31 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.
Systematic review Preliminary
SEFT (related method)
Hamidah, H., Rauf, S., Arifuddin, S. et al. · 2024
This review pulled together studies on spiritual tapping (SEFT) for cervical cancer patients who'd finished chemoradiation and concluded it helps with pain, stress, and depression. As a narrative review of small studies rather than new controlled data, the conclusions are only as reliable as the underlying (mostly small) studies it summarizes.
A systematic review of studies from 2003-2023 found SEFT beneficial for lowering pain, stress, and depression among post-chemoradiation cervical cancer patients.
Randomized trial Higher rigor
Church, D., Brooks, A. J. · 2014
Fifty-nine veterans with clinically significant PTSD symptoms, on top of their usual care, received six sessions of EFT coaching. Even though pain, depression, and anxiety weren't the direct target, all three improved significantly along with PTSD symptoms, and the pain relief was still there six months later. This randomized trial adds to a body of evidence that treating PTSD with EFT tends to lift mood and reduce pain as well, not just trauma symptoms in isolation.
Pain decreased significantly during the intervention period (-41%, p < .0001), and anxiety and depression both reduced significantly, alongside significant PTSD symptom improvement, with gains tracked at 3 and 6 months.
Randomized trial Moderate rigor
Stapleton, P., Wilson, C., Uechtritz, N. et al. · 2025
147 adults living with ongoing pain — most of them women in their 50s — took a six-week tapping program, either with a live instructor or working through it online at their own pace, while others waited. Both tapping groups felt less pain and functioned better in daily life, and that improvement was still there six months later. Notably, doing the program alone online worked just as well as having a live instructor, suggesting tapping can be delivered remotely without losing its benefit.
147 chronic pain sufferers were randomized to a 6-week EFT program (delivered live in-person or self-paced online) or a waitlist; EFT significantly reduced pain severity and interference and improved quality of life, with gains sustained at 6-month follow-up, and the live and self-paced online formats were equally effective.
Randomized trial Moderate rigor
Zhou, X., Zhang, G., Chen, D. et al. · 2025
Ninety-nine patients recovering from lower-limb fracture surgery in China were split into three groups: routine care, routine care plus ear acupressure, or routine care plus ear acupressure and EFT tapping. The group that got both ear acupressure and tapping had the least pain in the two days after surgery and the lowest anxiety three days out. Because EFT was combined with acupressure rather than tested alone, it's not possible to say how much tapping itself contributed versus the acupressure.
The combined auricular acupressure plus EFT group had significantly lower VAS pain scores at 4, 12, 24, and 48 hours post-intervention and lower anxiety scores at 72 hours than the acupressure-only or control groups (P < .05).
Randomized trial Moderate rigor
Tanriver, P., Gurcayir, D. · 2026
Eighty knee-replacement patients were randomly assigned to Tapping or standard care after surgery. The Tapping group reported less pain and anxiety afterward. Numbers needed to size the effect were not in the abstract; pull the full text at review.
In a block-randomised trial (n=80), postoperative EFT produced significantly lower post-intervention pain (VAS) and state anxiety (STAI-S) vs standard care (p<0.05), with no baseline differences. Abstract reports significance only; group means/SDs not available (PMC full text embargoed at scan time), so no between-group effect size captured yet.
Randomized trial Moderate rigor
Kaplan, M., Çelik, H. · 2025
Seventy people being treated for cancer were split into a group that got four half-hour tapping sessions over two weeks and a group that received usual hospital care. The tapping group's pain ratings dropped by roughly half and their depression scores dropped by more than a third, while the usual-care group barely improved on pain and actually got slightly more depressed over the same two weeks. It's a single-hospital study, so it's a strong early result that would benefit from replication elsewhere.
70 cancer patients were randomized to 4 EFT sessions over two weeks (n=35) or routine care (n=35); pain (VAS) fell from 4.82 to 2.44 in the EFT group versus 5.36 to 4.25 in controls (EFT p<0.05, control not significant), and depression (BDI) fell from 31.44 to 18.44 in the EFT group while it rose slightly in controls (27.94 to 31.42).
