Borrowing Benefits: Group treatment with Clinical Emotional Freedom Techniques is associated with simultaneous reductions in posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression symptoms

Outcome study👥 81 participants📈 Cohen's 0.54 (moderate)Moderate rigor✓ Source-checked📍 United States

In plain English. Eighty-one people at EFT workshops used a group format called 'Borrowing Benefits,' where one person works directly with a facilitator while everyone else taps along on their own material. Across the board, PTSD symptoms, anxiety, depression, pain, and cravings all dropped significantly, and the improvement in PTSD symptoms was a moderate-sized effect that held up six months later. Because this wasn't compared against a separate control group, some of the change could reflect simply attending an intensive workshop rather than the tapping itself.

What they found

Cohen's = 0.54

a moderate effect · on PTSD symptoms

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Significant reductions were observed across all measures (P < .03), with a moderate Cohen's d of 0.54 for the PTSD treatment effect, and gains maintained at 6-month follow-up.

How the study worked

Who took partnonclinical participants at five 2-day EFT workshops (n=81)

What they didParticipants received tapping and were measured before and after, without a separate comparison group.

Measured with9 SA-45 symptom subscales, Positive Symptom Total (PST), General Symptom Index (GSI), physical pain, addictive cravings

💡 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 PTSD & trauma 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 head-to-head trial against an established treatment like CBT, and a randomized controlled design.

The full record

Design	Outcome study
Participants	81 people
Population	nonclinical participants at five 2-day EFT workshops
Effect size	Cohen's d = 0.54 — on PTSD symptoms
Outcome measures	9 SA-45 symptom subscales, Positive Symptom Total (PST), General Symptom Index (GSI), physical pain, addictive cravings
Journal	Journal of Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine
Year	2018
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., & House, D. (2018). Borrowing Benefits: Group treatment with Clinical Emotional Freedom Techniques is associated with simultaneous reductions in posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression symptoms. Journal of Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1177/2156587218756510

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