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.
Meta-analysis Moderate rigor
Stapleton, P., van Elst, A. · 2026
Researchers pooled 17 randomized trials of Tapping for stress and compared it against other approaches in one statistical network. Tapping showed a large drop in self-reported stress and a modest but real improvement in biological stress markers like cortisol. Caveat: the underlying trials are mostly small with bias concerns.
First NMA to pool Clinical EFT effects across psychological AND biological stress outcomes: large significant reduction in psychological stress vs control (SMD -2.39, 95% CI -3.18 to -1.59) and small-to-moderate reduction in physiological stress (SMD -0.48, 95% CI -0.85 to -0.12). CBT, guided imagery and music were also significant; TAU and breathing imprecise. No significant network inconsistency; most included studies had some concerns or high risk of bias.
Meta-analysis Moderate 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 review Preliminary
Hasibuan, S.H., Said, F.M., Rashid, N.A. et al. · 2025
Researchers reviewed published studies on tapping (EFT) and its spiritual variant (SEFT) for breast cancer patients' mental health. Across the studies they found, both approaches reduced stress, anxiety, and depression, with the spiritual version potentially helping elderly patients more. As a literature review rather than new data collection, its conclusions are only as strong as the underlying studies, many of which are small and uncontrolled.
A systematic literature review of PubMed and Google Scholar articles (2019-2024) found EFT and SEFT effective for reducing stress, anxiety, and depression in breast cancer patients, with SEFT's spiritual component offering additional benefit especially for elderly patients.
Systematic review Preliminary
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.
Randomized trial Moderate rigor
Okyay, E., Ucar, T. · 2023
159 pregnant women in Turkey who had previously lost a pregnancy were split into three groups: tapping, listening to music, or no special support. Both the tapping group and the music group ended up doing better on measures of psychological growth and well-being, and had lower stress-hormone (cortisol) levels, than the group that got neither.
EFT and a music intervention, delivered separately to pregnant women with a prior prenatal loss, were both associated with greater psychological growth, higher well-being, and lower cortisol levels than the control group, per the study's stated conclusions.
Randomized trial Moderate rigor
TFT (related method)
Morikawa, A., Fujimoto, M., Kawagishi, Y. et al. · 2025
Ninety-nine people in Japan during the pandemic were randomly assigned to a brief online Thought Field Therapy session or a waitlist. The TFT group saw large, statistically significant drops in distress ratings for a wide range of personal issues, with the effect holding for weeks afterward. This is a randomized trial with a reasonably large sample and a very large effect size, though it relies on self-reported distress ratings rather than clinical diagnostic measures.
Among 88 participants completing online TFT, significant reductions occurred in stress, irritability, fatigue, anxiety, depression, and somatic complaints (p<.01); SUDS scores for 248 issues fell from an average of 7 to 1.5 (p<.01, large effect size).
Randomized trial Moderate rigor
Church, D., et al. · 2012
In this study of 83 nonclinical adults with moderate anxiety, a single hour-long tapping session led to a large drop in anxiety compared with people who did nothing, and a smaller but still real drop compared with people who simply talked to a supportive interviewer.
One EFT session (n=28) vs waitlist (n=27) and supportive interview (n=28); EFT-vs-waitlist difference d=1.34 (95% CI 0.66–2.02, p<0.001); EFT-vs-interview difference d=0.71 (95% CI 0.00–1.42, p=0.049).
Dismantling study Moderate rigor Critical finding
Rogers, R., Sears, S. · 2015
University students under stress were randomly split: one group tapped real acupressure points, the other tapped points that aren't part of the meridian system. The real-tapping group's stress dropped by about 39%, versus about 8% for the sham group — nearly five times the improvement, and the difference was a real effect, unlikely to be chance. Because both groups did the same ritual and only the tap locations differed, this points to the specific points mattering, not just the act of tapping.
56 university students randomized to EFT (n=26) or sham acupressure (n=30) showed a 39.3% reduction in stress symptoms in the EFT group versus 8.1% in the sham group (p < .001).