Randomized trial Moderate rigor
Cuvadar, A., Ozcan, H. · 2026
Sixty-five women with painful periods got either two Tapping sessions or standard education about period pain. The Tapping group reported less pain, fewer symptoms and better physical quality of life.
Registered RCT (n=65): two EFT sessions significantly reduced menstrual pain and negative/somatic menstrual symptoms and improved the physical-function quality-of-life parameter vs an active education control. Abstract reports significance without group means, so no between-group effect size captured; pull full text at review.
Randomized trial Moderate rigor
Cuvadar, A., Guksu, Z., Ates, S. · 2025
Sixty-four women with endometriosis pain were randomly assigned to monthly Tapping sessions plus affirmations or to breathing exercises. The Tapping group's pain scores dropped sharply over two months while the breathing group's did not, and quality of life improved across most measures. A real active-control comparison, which makes it stronger than a no-treatment design.
Parallel-group RCT (n=64, 32/32) with an active breathing-exercise control: EFT produced a significant reduction in pelvic pain (VAS 7.34 to 4.68 over two months vs control; time x group interaction eta-squared=0.323, p<0.001) and significant improvement across six SF-36 quality-of-life subscales. Primary outcome (VAS pain) met.
Randomized trial Moderate rigor Critical finding
Brattberg, G. · 2008
Sixty-two women with fibromyalgia — a condition causing widespread pain and fatigue — tried daily self-guided tapping for eight weeks, while a comparison group did nothing different. The tapping group ended up less anxious and less depressed, and reported better quality of life in areas like vitality, social functioning, and mental health, though pain itself and a couple of other measures didn't show a clear difference. It's a modest-sized study with a do-nothing comparison group, so it's an encouraging early result rather than the final word.
26 women did daily self-administered EFT for 8 weeks (56 sessions total) versus 36 on a no-treatment control; the EFT group had significantly lower anxiety (7.4 vs 9.7, p<0.05) and depression (6.9 vs 9.1, p<0.05) on the HADS, and improved on 5 of 8 SF-36 quality-of-life subscales, though self-efficacy and some physical-function subscales did not differ significantly.
Dismantling study Moderate rigor Critical finding
Church, D., et al. · 2016
Thirty-seven people with a frozen, painful shoulder tried a single 30-minute tapping session, compared against a breathing exercise designed to test whether the acupressure part of tapping mattered. Both groups felt less pain and less anxious afterward, but actual shoulder mobility didn't clearly improve in most measurements. This was a small, one-session study meant to isolate what part of tapping does the work, not a full treatment trial, and it wasn't found on PubMed (published in an APA specialty journal), so the exact statistics could not be independently re-verified.
37 participants with frozen shoulder were assessed before and after a single 30-minute session and again 30 days later; both EFT and diaphragmatic-breathing groups improved on pain and psychological symptoms post-session, but range-of-motion changes were not statistically significant for most measures, and reduced psychological distress was associated with reduced pain and some ROM improvement.
Randomized trial Moderate rigor
Bougea, A.M., Spandideas, N., Alexopoulos, E.C. et al. · 2013
Thirty-five people with frequent tension headaches were split into a group that tapped twice a day for two months and a group that just continued their usual care. The tapping group had fewer and less intense headaches, felt less stressed, and reported a better quality of life across the board — but their cortisol (stress hormone) levels didn't actually change, which is a useful honest detail since it means the improvement wasn't explained by that particular biological marker. It's a small trial with a standard-care comparison rather than a placebo.
35 patients were randomized to EFT twice daily for two months (n=19) or standard care (n=16); the EFT group had significant reductions in perceived stress, headache frequency, and headache intensity, and improvement on all SF-36 subscales, but no significant change in salivary cortisol in either group.
Randomized trial Preliminary Critical finding
Church, D. · 2008
People with long-standing shoulder problems were randomized to tapping, a breathing exercise, or no treatment, with a single 30-minute session. Both active treatments helped, but tapping seemed to help more with pain, especially a month later. The study itself notes it was underpowered (too few people) to be fully conclusive.
