Rometsch-Ogioun El Sount, C., Windthorst, P., Denkinger, J., Ziser, K., Nikendei, C., Kindermann, D. et al. · Journal of Psychosomatic Research · 2019
15 studies were included; CBT, Narrative Exposure Therapy with biofeedback, manualized trauma psychotherapy, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Emotional Freedom Techniques were evaluated, resulting in positive outcomes for both pain severity and PTSD symptoms.
If tapping's inclusion among effective approaches here bears out with more focused study, it could matter enormously for refugees carrying both physical pain and trauma — people often cut off from consistent healthcare, moving between countries, for whom a technique needing no equipment and no shared clinical language could travel with them. Because it's learned once and self-administered afterward, it wouldn't require finding a new therapist at every border crossing or resettlement site.
Refugees carrying both chronic pain and PTSD are a genuinely understudied group for objective measurement, so a dedicated tapping trial in this population — pairing pain and PTSD scales with inflammatory markers like CRP or cortisol — would be a meaningful next step beyond this narrative review. Testing delivery through community health workers in resettlement or camp settings would also matter, since these are populations that move between health systems and languages faster than any clinician relationship can follow.
| Design | Systematic review |
|---|---|
| Participants | 15 studies pooled |
| Population | traumatized refugees with chronic pain and diagnosed PTSD |
| Outcome measures | pain severity, PTSD symptoms |
| Journal | Journal of Psychosomatic Research |
| Year | 2019 |
| Language | English |
| Method | EFT / tapping |
| Publication type | Review or meta-analysis |
| Verification | ✓ Confirmed against the primary source |
Rometsch-Ogioun El Sount, C., Windthorst, P., Denkinger, J., Ziser, K., Nikendei, C., Kindermann, D., Ringwald, J., Renner, V., Zipfel, S., & Junne, F. (2019). Chronic pain in refugees with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD): A systematic review on patients' characteristics and specific interventions. Journal of Psychosomatic Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2018.07.014
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 Other Physical Conditions · PTSD & Trauma
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