Spiritual Emotional Freedom Technique Decreasing Stress on Patients with Cervical Cancer

Controlled trial 👥 68 participants ⚖️ vs. control group (no SEFT) Moderate rigor ✓ Source-checked 📍 Indonesia

In plain English. This is the Indonesian SEFT variant, which combines tapping with prayer and spiritual surrender rather than the standard secular EFT protocol. 68 women with cervical cancer going through chemotherapy in Indonesia were split into a SEFT group and a no-treatment group. The women who did three short SEFT sessions reported feeling less stressed than those who didn't. It's described using language suggestive of randomization, but the exact allocation method wasn't detailed, so it's treated cautiously here as a controlled (not confirmed randomized) trial.

What they found

This is the Indonesian SEFT variant, which combines tapping with prayer and spiritual surrender rather than the standard secular EFT protocol.

After three 30-minute SEFT sessions, patients' stress scores were significantly lower than the control group, per the study's paired and independent t-test analysis.

How the study worked

Who took part Cervical cancer patients (stage I-III) undergoing chemotherapy at RSUP Dr. Hasan Sadikin Bandung, Indonesia (34 intervention, 34 control) (n=68)

What they did In a controlled trial, a tapping group was compared against a separate comparison group.

Compared with control group (no SEFT)

Measured with stress questionnaire

💡 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 cancer & serious illness 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: longer-term follow-up to see how durable the benefit is, and an active ('sham tapping') control to isolate what's doing the work.

The full record

Design	Controlled trial
Participants	68 people
Population	Cervical cancer patients (stage I-III) undergoing chemotherapy at RSUP Dr. Hasan Sadikin Bandung, Indonesia (34 intervention, 34 control)
Comparison group	control group (no SEFT)
Outcome measures	stress questionnaire
Journal	Jurnal Ners
Year	2017
Country	Indonesia
Language	English
Method	SEFT (related Tapping method)
Publication type	Study / trial
Verification	✓ Confirmed against the primary source

Read the original study →

Cite this study

APA

Desmaniarti, Z., & Avianti, N. (2017). Spiritual Emotional Freedom Technique Decreasing Stress on Patients with Cervical Cancer. Jurnal Ners.

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 Cancer & Serious Illness · Stress & Cortisol