The Tapping Evidence Base
PTSD & Trauma

Six Sessions of Emotional Freedom Techniques Remediate One Veteran's Combat-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Minewiser, L. · Medical Acupuncture · 2017

Case series👥 1 participantsPreliminary✓ Source-checked📍 United States
In plain English. One Marine veteran's PTSD score dropped from a high, clearly clinical level to well below the clinical threshold after six sessions of tapping, and kept improving over six months. As a single case drawn from a larger replication study, it's an illustrative example rather than independent proof.

What they found

1
people took part

The patient's PTSD score dropped from a high clinical score of 60 before treatment to 40 after 6 sessions and to a clinical score of 22 at 6 months follow-up, along with reduced insomnia and pain.

How the study worked

Who took partone young Marine Reservist who served in Iraq, part of the Veteran Stress Project replication study (n=1)
What they didThis is a detailed report following a small number of individual cases through tapping.
Measured withPTSD clinical score, SA-45

💡 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 PTSD & trauma 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
Participants1 people
Populationone young Marine Reservist who served in Iraq, part of the Veteran Stress Project replication study
Outcome measuresPTSD clinical score, SA-45
JournalMedical Acupuncture
Year2017
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
MethodEFT / tapping
Publication typeCase report
Verification✓ Confirmed against the primary source
Verification note. PTSD score changes (60->40->22) corroborated via secondary source rather than directly read from primary abstract.

Read the original study →

Cite this study

APA

Minewiser, L. (2017). Six Sessions of Emotional Freedom Techniques Remediate One Veteran's Combat-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Medical Acupuncture. https://doi.org/10.1089/acu.2017.1216

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 PTSD & Trauma

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THE TAPPING EVIDENCE BASE PTSD & Trauma 1 participants WHAT THEY FOUND The patient's PTSD score dropped from a highclinical score of 60 before treatment to 40after 6 sessions and to a… Case series · 1 participants Minewiser · 2017 · evidence.thetappingsolution.com