The Tapping Evidence Base
Stress & Cortisol · Other Physical Conditions

Spiritual Emotional Freedom Technique to reduce stress in hypertensive patients

Fatmasari, D., Widyana, R., Budiyani, K. · Jurnal Psikologi · 2019

Outcome study👥 5 participantsPreliminary✓ Source-checked📍 Indonesia
In plain English. Five people with high blood pressure and significant stress in Indonesia tried Spiritual EFT, a version of tapping combined with prayer, in a one-group before-and-after design. Their stress scores dropped substantially, from an average of 82 down to 56 on a 28-item scale, a change large enough to be a real effect rather than chance. The sample is only five people with no comparison group, so it's best treated as a very early signal.

What they found

5
people took part

In 5 hypertensive patients, mean stress scores fell from 82.20 pretest to 56.20 posttest following Spiritual Emotional Freedom Technique (SEFT), a statistically significant difference on Wilcoxon signed-rank test (Z=-2.023, p<0.050).

How the study worked

Who took parthypertensive patients aged 40-60 with moderate to high stress (n=5)
What they didParticipants received tapping and were measured before and after, without a separate comparison group.
Measured with28-item stress scale

💡 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 stress & cortisol 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

DesignOutcome study
Participants5 people
Populationhypertensive patients aged 40-60 with moderate to high stress
Outcome measures28-item stress scale
JournalJurnal Psikologi
Year2019
CountryIndonesia
LanguageIndonesian
MethodEFT / tapping
Publication typeStudy / trial
Verification✓ Confirmed against the primary source

Read the original study →

Cite this study

APA

Fatmasari, D., Widyana, R., & Budiyani, K. (2019). Spiritual Emotional Freedom Technique to reduce stress in hypertensive patients. Jurnal Psikologi.

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 Stress & Cortisol · Other Physical Conditions

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THE TAPPING EVIDENCE BASE Stress & Cortisol 5 participants WHAT THEY FOUND In 5 hypertensive patients, mean stressscores fell from 82.20 pretest to 56.20posttest following Spiritual… Outcome study · 5 participants Fatmasari · 2019 · evidence.thetappingsolution.com