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 Moderate rigor
TFT (related method)
Keppel, Hadas · 2021
Parents of autistic children in Israel and the US were randomly assigned to a real Thought Field Therapy stress protocol or a control tapping-like procedure. The TFT group reported less stress and more ability to see things from others' perspectives afterward, and this held over time. It's a mixed-model dissertation study, so replication in peer-reviewed literature would strengthen confidence.
Parents receiving the TFT stress reduction protocol showed reduced general stress and increased perspective-taking versus a control-stimulation protocol; parenting stress partially mediated the effect on perspective-taking, and gains held at follow-up.
Randomized trial Preliminary
Dwivedi, S., Sekhon, A., Chauhan, B. · 2021
Fourteen young national-level competitive shooters were randomly assigned to a 3-week EFT program or an inspirational-lecture control condition. The EFT group showed improved heart rate, blood pressure, and shooting accuracy compared to the control group. This is a very small randomized trial in a specialized athletic population, so findings should be considered preliminary despite reaching statistical significance.
Post-intervention analysis indicated significant improvements in HR (-4.62%, p=0.01), systolic BP (-3.6%, p=0.001), diastolic BP (-5.16%, p=0.004), and shooting performance (+1.21%, p=0.01) for the EFT group compared to active control.
Randomized trial Preliminary
Jasubhai, S. · 2021
Fourteen young adults in India were randomly assigned to eight weekly sessions of EFT or CBT, while researchers tracked not just mood but memory and heart-based measures of calm. Both treatments eased stress, anxiety, and depression and improved short-term memory, but the EFT group showed a depression improvement as early as the third session. The sample is very small, so this needs replication before drawing firm conclusions about which treatment works faster.
Both EFT and CBT produced significant reductions in stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms with concurrent improvement in short-term memory and psychophysiological coherence; EFT showed marked improvement in depression after just 3 sessions.
Controlled trial Moderate rigor
SEFT (related method)
Desmaniarti, Z., Avianti, N. · 2017
This is the Indonesian SEFT variant, which combines tapping with prayer and spiritual surrender rather than the standard secular EFT protocol. 68 women with cervical cancer going through chemotherapy in Indonesia were split into a SEFT group and a no-treatment group. The women who did three short SEFT sessions reported feeling less stressed than those who didn't. It's described using language suggestive of randomization, but the exact allocation method wasn't detailed, so it's treated cautiously here as a controlled (not confirmed randomized) trial.
After three 30-minute SEFT sessions, patients' stress scores were significantly lower than the control group, per the study's paired and independent t-test analysis.
Controlled trial Preliminary
Mollazadeh, M., Gharayagh Zandi, H., Ghorbanzadeh, B. · 2025
29 elite Iranian taekwondo athletes were split into a group that added tapping to their training and a group that trained normally. The athletes who tapped reported feeling less anxious before competition and showed lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their saliva, along with more self-confidence, compared to those who didn't tap. It's a small study of a very specific athletic population, so it's a useful early signal rather than a broad conclusion.
After ten EFT sessions, the intervention group showed reductions in cognitive and somatic competitive anxiety and salivary cortisol, and increased self-confidence, compared with the training-only control group.
Controlled trial Preliminary Turkish
Eraydın, C., Çorbacı, B., Dini, Ü. et al. · 2023
A group of Turkish nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic tried four tapping sessions to see if it helped them cope with pandemic-related stress. Afterward, students reported better coping skills - like seeking support and feeling more optimistic - and improved anxiety scores compared with before. The study is small and its published report did not include the sample size or statistical detail.
After four EFT sessions, the experimental group showed higher post-test scores on adaptive coping strategies (seeking social support, optimism, self-confidence) and improved state anxiety compared with pre-test; the published report did not include sample size or test statistics.
