 0.09±2.47 in control (p<0.001); SUD decreased 5.61±1.16 vs 0±1.15 (p<0.001); state anxiety decreased 8.82±7.26 vs 0.22±7.25 (p<0.001); trait anxiety change was not significant between groups (p=0.095).
Randomized trialModerate rigor
Dincer, B., Inangil, D. · 2021
Eighty nurses working in COVID-19 wards — under some of the highest stress conditions in healthcare — either did one brief guided tapping session online or received nothing extra. The nurses who tapped reported dramatically lower anxiety, distress, and burnout than those who didn't, all after a single session. This was a single-session, self-report study conducted during an extraordinary crisis period, so it speaks to fast relief in an acute high-stress setting rather than long-term burnout prevention.
80 nurses were randomized to a single brief online EFT session or no intervention; the EFT group had significantly lower anxiety (STAI 32.25 vs 64.43, p<0.001), lower distress (SUDS 2.85 vs 7.40, p<0.001), and lower burnout scores (2.48 vs 3.43, p<0.001) than the control group.
Dismantling studyModerate rigorCritical finding
Reynolds, A. E. · 2015
Burned-out public school teachers were split into two tapping groups: one tapped on real acupuncture points, the other tapped on a neutral forearm spot that isn't a meridian point. Only the real-acupoint group showed a meaningfully bigger drop in burnout. That head-to-head comparison is exactly the kind of test that answers 'is it the tapping location that matters, or just doing something calming?' — and here, location mattered.
Teachers tapping on real acupoints showed significantly stronger improvement on burnout measures than teachers tapping on sham (non-acupoint) forearm locations, isolating acupoint stimulation as an active ingredient rather than the tapping ritual alone.
Randomized trialModerate rigor
Reynolds, J. · 2010
126 public school teachers dealing with burnout were split into a group tapping on the real acupressure points used in EFT and a group tapping on the body but at the wrong (sham) points, so the study could test whether the specific points mattered. The real-tapping group improved across all three markers of burnout — feeling emotionally drained, feeling disconnected from students, and feeling ineffective — while the sham group only improved slightly on one of the three. This is a doctoral dissertation rather than a peer-reviewed journal article, so it has not gone through the same external review process.
126 K-12 teachers were compared using proper EFT tapping points versus a sham-point control group; the EFT group showed significant reductions in all three burnout dimensions (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment), while the sham group only improved on emotional exhaustion and not the other two dimensions.
Controlled trialModerate rigor
Shahzadi, S., Mahar, S., Mahar, A. Q. et al. · 2024
Forty-six healthcare workers in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan tried EFT tapping for workplace stress, and their average stress scores dropped meaningfully, from about 26.6 down to 21.2, a real effect unlikely to be chance. The size of the improvement varied by how stressed people were to start, ranging from a modest to a fairly large effect depending on the subgroup, with the biggest gains reaching what's considered a large effect in psychology research. This was a quasi-experimental design with a modest sample and convenience sampling rather than a fully randomized trial, so it's a solid early result rather than the final word.
In a quasi-experimental study of 46 healthcare professionals, paired t-tests and ANOVA showed significant reductions in workplace stress after EFT (p < 0.001, Cohen's d 0.359 to 0.843), with mean workplace stress scores dropping from 26.58 to 21.17 across subgroups with different baseline stress levels.
Controlled trialPreliminary
Rostami, K., Tiznobaik, A., Maleki, L. et al. · 2020
Nurses during the coronavirus outbreak were taught EFT to help manage work stress, with a comparison group. Work stress scores in the EFT group changed significantly over time, while the abstract doesn't clearly report a direct post-intervention between-group comparison. The description is somewhat unclear about exact sample sizes and final between-group results.
Work stress scores did not differ significantly between groups before the intervention (p=0.14), but analysis of variance with repeated observations showed a significant difference in the EFT training group's stress scores over three time points (p < 0.001).
Outcome studyPreliminary
Horton-Garcia, S.R. · 2025
A doctoral researcher studied whether teaching family caregivers to tap could ease their burden and build coping skills and well-being. We could confirm this dissertation exists and what it set out to test, but not the actual before-and-after results, since the full document wasn't accessible — so this entry is a design-confirmed placeholder rather than a verified outcome.
A doctoral dissertation examined whether an EFT intervention could improve coping resources, reduce burden, and promote well-being among family caregivers; the citation is confirmed via the ACEP research bibliography, but sample size, exact instruments, and numeric results were not accessible outside the full ProQuest document.
