22 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.
Randomized trial Higher rigor
Stapleton, P., Roos, T., Mackintosh, G. et al. · 2019
Over 450 people, mostly women who said they craved certain foods every day, took an 8-week online tapping course or stayed on a waitlist. The tapping group saw meaningful drops in cravings, weight, anxiety, and depression, while the waitlist group didn't budge - and the gains held a full year later. This is one of the larger EFT weight-related trials in the catalog.
Post-intervention, the EFT group showed significant reductions on all measures with moderate to high effect sizes, while the waitlist group showed no significant change; gains were maintained at 6 and 12 months.
Randomized trial Higher rigor Critical finding
Stapleton, P., Clark, A., Sabot, D. et al. · 2020
Over 340 people who'd had bariatric surgery but were still struggling with weight were split into three groups: a portion-control eating plan, that plan plus an eight-week online EFT course, or standard care. Six months later, the group that added EFT showed the biggest drops in emotional and uncontrolled eating, but the differences between groups mostly didn't reach statistical significance. The authors were candid that these results were less consistent than earlier EFT weight-loss trials, so this is best read as a mixed finding rather than a clear win.
At six months, the nutrition-plus-EFT group showed the largest improvements in emotional eating (-16.33%), uncontrolled eating (-9.36%), and self-esteem (+4.43%) compared to nutrition-alone or usual-care groups, though most between-group differences were not statistically significant.
Randomized trial Higher rigor
Stapleton, P., Bannatyne, A.J., Urzi, K.-C. et al. · 2016
Eighty-three adults who were overweight and struggled with food cravings tried either eight weeks of tapping or eight weeks of standard cognitive behavioral therapy. Both approaches worked about equally well — cravings eased, and people felt less controlled by food — with results holding up at 6 and 12 months. Neither approach produced a measurable drop in body weight itself, so tapping looks like a real option for craving control, not a weight-loss guarantee on its own.
83 overweight/obese adults completed an 8-week EFT or CBT program; both treatments produced comparable, clinically meaningful reductions in food cravings, responsiveness to food cues, and improved dietary restraint (normalizing to non-clinical community levels), though neither produced a significant reduction in BMI.
Randomized trial Moderate rigor
Stapleton, P., Lilley-Hale, E., Mackintosh, G. et al. · 2020
Overweight and obese adults took an eight-week online tapping course they could work through at their own pace, then were checked back in with two years later. Their food cravings dropped by more than a quarter, they felt less controlled by food, and their anxiety and depression scores improved too — and most of these gains were still holding two years out. Their weight did drop over the first year but crept back by the two-year mark, so tapping looks more reliable for cravings and mood than for lasting weight loss by itself.
Participants who completed an 8-week self-paced online EFT program showed significantly reduced food cravings (-28.2%), power of food (-26.7%), depression (-12.3%), anxiety (-23.3%), and somatic symptoms (-10.6%) from baseline to 2-year follow-up, with restraint improved (+13.4%); BMI and weight decreased significantly through 12 months but were no longer significantly different from baseline at 2 years.
Randomized trial Moderate rigor Critical finding
Stapleton, P., et al. · 2013
This trial gave 96 overweight adults with anxiety either four tapping sessions or no treatment yet. Anxiety improved slightly more in the tapping group, but the difference was small and could plausibly be due to chance in this sample size.
Four EFT sessions (n=49) vs waitlist (n=47); anxiety difference d=0.27 (95% CI −0.12–0.66, p=0.177), not statistically significant in Clond's table. The same sample's depression outcome (N=45 analyzed) is reported in Nelms & Castel 2016 as d=0.37 (−21% symptom change).
Randomized trial Moderate rigor
Stapleton, P., Sheldon, T., Porter, B. · 2012
Ninety-six overweight or obese adults did a four-week tapping program for food cravings, and researchers checked back a full year later. The improvements in cravings, weight, and general coping were still holding at that one-year mark. This paper specifically updates and confirms the durability of an earlier six-month result from the same trial.
Significant improvements occurred in weight, BMI, food cravings, power of food, craving restraint, and psychological coping from pretest to 12 months (p < .05).
Randomized trial Moderate rigor
Stapleton, P., Chatwin, H., William, M. et al. · 2016
Forty-four teenagers with unhealthy eating patterns were split into a six-week group tapping program or a waitlist. Improvements in eating habits, self-esteem, and self-compassion showed up not right away but at follow-up, suggesting the benefits took time to unfold. This is an early feasibility trial in a group not often studied - adolescents - so it needs replication with a larger sample.
A delayed effect was found for both groups at post-intervention, with improved eating habits, self-esteem, and compassion emerging at follow-up.
Randomized trial Preliminary
Stapleton, P., Buchan, C., Mitchell, I. et al. · 2019
Fifteen overweight adults did four weeks of group EFT or nothing, while researchers scanned their brains' response to pictures of tempting food. The tapping group's cravings dropped more than three times as much as the control group's, and their brain scans showed calmer activity in the regions that light up around food temptation. It's a small pilot study, so the brain-imaging finding needs replication in a larger sample.
Food craving scores decreased 18% in the EFT group versus 5% in controls, with fMRI showing relative deactivation in brain regions linked to food craving only in the EFT group.
Controlled trial Moderate rigor
Stapleton, P., Chatwin, H. · 2018
Researchers compared a shorter 4-week tapping program against a longer 8-week one for cutting food cravings. Both worked about equally well for cravings, weight, and BMI, suggesting people don't need the longer course to get the benefit. This was a comparison across two earlier studies rather than one trial randomizing people to short vs. long treatment.
A 4-week EFT program produced food craving, weight, and BMI reductions comparable in effect size to an 8-week program, with no significant differences between the two treatment lengths.