Biology / mechanism Moderate rigor
Stapleton, P., Crighton, G., Sabot, D. et al. · 2020
This study repeated an earlier tapping-and-cortisol experiment with a fresh group of 53 adults, comparing tapping against a psychoeducation session and against doing nothing. Cortisol dropped more after tapping than after the psychoeducation session, replicating part of the original finding, though the comparison against the no-treatment group and the self-reported distress results were less clear-cut this time. This is worth flagging honestly: replications don't always repeat every result from the original study.
Cortisol fell 43.24% in the EFT group versus 19.67% in the psychoeducation group (p<.05); the difference from the no-treatment group (+2.02%) was not statistically significant, and self-reported psychological distress did not show a clear significant replication of the original 2012 finding.
Outcome study Preliminary
Hamne, G., Sandström, U., Stapleton, P. · 2023
Nearly 300 lay practitioners were given a brief training in a simplified tapping protocol and then used it in a single sitting with over 1,700 people in communities affected by war and trauma. On average, people's self-rated distress fell from roughly a 7.7 to a 2.5 out of 10 in that one session, a large and statistically real drop. There was no comparison group and no follow-up on whether the relief lasted, so this shows the technique can be taught fast and produce immediate relief at scale rather than proving lasting trauma recovery.
Across 1,722 individual single-session TTT applications delivered by 287 newly trained practitioners, mean self-rated distress (SUD, 0-10 scale) dropped from 7.69 pre-session to 2.5 post-session (p<.001).
Outcome study Preliminary
Bach, D., Groesbeck, G., Stapleton, P. et al. · 2019
Over 200 adults attending a multi-day tapping training had their anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms measured before and after, and a smaller group of 31 also had blood pressure, heart rate, cortisol, and immune markers tracked. Self-reported anxiety and depression dropped substantially, and several physical stress markers, including cortisol and resting heart rate, improved too. There was no comparison group, so we can't rule out that some of this reflects the general effect of attending an immersive workshop rather than tapping specifically.
Across the workshop sample, self-reported anxiety fell 40% (p<.000), depression 35% (p<.000), and PTSD symptoms 32% (p<.000); in a physiological subsample (n=31), cortisol fell 37% (p<.000), resting heart rate fell 8% (p=.001), and salivary immunoglobulin A rose 113% (p=.017); heart rate variability and heart coherence showed positive trends without a reported significance value.
Outcome study Preliminary
Ledger, K. · 2019
A Canadian high school teacher built tapping into a stressful exam-prep unit for 138 students across grades 10 to 12, checking their stress, coping skills, and test anxiety over four weeks. A comparison against untaught classes was attempted, but methodological problems meant the quantitative results couldn't be trusted, so the study mainly shows the approach is workable in a real classroom rather than measuring how much it helped.
EFT was taught across four consecutive weekly classes to 138 secondary students during pre-exam season, with stress, coping, and test anxiety measured before, after the first class, and after the full training. A controlled comparison against no-treatment classes was attempted, but the quantitative data were judged not clearly valid due to methodological contamination, leaving primarily feasibility and qualitative findings.
Outcome study Preliminary
Mohamed, A.F., Hamed, A.E.M., Mohamed, S.S.A. · 2025
Mastectomy patients in Egypt did six weeks of EFT sessions and reported large drops in stress along with large gains in resilience and sexual satisfaction. The effect sizes reported are unusually large, which is common in single-group pre/post designs without a comparison group to rule out other explanations like time passing or extra nursing attention.
Perceived stress dropped from 32.42 to 17.27, resilience rose from 11.53 to 31.46, and sexual satisfaction rose from 17.03 to 31.00 after six EFT sessions (all p < 0.001), with strong correlations between stress, resilience, and sexual satisfaction.
Outcome study Preliminary
Bustamante-Paster, A. · 2022
Forty-five Filipino college students struggling with severe pandemic-era depression, anxiety, or stress went through 16 tapping sessions. Across all three groups, average scores moved from the severe range down to normal or mild by the end. There was no control group, so some of the improvement over 16 sessions could reflect time passing rather than EFT alone.
