The Tapping Evidence Base
Other Physical Conditions

A role for Emotional Freedom Technique in palliative patients? Three case reports

Coyle, S. · BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care · 2017

Case series👥 3 participantsPreliminary✓ Source-checked
In plain English. A clinician used EFT tapping with three patients in palliative (end-of-life) care who were emotionally distressed, and all three felt better quickly afterward. With only three cases and no control group, this is exploratory evidence suggesting EFT is worth studying further in this setting, not proof it works broadly.

What they found

3
people took part

Following EFT treatment, all three palliative patients' emotional distress decreased within a very short time, suggesting EFT has potential as a tool to improve care for palliative patients experiencing distressing emotions.

How the study worked

Who took partthree palliative care patients experiencing emotional distress (n=3)
What they didThis is a detailed report following a small number of individual cases through tapping.
Measured withclinical case observation of emotional distress

💡 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 other physical conditions 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 larger sample to confirm the effect.

The full record

DesignCase series
Participants3 people
Populationthree palliative care patients experiencing emotional distress
Outcome measuresclinical case observation of emotional distress
JournalBMJ Supportive & Palliative Care
Year2017
LanguageEnglish
MethodEFT / tapping
Publication typeCase report
Verification✓ Confirmed against the primary source

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Cite this study

APA

Coyle, S. (2017). A role for Emotional Freedom Technique in palliative patients? Three case reports. BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjspcare-2017-hospice.198

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 Other Physical Conditions

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THE TAPPING EVIDENCE BASE Other Physical Conditions 3 participants WHAT THEY FOUND Following EFT treatment, all threepalliative patients' emotional distressdecreased within a very short time… Case series · 3 participants Coyle · 2017 · evidence.thetappingsolution.com