Both DB and EFT groups improved in psychological symptoms and ROM; pain results were better in the EFT group and further improved at 30-day post-test; study found that an N of 40-60 per group would be needed for full statistical significance.
Controlled trial Moderate rigor
Lin, A., Liu, Z., Zhang, T. et al. · 2025
Sixty-four knee replacement patients were divided (not randomly, but by admission order) into a group getting standard care plus a 4-week EFT program, or standard care alone. Within the EFT group, pain catastrophizing and pain sensitivity fell significantly from baseline through 6 months; the paper reports these as within-group changes rather than a direct statistical comparison against the control group. Because patients were assigned by admission sequence rather than randomization, unmeasured differences between the groups could also play a role.
A statistically significant reduction was observed in total pain catastrophizing and rumination from baseline to 6 months post-intervention (P<0.001); pain severity decreased significantly during the first 3 months, and pain sensitivity scores significantly decreased through 6 months (P<0.001).
Controlled trial Moderate rigor
SEFT (related method)
Susanto, M. · 2020
36 patients recovering from abdominal surgery were split into a group that received SEFT tapping and a control group that received a spiritual intervention without tapping. The SEFT group's pain dropped notably more than the control group's. This is a quasi-experimental study with a comparison group, giving somewhat more confidence than an uncontrolled case series.
Mean pain scores dropped from 5.7 to 3.61 in the SEFT intervention group versus 5.61 to 4.77 in the control group, a significant difference in pain reduction between groups (p=0.0003), supporting SEFT for reducing post-operative laparotomy pain.
Controlled trial Preliminary
Church, D., Vasudevan, A., De Foe, A. et al. · 2023
Fifty-four people did a two-day EFT workshop focused on money-related anxiety, either in person before COVID or virtually during the pandemic. The in-person group showed clearer statistically significant improvements in anxiety, PTSD, and pain, while the virtual group's mood improved significantly but some measures like anxiety and depression showed only non-significant trends. Both formats improved money-related attitudes. This is a retrospective comparison of two convenience samples rather than a randomized head-to-head trial.
The in-person group had significant reductions in anxiety (P=.023), PTSD (P=.013), and pain (P=.029) and improved happiness (P<.001) post-intervention; the virtual group had a significant increase in happiness (P<.001) with non-significant decreases in anxiety, depression, and pain; both groups showed significant improvements in money attitude subscales.
Controlled trial Preliminary
Latifah, L., Ramawati, D. · 2014
30 mothers recovering from C-section surgery were split into a group getting EFT/tapping and a group not getting it. The tapping group reported significantly less post-surgical pain. This is a small quasi-experimental study without randomization, so some caution in interpreting causality is warranted.
Pain scale after treatment was significantly lower in the EFT/tapping group (4.27) than in the control group (5.00), with p=0.000.
Outcome study Preliminary
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).
Outcome study Preliminary
Desoky, M., Abdo Hussien, A., Ibrahim, A. et al. · 2023
One hundred sixty-one female nursing students with painful periods (dysmenorrhea) tried EFT and reported a modest but measurable reduction in pain intensity afterward. There was no control group, so it's unclear how much of the change reflects natural fluctuation in menstrual pain versus EFT itself, and the size of the improvement (about 15%) is relatively modest.
The mean visual analog scale score for menstrual pain was reduced from 9.2 to 7.8 after the intervention, a 15.2 percent improvement.
Outcome study Preliminary
Church, D., Stapleton, P., Gosatti, D. et al. · 2022
One hundred fifty-one people attended a one-day virtual workshop combining EFT with heart-coherence training and mindfulness (EcoMeditation), and showed large drops in anxiety, depression, PTSD symptoms, and pain, plus increases in happiness and flow states that mostly held up three months later. There's no control group, so improvement can't be separated from the general experience of an intensive group workshop, but the follow-up data adds some durability evidence.
