The Tapping Evidence Base
Anxiety · PTSD & Trauma · Trauma (other)

The Effectiveness of Emotional Freedom Technique on Anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome in Women with Spontaneous Abortion

Published in Persian . The plain-English summary was written for this directory from the original-language paper.

Yavari Kermani, M., Razavi, S., Shabani, M. · Journal of Applied Family Therapy · 2020

Case series 👥 6 participants ⚖️ vs. single-case multiple-baseline design (own control) Preliminary ✓ Source-checked 📍 Iran
In plain English. Six women grieving a miscarriage went through individual EFT sessions to address both their anxiety and post-traumatic stress. Across the group, anxiety and trauma symptoms improved substantially and the gains held at follow-up. With just six participants and a single-case design, this is an early signal for a population, pregnancy loss, that badly needs more attention in the tapping literature.

What they found

6
Six women grieving a miscarriage went through individual EFT sessions to address both their anxiety and post-traumatic stress.

Trait anxiety improved 38.75% in the treatment phase and 43.06% at follow-up; state anxiety improved 47.14% and 47.91% (as reported); PTSD symptoms improved 49.92% in treatment and 50.29% at follow-up.

How the study worked

Who took part women who experienced spontaneous abortion (miscarriage), Isfahan, Iran (n=6)
What they did This is a detailed report following a small number of individual cases through tapping.
Compared with single-case multiple-baseline design (own control)
Measured with Spielberger Anxiety Inventory, PTSD symptom self-report scale (Foa et al.)

💡 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: a larger sample to confirm the effect, and a randomized controlled design.

The full record

DesignCase series
Participants6 people
Populationwomen who experienced spontaneous abortion (miscarriage), Isfahan, Iran
Comparison groupsingle-case multiple-baseline design (own control)
Outcome measuresSpielberger Anxiety Inventory, PTSD symptom self-report scale (Foa et al.)
JournalJournal of Applied Family Therapy
Year2020
CountryIran
LanguagePersian
MethodEFT / Tapping
Publication typeCase report
Verification✓ Confirmed against the primary source

Read the original study →

Cite this study

APA

Yavari Kermani, M., Razavi, S., & Shabani, M. (2020). The Effectiveness of Emotional Freedom Technique on Anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome in Women with Spontaneous Abortion. Journal of Applied Family Therapy. https://doi.org/10.61838/kman.aftj.1.4.4

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 · PTSD & Trauma · Trauma (other)

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THE TAPPING EVIDENCE BASE Anxiety 6 participants WHAT THEY FOUND Trait anxiety improved 38.75% in thetreatment phase and 43.06% at follow-up;state anxiety improved 47.14% and… Case series · 6 participants Yavari Kermani · 2020 · evidence.thetappingsolution.com