Church, D. · Traumatology · 2010
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.
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.
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.
| Design | Controlled trial |
|---|---|
| Participants | 32 people |
| Population | veterans and family members with PTSD (19 EFT, 13 wait-list) |
| Comparison group | wait-list control (n=13) vs EFT (n=19) |
| Outcome measures | SA-45, PCL-M (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Military) |
| Journal | Traumatology |
| Year | 2010 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Method | EFT / Tapping |
| Publication type | Study / trial |
| Verification | ✓ Confirmed against the primary source |
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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