Post-workshop (N=111), significant reductions occurred in anxiety (-42.3%, p<0.001), depression (-37.5%, p<0.001), PTSD (-13.0%, p<0.001), and pain (-63.2%, p<0.001), with significant increases in happiness (+111.1%), flow states (+17.4%), and transcendent experiences (+18.5%); gains persisted at 3-month follow-up for a smaller subsample (N=72).
Outcome study Preliminary
Ortner, N., Palmer-Hoffman, J., Clond, M.A. · 2014
50 adults with chronic pain learned tapping over a 3-day workshop. Right after, their pain-related catastrophic thinking and several pain measures improved a lot; six months later, they still felt more in control of their pain even though some pain-severity gains faded. No comparison group means we can't rule out placebo or natural improvement over time.
Significant reductions were found on PCS total score (-43%, p<.001) and MPI subscales (severity, interference, life control, affective distress, dysfunctional composite); at 6-month follow-up, PCS reductions were maintained (-42%, p<.001) but only the MPI life control item held.
Outcome study Preliminary
Church, D., David, I. · 2019
39 business executives attended a one-day seminar using a group tapping method called Borrowing Benefits, where everyone taps along while watching a certified practitioner work with one person. Afterward, their stress-related symptoms, pain, and cravings all dropped substantially. There was no control group and no follow-up, so this shows an immediate effect in a workplace-like setting rather than lasting change.
After a daylong seminar combining psychoeducation with group-format Clinical EFT (Borrowing Benefits protocol), severity of anxiety/depression symptoms declined 34% (p<0.0008), pain declined 41%, and cravings for problem food and drink declined 50% (both p<0.0001).
Outcome study Preliminary
Groesbeck, G., Bach, D., Stapleton, P. et al. · 2018
Thirty-four people at a weekend meditation-based workshop had their stress hormones, blood pressure, and mood tracked before and after. Their stress hormone cortisol dropped by almost a third, pain eased by more than 40%, and anxiety and depression both fell significantly - though the drop in PTSD symptoms didn't quite reach statistical significance in this small sample. A 3-month follow-up sample was too small to draw conclusions from, so the durability of these effects remains an open question.
Significant reductions were found in cortisol (-29%, P < .0001), resting heart rate (-5%, P = .0281), and pain (-43%, P = .0022); anxiety and depression declined significantly (-26% and -32%, both P = .0159 or better), while the PTSD decline (-18%) did not reach statistical significance.
Outcome study Preliminary
SEFT (related method)
Hamidah, H., Rauf, S., Arifuddin, S. et al. · 2025
Cervical cancer patients undergoing chemoradiation practiced Spiritual EFT and had their pain, stress hormone (cortisol), and an inflammation marker (IL-6) measured before and after. All three dropped substantially. Because this was a one-group pre/post design with no control group, some of the change could reflect the chemoradiation treatment itself rather than SEFT alone.
Average pain severity fell from 4.5 to 1.6, cortisol from 632.9 to 305.3, and IL-6 from 260.1 to 106.7 after SEFT (p < 0.001 for cortisol; significant correlations between pain, cortisol, and IL-6, p<0.001).
Outcome study Preliminary
Stapleton, P., Oliver, B., O'Keefe, T. et al. · 2022
Twenty-four adults with chronic pain did a six-week online group EFT program and had their brain activity scanned via fMRI before and after. Along with meaningful improvements in pain, mood, and quality of life, their brain scans showed reduced connectivity between pain-processing brain regions in a pattern consistent with less pain catastrophizing. There's no control group, so we can't rule out that some of the change reflects general effects of participating in a structured program, but the brain-imaging data adds an interesting objective dimension.
A repeated measures MANOVA indicated significant differences in pain severity (-21%), pain interference (-26%), quality of life (+7%), somatic symptoms (-28%), depression (-13.5%), anxiety (-37.1%), happiness (+17%), and satisfaction with life (+8.8%); fMRI showed decreased connectivity between the medial prefrontal cortex and areas related to pain modulation and catastrophizing.
