Pain, Range of Motion, and Psychological Symptoms in a Population With Frozen Shoulder: A Randomized Controlled Dismantling Study of Clinical EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques)

Dismantling study👥 37 participants⚖️ vs. diaphragmatic breathing (dismantling design to isolate the acupressure component); a wait-list arm was also part of the original 3-arm designModerate rigor✓ Source-checked📍 United States

In plain English. Thirty-seven people with a frozen, painful shoulder tried a single 30-minute tapping session, compared against a breathing exercise designed to test whether the acupressure part of tapping mattered. Both groups felt less pain and less anxious afterward, but actual shoulder mobility didn't clearly improve in most measurements. This was a small, one-session study meant to isolate what part of tapping does the work, not a full treatment trial, and it wasn't found on PubMed (published in an APA specialty journal), so the exact statistics could not be independently re-verified.

What they found

people took part

37 participants with frozen shoulder were assessed before and after a single 30-minute session and again 30 days later; both EFT and diaphragmatic-breathing groups improved on pain and psychological symptoms post-session, but range-of-motion changes were not statistically significant for most measures, and reduced psychological distress was associated with reduced pain and some ROM improvement.

How the study worked

Who took partadults with frozen shoulder (limited range of motion and pain) (n=37)

What they didThis dismantling study compared standard tapping against a modified version to test which components matter.

Compared withdiaphragmatic breathing (dismantling design to isolate the acupressure component); a wait-list arm was also part of the original 3-arm design

Measured withshoulder range of motion, pain rating, anxiety, depression

💡 Where this could help

If findings like these hold up in larger trials, the promise is simple: a low-cost, self-administered tool that could reach people struggling with pain who can't easily access traditional care — at home, between appointments, or where there aren't enough clinicians to go around.

🔬 What to study next

The natural next step: a larger sample to confirm the effect.

The full record

Design	Dismantling study
Participants	37 people
Population	adults with frozen shoulder (limited range of motion and pain)
Comparison group	diaphragmatic breathing (dismantling design to isolate the acupressure component); a wait-list arm was also part of the original 3-arm design
Outcome measures	shoulder range of motion, pain rating, anxiety, depression
Journal	Archives of Scientific Psychology
Year	2016
Country	United States
Language	English
Method	EFT / tapping
Publication type	Study / trial
Verification	✓ Confirmed against the primary source

Read the original study →

Cite this study

APA

Church, D., & et al. (2016). Pain, Range of Motion, and Psychological Symptoms in a Population With Frozen Shoulder: A Randomized Controlled Dismantling Study of Clinical EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques). Archives of Scientific Psychology.

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 Pain