After 16 sessions of EFT, the anxiety group's mean DASS score fell from 16.69 (severe) to 4.84 (normal), the depression group's from 22.77 (severe) to 10.38 (mild), and the stress group's from 25.50 (severe) to 8.70 (normal).
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
de Wit, E. E., Bunders-Aelen, J. G. F., Regeer, B. J. · 2016
Thirty-three Indian university students went through a month of stress-reduction sessions mixing tapping with theatre, dance, poetry, and cognitive techniques. Their stress scores dropped by the end of the program, and students specifically credited poetry, dance, and tapping as the parts that helped most. Because EFT was only one piece of a bundled program, this can't isolate tapping's effect on its own.
Average stress scores decreased significantly after a multi-component program including EFT, poetry, dance, and REBT (p = 0.044), though the reduction was not significant at eight-month follow-up.
Outcome study Preliminary
Bera, S., Mukkiri, S. · 2025
Family members caring for a loved one with serious mental illness learned tapping from a nurse and practised on their own for two weeks - and their stress and anxiety dropped measurably, with no one left in the high-stress range.
A 15-day nurse-taught, self-practised EFT programme significantly reduced perceived stress (PSS 17.68 to 13.77, p < 0.001) and anxiety (HAM-A 14.84 to 12.10, p < 0.001) in 31 caregivers of psychiatric patients; high-stress caregivers dropped from 9.7% to 0%.
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
TFT (related method)
Spanish
Barraza-Alvarez, F. V. · 2021
Fourteen childcare workers in Mexico who were feeling anxious, fearful, or stressed tried Thought Field Therapy, a tapping-based technique closely related to EFT. Every single participant's self-rated distress dropped from the maximum of 10 down to 0, with no one reporting any adverse reaction. This is a very small, uncontrolled group with no comparison condition, so it should be read as a preliminary case series rather than definitive proof.
All 14 participants who reported stress-related emotions (36% anxiety, 29% fear, 21% obsession, 14% rejection) went from a maximum SUDS rating of 10 to a minimum of 0 after Thought Field Therapy.
Outcome study Preliminary
Robbins, N., Harvey, K., Moller, M. · 2023
Eleven new mothers who screened positive for postpartum depression and anxiety, while visiting a lactation clinic, took part in eight weeks of group tapping sessions. A month later, their depression, anxiety, and stress scores had all dropped significantly. It's a small, uncontrolled pilot in a group that badly needs more treatment options, so larger follow-up studies are the natural next step.
One month after eight weekly 1-hour group EFT sessions, there were statistically significant decreases in depression (p = .003), anxiety (p < .001), and perceived stress (p < .001).
Outcome study Preliminary
SEFT (related method)
Indonesian
Fatmasari, D., Widyana, R., Budiyani, K. · 2019
Five people with high blood pressure and significant stress in Indonesia tried Spiritual EFT, a version of tapping combined with prayer, in a one-group before-and-after design. Their stress scores dropped substantially, from an average of 82 down to 56 on a 28-item scale, a change large enough to be a real effect rather than chance. The sample is only five people with no comparison group, so it's best treated as a very early signal.
In 5 hypertensive patients, mean stress scores fell from 82.20 pretest to 56.20 posttest following Spiritual Emotional Freedom Technique (SEFT), a statistically significant difference on Wilcoxon signed-rank test (Z=-2.023, p<0.050).
Outcome study Preliminary
Hendricks-Patel, S., Harvey, K. · 2025
First-semester nursing students — a group known for high stress — attended EFT sessions across a 13-week pilot program, and the approach came through as both doable and effective at easing their distress and perceived stress. The abstract doesn't give exact participant numbers or a specific score change, so the size of the benefit isn't fully quantifiable from what's published, but it points to tapping as a practical, low-cost option for a famously stressed student population.
A 13-week quasi-experimental pilot of EFT sessions for first-semester nursing students found the technique was feasible and effective for reducing distress and perceived stress, though the abstract does not report a specific participant count or numeric effect size.
Outcome study Preliminary
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.
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.