Outcome study Preliminary
You, Y. L., Ramoo, V., Yahaya, N. et al. · 2025
For people with rheumatoid arthritis who are afraid to move because of pain, a month of guided tapping proved safe and easy to stick with - and their fear of movement, pain, and anxiety all eased.
An adapted 4-week EFT protocol was feasible, safe (no adverse events), and acceptable (80% adherence, 75-85% satisfaction) in RA patients with kinesiophobia; TSK-17 scores fell 6.5 points (12.7%; Hedges' g = 1.36, within-group), with moderate-to-large within-group improvements in pain and anxiety.
Outcome study Preliminary
Church, D., Nelms, J. · 2016
In a small study of people being treated for frozen shoulder — a painful, physical joint condition — tapping was linked to a solid improvement in mood as a side benefit, though there was no comparison group to rule out other explanations.
Depression symptoms decreased by 44% (d=0.88) in this small, uncontrolled sample of adults being treated for frozen shoulder, a physical condition, suggesting mood benefits alongside the primary physical-symptom focus of that study.
Outcome study Preliminary
Stapleton, P., Chatwin, H., Sheppard, L. et al. · 2016
People living with chronic pain first described, in their own words, how much pain was costing them at work and in relationships. Then, after just one four-hour group tapping session, their pain severity dropped about 12% and how much the pain interfered with their life dropped nearly 18%, both real, not chance, effects. It's a single-session, uncontrolled study, so it shows a brief group format can move the needle on pain in the short term rather than proving a lasting cure.
After a single four-hour EFT group therapy session, chronic pain sufferers showed a significant decrease in pain severity (-12.04%, p=.044) and pain impact (-17.62%, p=.008); a companion qualitative survey detailed how pain disrupted participants' employment, relationships, and emotional life.
Case series Preliminary
SEFT (related method)
Sukesi, N., Wahyuningsih, W., Prasetyorini, H. · 2020
This is a very small case study — just four cancer patients in Indonesia — looking at whether SEFT (the Indonesian spiritual variant of tapping, which includes Islamic prayer) helped with pain. The researchers described the patients as experiencing less pain afterward, based on interviews rather than a formal before-and-after measurement with a statistical test. With only four people and no comparison group, this counts as a very early, exploratory observation rather than solid evidence.
In this four-patient case series, SEFT was described as having a meaningful influence in reducing cancer pain, based on qualitative interview and observation data rather than a formal statistical test.
Review Preliminary
Hart, J. · 2022
This is an explanatory/educational article describing what EFT tapping is and its general therapeutic uses; it doesn't present original research data.
This descriptive article explains the EFT tapping protocol and its recognized applications for anxiety, weight loss issues, pain, and stress.
Review Preliminary
Church, D. · 2013
This review makes the case that a single EFT session can meaningfully help with phobias and certain anxiety disorders, and points to trial evidence that even one session lowers the stress hormone cortisol and normalizes stress-related brainwave patterns. It also cautions that more complex, co-occurring conditions like complicated PTSD need longer courses of treatment, not just one session. As a review and case discussion rather than a new trial, it doesn't carry its own participant count or effect size.
The chapter reports that randomized controlled trials show EFT effectively treats phobias and certain anxiety disorders in a single session, with a single session also producing a significant drop in cortisol and normalization of stress-associated EEG frequencies.
Review Preliminary
Gallo, F. · 2009
This paper positions tapping-based energy psychology as a genuinely new branch of psychological treatment history, following psychoanalysis, behaviorism, and humanistic therapy, and focuses on how it applies to rehabilitation, especially trauma and chronic pain. It walks through case examples and the research base as of 2009, but as a historical and conceptual review rather than a new trial, it doesn't report its own participant numbers or effect sizes.
The article frames energy psychology as psychology's 'fourth force' following psychoanalysis, behaviorism, and humanistic/transpersonal approaches, and reviews its historical development, techniques (acupoints, chakras, postures, affirmations, imagery), and evidence base for treating psychological trauma and physical pain in rehabilitation settings.