The Tapping Evidence Base
PTSD & Trauma

The Treatment of Combat Trauma in Veterans Using EFT: A Pilot Protocol

Church, D. · Traumatology · 2010

Randomized trial👥 32 participants⚖️ vs. wait-list control (n=13) vs EFT (n=19)Moderate rigor✓ Source-checked📍 United States
In plain English. Veterans and family members with PTSD were given a five-day intensive course of EFT sessions, and the large majority no longer showed PTSD symptoms afterward, with the improvement holding up three months later; a companion randomized comparison confirmed no change happened just from waiting. This pilot protocol paper and its 2009 companion publication describe the same overall research program establishing EFT's short-term efficacy for combat trauma.

What they found

32
people took part

After 6 sessions of EFT, 87% of the EFT group were PTSD-negative, with a mean PCL-M score of 35 (SE ±2.68, p<.001); gains were maintained at 3-month follow-up (all subjects PTSD-negative); wait-list group showed no improvement during the waiting period.

How the study worked

Who took partveterans and family members (11 in the pilot protocol study, plus a 19 vs 13 randomized comparison reported in a companion 2009 paper) (n=32)
What they didIn a randomized controlled trial, participants were randomly assigned to receive tapping or a comparison condition, then measured and compared.
Compared withwait-list control (n=13) vs EFT (n=19)
Measured withSA-45, PCL-M (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Military)

💡 Where this could help

If an intensive short course of tapping keeps producing this level of PTSD relief for veterans and their families, it could mean combat trauma — which can take years to address through conventional weekly therapy — gets addressed in a matter of days, reaching veterans who might otherwise never start or finish a long treatment course. Because the whole technique is self-administered once taught, veterans could keep applying it themselves long after the intensive course ends and the clinicians are gone.

🔬 What to study next

With this scale of remission after just six sessions, the priority next step is validating it against objective PTSD biomarkers — HRV, cortisol awakening response, or startle-reflex testing — before and after the intensive course, in a larger, multi-site veteran sample, to see whether 'PTSD-negative' by questionnaire is matched by a genuinely calmed physiological threat-response system. Extending follow-up well past 3 months, and tracking family members' outcomes too since they were included here, would also clarify how durable and broadly protective this intensive format is.

The full record

DesignRandomized trial
Participants32 people
Populationveterans and family members (11 in the pilot protocol study, plus a 19 vs 13 randomized comparison reported in a companion 2009 paper)
Comparison groupwait-list control (n=13) vs EFT (n=19)
Outcome measuresSA-45, PCL-M (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Military)
JournalTraumatology
Year2010
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
MethodEFT / tapping
Publication typeStudy / trial
Verification✓ Confirmed against the primary source

Read the original study →

Cite this study

APA

Church, D. (2010). The Treatment of Combat Trauma in Veterans Using EFT: A Pilot Protocol. Traumatology. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534765609347549

This record is part of the Tapping Evidence Base — an openly-sourced, fully-referenced directory of the research on EFT/tapping. Explore more studies on PTSD & Trauma

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THE TAPPING EVIDENCE BASE PTSD & Trauma 32 participants WHAT THEY FOUND After 6 sessions of EFT, 87% of the EFTgroup were PTSD-negative, with a mean PCL-Mscore of 35 (SE ±2.68, p<.001)… Randomized trial · 32 participants Church · 2010 · evidence.thetappingsolution.com