The Tapping Evidence Base
PTSD & Trauma · Anxiety · Depression

Psychological Trauma Symptom Improvement in Veterans Using Emotional Freedom Techniques: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Church, D., Hawk, C., Brooks, A.J., Toukolehto, O., Wren, M., Dinter, I. et al. · Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease · 2013

Randomized trial👥 59 participants⚖️ vs. standard-of-care waitlistModerate rigor✓ Source-checked📍 United States
In plain English. 59 veterans with diagnosed PTSD were randomly split into a group that got six hour-long tapping sessions and a group that kept getting their usual care while waiting. Nine out of ten veterans in the tapping group no longer met the clinical criteria for PTSD afterward, compared to almost none in the waitlist group, and most held onto that improvement six months later. It's a real effect, unlikely to be chance, though the comparison group only waited rather than receiving an active alternative treatment.

What they found

59
people took part

After six EFT sessions, 90% of the EFT group no longer met clinical criteria for PTSD versus 4% of the waitlist group (p<.0001); psychological distress also dropped significantly (p<.0012); gains were maintained at 80% at 6-month follow-up after waitlist participants crossed over and received EFT.

How the study worked

Who took partveterans meeting clinical criteria for PTSD, receiving VA mental health services (n=59)
What they didIn a randomized controlled trial, participants were randomly assigned to receive tapping or a comparison condition, then measured and compared.
Compared withstandard-of-care waitlist
Measured withPTSD clinical-criteria assessment, psychological distress symptom inventory

⭐ Why this study matters

Ninety percent of veterans in this trial no longer met the clinical criteria for PTSD after six sessions of tapping, compared to four percent on a waitlist — and most of that improvement was still holding six months later. A shift that size, in a diagnosis that can take years of treatment to meaningfully improve, is the kind of finding that changes how quickly a struggling veteran might be offered real relief instead of a place in a long queue.

💡 Where this could help

Picture a veteran who has waited months for a mental health appointment, still living with the intrusive memories and hypervigilance of PTSD. If this scale of remission — nine in ten no longer meeting PTSD criteria — continues to replicate, it could reshape how quickly veterans get real relief: taught once, tapping is something a veteran can keep practicing alone while waiting, potentially serving as a bridge offered soon after screening rather than making veterans wait for scarce specialist slots.

🔬 What to study next

A result this dramatic — nine in ten veterans no longer meeting PTSD criteria — calls for confirmation with objective biomarkers alongside the clinical interview: cortisol awakening response, heart-rate variability, and amygdala or hippocampal activity on fMRI, to see whether the brain's fear circuitry is measurably quieting down alongside the diagnostic remission. A multi-site replication with clinician-rated outcomes, and follow-up well beyond six months, would test how durable and how generalizable this scale of effect really is across different VA systems.

The full record

DesignRandomized trial
Participants59 people
Populationveterans meeting clinical criteria for PTSD, receiving VA mental health services
Comparison groupstandard-of-care waitlist
Outcome measuresPTSD clinical-criteria assessment, psychological distress symptom inventory
JournalJournal of Nervous and Mental Disease
Year2013
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
MethodEFT / tapping
Publication typeStudy / trial
Verification✓ Confirmed against the primary source

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Cite this study

APA

Church, D., Hawk, C., Brooks, A.J., Toukolehto, O., Wren, M., Dinter, I., & Stein, P. (2013). Psychological Trauma Symptom Improvement in Veterans Using Emotional Freedom Techniques: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. https://doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0b013e31827f6351

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 · Anxiety · Depression

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THE TAPPING EVIDENCE BASE PTSD & Trauma 59 participants WHAT THEY FOUND After six EFT sessions, 90% of the EFT groupno longer met clinical criteria for PTSDversus 4% of the waitlist group… Randomized trial · 59 participants Church · 2013 · evidence.thetappingsolution.com