The Tapping Evidence Base
Anxiety

Decreased the anxiety scale of hemodialysis patients with the Spiritual Emotional Freedom Technique (SEFT) and Autogenic Relaxation

Lina, L., Sabriyanti, H., Sartika, A. · Southeast Asia Nursing Research · 2019

Controlled trial ⚖️ vs. autogenic relaxation Moderate rigor ✓ Source-checked 📍 Indonesia
In plain English. Patients undergoing the demanding routine of hemodialysis tried either a spiritual form of EFT or a relaxation technique for their anxiety. Both approaches worked about equally well at easing anxiety, with tapping holding its own against an established relaxation method. This adds EFT to the toolkit of options for a patient group facing chronic, repetitive medical stress.

What they found

Patients undergoing the demanding routine of hemodialysis tried either a spiritual form of EFT or a relaxation technique for their anxiety.

Both SEFT (p = 0.000) and autogenic relaxation (p = 0.000) significantly reduced anxiety in hemodialysis patients, with no significant difference between the two approaches (p = 0.184).

How the study worked

Who took part hemodialysis patients
What they did In a controlled trial, a tapping group was compared against a separate comparison group.
Compared with autogenic relaxation
Measured with anxiety 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 anxiety 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

DesignControlled trial
Populationhemodialysis patients
Comparison groupautogenic relaxation
Outcome measuresanxiety scale
JournalSoutheast Asia Nursing Research
Year2019
CountryIndonesia
LanguageEnglish
MethodSEFT (related Tapping method)
Publication typeStudy / trial
Verification✓ Confirmed against the primary source

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Cite this study

APA

Lina, L., Sabriyanti, H., & Sartika, A. (2019). Decreased the anxiety scale of hemodialysis patients with the Spiritual Emotional Freedom Technique (SEFT) and Autogenic Relaxation. Southeast Asia Nursing Research. https://doi.org/10.26714/seanr.1.3.2019.142-147

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

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THE TAPPING EVIDENCE BASE Anxiety ✓ Controlled trial WHAT THEY FOUND Both SEFT (p = 0.000) and autogenicrelaxation (p = 0.000) significantly reducedanxiety in hemodialysis patients… Controlled trial Lina · 2019 · evidence.thetappingsolution.com