Controlled trial Moderate rigor
Stapleton, P., Bannatyne, A., Chatwin, H. et al. · 2017
Eighty-three overweight or obese adults got eight weeks of either group EFT or group CBT, the standard talk-therapy approach, aimed at food cravings. On the side, EFT brought down both anxiety and depression and kept them down for a year, while CBT only moved the needle on depression, not anxiety. The two approaches weren't directly compared for statistical superiority on every measure, so read this as EFT holding its own against a gold-standard therapy rather than beating it outright.
Anxiety and depression scores significantly decreased from pre- to post-intervention for the EFT group and were maintained at 6- and 12-month follow-up, while the CBT group showed significant depression improvement but no significant change in anxiety.
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
Balha, S. M., Abo-Baker, O., Mahmoud, S. · 2020
Ninety patients being treated for substance use disorders in an Egyptian psychiatric hospital learned EFT as part of their care. Afterward, their cravings dropped and so did their overall psychological distress across every symptom category measured. There was no control group, so it's not clear how much of the improvement came from tapping specifically versus the rest of their treatment.
A psycho-educational EFT program significantly reduced craving levels and all nine SCL-90 symptom dimensions after the sessions (p < 0.005).
Outcome study Preliminary
Church, D., Stapleton, P., Sheppard, L. et al. · 2018
Seventy-six people took a six-week online course that used tapping to work on emotional eating, with live group calls and a year of ongoing support afterward, no specific diet prescribed. A year later, they'd lost weight steadily, felt less controlled by food, and were less depressed — though their anxiety, trauma symptoms, and overall happiness didn't show a clear change. There was no comparison group, so we can't rule out that other factors (like the ongoing support itself) played a role.
76 participants in a six-week online EFT course (live group teleclasses plus a year of monthly support) showed significant improvements from pre- to 12-month follow-up in body weight (p<.001, averaging about 1 lb/week during the course and 2 lb/month afterward), depression (p=.010), restraint (p=.025), and power of food (p=.018); PTSD symptoms and anxiety were unchanged, and happiness gains were not significant.
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
Church, D., Brooks, A.J. · 2013
Adults struggling with addiction spent a weekend doing EFT in a group workshop, and their overall psychological distress dropped by more than a third by the end, a large and statistically real change. Three months later, the drop in anxiety and obsessive thinking was still holding. There was no comparison group, so this shows a real before-and-after change in a workshop setting rather than proof tapping beats other addiction treatments.
After a weekend EFT workshop, 39 adults with self-identified addiction issues showed a 38% reduction in overall psychological distress (SA-45 positive symptom total, p<.000), with improvements on symptom intensity/breadth and the anxiety and obsessive-compulsive subscales maintained at 90-day follow-up (p<.001).
Outcome study Preliminary
TFT (related method)
Cribbs, J. · 2023
Thirty-seven people in inpatient treatment for substance use disorder, all carrying trauma-related distress, did one Thought Field Therapy tapping session, and every single one of them reported a real drop in distress immediately afterward. That's a striking 100% response rate for a single brief session, though there was no comparison group and no follow-up reported, so it captures an immediate effect at one facility rather than lasting recovery outcomes.
In 37 participants at an inpatient addiction rehabilitation facility, a single Thought Field Therapy session was followed by a decrease in SUD ratings in 100% of participants; the group-level pre/post change was statistically significant (p<0.001).
Outcome study Preliminary
Church, D., Stapleton, P., Raynor, D. · 2022
This study followed people through a six-week online tapping course aimed at weight loss, similar in spirit to "Naturally Thin You." The published report describes weight loss that held up over time, along with improvements in psychological symptoms.
Participants in this six-week online Clinical EFT weight-loss course showed durable weight loss and improved psychological symptoms at follow-up, according to the published abstract.
Case series Preliminary
PEP (related method)
German
Mayer-Gutdeutsch, H. · 2021
One person struggling with alcohol cravings in the German-speaking world tried a tapping-based method called PEP, and the reduced craving reportedly held up a full year later. It's a single case, not a trial, so it's a documented anecdote worth following up rather than evidence at the population level.
A single-case report using PEP (a German tapping-based method related to EFT) for alcohol craving found the reduction in craving was sustained at 1-year follow-up.
Review Moderate rigor
Feinstein, D. · 2008
This early and influential review walks through the full range of evidence for tapping-based energy psychology, from anecdotes up to randomized controlled trials, and concludes that by 2008 it had crossed the minimum bar to count as evidence-based, earning an official 'probably beneficial' designation from an American Psychological Association task force for treating specific phobias and for helping people keep weight off. The author is careful to call the overall evidence still preliminary even while noting the field had cleared this threshold, since the approach relies on unfamiliar mechanisms and had seen some early claims outpace the data.
The review concludes energy psychology has reached the minimum threshold to be designated an evidence-based treatment, having met APA Division 12 criteria as a 'probably efficacious treatment' for specific phobias and for maintaining weight loss.
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
Stapleton, P., Porter, B., Sheldon, T. · 2013
This is a practical how-to article on using tapping for quitting smoking rather than a research study with results to report. It draws on the broader EFT evidence base to explain the technique's application to cravings and withdrawal.
This practice-focused article discusses the application of EFT to smoking cessation without reporting new trial data.
Review Preliminary
Sojcher, R., Gould Fogerite, S., Perlman, A. · 2012
This review compares two mind-body approaches to overeating: mindfulness meditation and energy psychology (including tapping). The authors found mindfulness had the stronger track record at the time, while EFT looked promising but still early-stage for this particular use. It's an honest, non-promotional appraisal that puts EFT's evidence for obesity in context alongside a better-established approach.
The review found mindfulness meditation had more compelling evidence than energy psychology for obesity and binge-eating, though energy psychology showed initially promising outcomes needing further evidence-based trials.