Effect of the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) on Teacher Burnout

Randomized trial👥 126 participants⚖️ vs. sham acupressure (tapping on non-meridian points)Moderate rigor✓ Source-checked📍 United States

In plain English. 126 public school teachers dealing with burnout were split into a group tapping on the real acupressure points used in EFT and a group tapping on the body but at the wrong (sham) points, so the study could test whether the specific points mattered. The real-tapping group improved across all three markers of burnout — feeling emotionally drained, feeling disconnected from students, and feeling ineffective — while the sham group only improved slightly on one of the three. This is a doctoral dissertation rather than a peer-reviewed journal article, so it has not gone through the same external review process.

What they found

126

people took part

126 K-12 teachers were compared using proper EFT tapping points versus a sham-point control group; the EFT group showed significant reductions in all three burnout dimensions (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment), while the sham group only improved on emotional exhaustion and not the other two dimensions.

How the study worked

Who took partK-12 public school teachers (convenience sample) (n=126)

What they didIn a randomized controlled trial, participants were randomly assigned to receive tapping or a comparison condition, then measured and compared.

Compared withsham acupressure (tapping on non-meridian points)

Measured withMaslach Burnout Inventory (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, personal accomplishment subscales)

💡 Where this could help

Picture a public school teacher stretched thin by overcrowded classrooms, with no time or budget for wellness programs. If this sham-controlled signal replicates, it suggests something schools could realistically offer at scale precisely because it needs no ongoing facilitator — a short, specific practice teachers learn once and then use themselves between classes, potentially easing the emotional exhaustion and depersonalization that drive so many educators to leave the profession.

🔬 What to study next

With real tapping outperforming sham tapping on two of three burnout dimensions, the next step is checking whether that gap shows up biologically — cortisol patterns across a school day, heart-rate variability, and inflammatory markers linked to chronic occupational stress — alongside the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Testing a scaled, school-wide version with no ongoing facilitator, and following teachers into the next school year, would show whether the burnout relief holds up under real, sustained classroom pressure rather than fading after a semester.

The full record

Design	Randomized trial
Participants	126 people
Population	K-12 public school teachers (convenience sample)
Comparison group	sham acupressure (tapping on non-meridian points)
Outcome measures	Maslach Burnout Inventory (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, personal accomplishment subscales)
Journal	ProQuest LLC (doctoral dissertation)
Year	2010
Country	United States
Language	English
Method	EFT / tapping
Publication type	Dissertation
Verification	✓ Confirmed against the primary source

Read the original study →

Cite this study

APA

Reynolds, J. (2010). Effect of the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) on Teacher Burnout. ProQuest LLC (doctoral dissertation).

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 Burnout & Work Stress