The Tapping Evidence Base
Anxiety · Depression

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Emotional Freedom Technique in reducing anxiety and depression in Indian adults

Jasubhai, S., Mukundan, C. R. · International Journal of Emergency Mental Health · 2018

Randomized trial👥 10 participants⚖️ vs. cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)Preliminary✓ Source-checked📍 India
In plain English. Ten adults in India with both anxiety and depression were randomly assigned to eight weeks of EFT or CBT. Both treatments worked, but EFT showed a depression improvement earlier, after just three sessions, compared to CBT's eight-week timeline. With only ten participants, this needs a much larger trial to confirm the apparent speed advantage.

What they found

10
people took part

Both CBT and EFT produced significant reductions in anxiety and depressive symptoms; the EFT group showed marked improvement in depression after just 3 sessions, while the CBT group showed significant improvement after 8 weeks.

How the study worked

Who took partadults in Ahmedabad, India, screened positive for anxiety disorder and depression (n=10)
What they didIn a randomized controlled trial, participants were randomly assigned to receive tapping or a comparison condition, then measured and compared.
Compared withcognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
Measured withDASS-21, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-2)

💡 Where this could help

If tapping's apparent speed advantage for depression is confirmed in bigger trials, picture someone in a community with few mental health providers getting meaningful relief in just three sessions instead of the eight weeks CBT often requires, and then being able to keep self-administering the technique afterward with no further appointments needed at all. That kind of speed could matter most in under-resourced healthcare systems where sustained therapy is hard to access.

🔬 What to study next

With such a small sample, the priority is replication at scale in India, tracking whether EFT's apparent speed advantage for depression, marked improvement after just three sessions, holds when paired with cortisol or inflammatory markers, to see if faster symptom relief also means a faster return to baseline stress biology than CBT typically produces. Testing group delivery in community clinics across more Indian cities would also help determine whether this speed advantage scales beyond a ten-person pilot.

The full record

DesignRandomized trial
Participants10 people
Populationadults in Ahmedabad, India, screened positive for anxiety disorder and depression
Comparison groupcognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
Outcome measuresDASS-21, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-2)
JournalInternational Journal of Emergency Mental Health
Year2018
CountryIndia
LanguageEnglish
MethodEFT / tapping
Publication typeStudy / trial
Verification✓ Confirmed against the primary source

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Cite this study

APA

Jasubhai, S., & Mukundan, C. R. (2018). Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Emotional Freedom Technique in reducing anxiety and depression in Indian adults. International Journal of Emergency Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.4172/1522-4821.1000403

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 Anxiety · Depression

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THE TAPPING EVIDENCE BASE Anxiety 10 participants WHAT THEY FOUND Both CBT and EFT produced significantreductions in anxiety and depressivesymptoms; the EFT group showed marked… Randomized trial · 10 participants Jasubhai · 2018 · evidence.thetappingsolution.com