Outcome studyPreliminary
Bifano, S., Szeglin, C., Garbers, S. et al. · 2024
Pediatric ER staff during the COVID-19 pandemic did a single 10-minute EFT tapping session led by a creative arts therapist, and reported feeling less stressed, less preoccupied by intrusive thoughts, and less lonely right afterward. This is a single-arm, single-session pilot without a control group, so the immediate improvement can't be separated from simply taking a break or the passage of time.
Statistically significant reductions were found for 6 of 7 items studied, including stress (3.32 to 2.14), intrusive thoughts (2.50 to 1.85), feelings of pressure (3.20 to 2.17), loneliness, and emotional/physical pain (all P<0.001); professional satisfaction did not change significantly.
Outcome studyPreliminary
Cyr, J. · 2022
Seven stressed-out nursing students did four half-hour tapping sessions online, one a week for a month. Their stress scores fell by nearly ten points on a standard scale, and every one of them said they planned to keep using EFT on their own afterward. It's a tiny study with no comparison group, so treat it as an early signal rather than proof.
Mean Perceived Stress Scale scores dropped from 23.29 (SD 5.59) to 13.29 (SD 8.22) after four weekly 30-minute virtual EFT sessions, a statistically significant decrease.
Outcome studyPreliminary
Lee, S. H., Han, S. Y., Lee, S. J. et al. · 2022
Thirty-six first-year Korean medical students did a six-session after-school EFT program to manage the notorious stress of medical training. Test anxiety, negative mood, and trait anxiety all eased significantly, with some gains still visible two weeks later. There was no comparison group, so it can't rule out that some improvement came simply from time passing.
Significant reductions occurred at post-EFT and two-week follow-up on test anxiety, negative perspective stress, and negative affect subscales; trait anxiety was significantly reduced post-EFT and state anxiety at follow-up.
Outcome studyPreliminary
Freger, M. · 2019
Therapists working with autistic children tried a simple breathing exercise meant to balance activity across both sides of the brain, aiming to reduce their own burnout. They reported feeling more focused, resilient, and energetic afterward. This is a small, self-rated pilot with no control group or objective measures.
A hemispheric-integration breathing exercise (Over Energy Correction) was rated by therapist-subjects as helpful for mind-body awareness, distractibility, focus, resiliency, and energy levels.
Outcome studyPreliminary
Church, D., Brooks, A. · 2010
216 healthcare workers tried a single 2-hour tapping demonstration and self-practice session. Afterward, their reported pain, cravings, and emotional distress all dropped sharply, and just over half completed a 90-day follow-up where most gains had held. No comparison group was used, so we can't be sure how much of the improvement was specific to tapping.
Symptom severity dropped 45 percent and symptom breadth 40 percent (both p<.001) after a single 2-hour EFT self-application session among 216 healthcare-conference attendees; pain scores dropped 68%, intensity of traumatic memories 83%, and cravings 83% (all p<.001, per full-text tables).
Case seriesPreliminary
Scott, J. · 2008
Writing as the trauma support manager for London Underground counselling services, the author describes weaving EFT tapping into work with traumatized transit staff, into training trauma volunteers, and into her own self-care as a counsellor. She found it simple to learn and teach, and describes it as life-changing for some who take to it. This is a practice-based case account rather than a measured study, so it offers professional experience and examples rather than outcome statistics.
The article describes the author's integration of EFT into trauma counselling practice for Transport for London Underground staff, including trauma volunteer training, colleague support, and self-supervision, drawing on practice examples rather than a formal outcome study.
ReviewPreliminary
Rizzo, A., Laachi, S., Ali, D.A. et al. · 2025
This review pulled together research on tapping for workplace stress and burnout across healthcare, education, and corporate settings, and consistently found it eased job-related distress and improved well-being. The authors point out that the underlying studies tend to be small, rely on self-reported data, and rarely track people long-term, so this is a real but early-stage evidence base rather than a settled conclusion. No specific number of included studies is stated in the abstract.
A review of RCTs and observational studies across healthcare, education, and corporate settings found EFT alleviated job-related psychological distress and improved well-being, with the authors noting limitations including small sample sizes, reliance on self-report, and lack of long-term follow-up in the underlying studies.
ReviewPreliminary
Hossain, F., Clatty, A. · 2021
This is a discussion/opinion article about nurses' moral distress during COVID-19 and recommends coping tools and institutional support; it is not a data-driven study of EFT's effectiveness specifically.
This discussion article examines nurses' moral distress and moral injury during COVID-19 and offers tools and recommendations, including self-care strategies, to support nurses through the crisis.