Research on EFT on the Covid-19 Pandemic
This area represents the clinical research conducted on Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) on the Covid-19 Pandemic. Explore by title below. Where the paper is available free of charge in an open access journal, you can download it and use freely (on website, social media, newsletters). If it is behind a pay wall, you can freely share the abstract and reference but cannot share the full article, due to copyright.
Comparison of Efficacy of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing of Emotional Freedom Technique and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy in PTSD in Covid-19
Abstract
This study compared the effectiveness of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), emotional freedom technique (EFT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in treating PTSD in patients who recovered from Covid-19 in Tabriz (Iran).The present study was quasi-experimental based on a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistical population included all female patients recovered from Covid-19 aged 25 to 60 years in Tabriz in 2021. forty-eight patients sampled using the purposeful sampling method and diagnosed with PTSD were randomly assigned to three experimental groups(n=36) and one control group(n=12). Participants in EMDR and EFT sessions were treated individually in six 45 min sessions. Similarly, those who took part in the CBT sessions were treated in groups in 45 min sessions. All participants were evaluated in two pre-test and post-test stages by a post-traumatic stress disorder checklist. Data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 22) using the analysis of covariance. Post-test PTSDA scores were significantly reduced in three experimental groups (P <0.05). Additionally, a reduction in PTSD scores in the EMDR group was substantially more significant than in the CBT and EFT groups. Three EMDR, EFT and CBT psychotherapies relieved the symptoms in PTSD patients. However, according to the post-test results, EMDR intervention was more effective than CBT and EFT psychotherapy in reducing PTSD symptoms. Since, all the three methods can improve behavioral strategies by influencing irrational thoughts and emotion release, they are effective ways to reduce PTSD .
Citation (APA Style): Akbari, M. , Aghdasi, A. , Panah ali, A. , Azemodeh, M. and Naghdi Sadeh, R. (2023). Comparison of Efficacy of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing of Emotional Freedom Technique and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy in PTSD in Covid-19. Journal of Modern Psychological Researches, 18(69), 17-24. doi: 10.22034/jmpr.2023.16246
Direct link: https://psychologyj.tabrizu.ac.ir/article_16246.html?lang=en
The Efficacy of EFT on the Symptoms of Depression, Anxiety and Stress Among College Students’ During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Basis for the Development of Psychological Acupuncture Intervention
Abstract
The study's major goal was to determine whether lockdowns, remote learning, and other significant changes brought on by the COVID-19 epidemic caused students at a locally supported institution in Laguna to feel depressed, anxious, or stressed. Students enrolled from 2020 to the present or during the pandemic's duration made comprised the study's participants. This was a quasi-experimental design. It was designed to find out if students were displaying signs of stress, anxiety, or depression. An intervention, Emotional Freedom Technique, has been used to mitigate and address their degree of depression, anxiety, and stress. The participants' age, sex, course, and year level demographics were also noted. The research used simple random sampling and the researcher called all the participants who met the criteria. Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) was utilized to determine their level of symptoms. Moderate to extremely severe symptoms had been invited to participate in the experiment. Volunteered participants had been assigned to three experimental groups namely depression group, anxiety, and stress. Forty-five (45) participants had been subjected to 16 (sixteen) sessions of online intervention with a total of 48 sessions for three groups with an interval post-test within the sessions. Fortunately, after 16 sessions of the emotional freedom technique, the participants in the anxiety group had a baseline of 16.69 mean or severe but after three post-tests they became better as revealed by the last post-test mean of 4.84 or normal. As to depression, they had 22.77 mean or severe, but after sessions it was now 10.38 mean or mild. The participants had 25.50 mean or severe but afterwards 8.70 mean or normal in the stress group. Since quantifiable data has demonstrated how well the emotional liberation technique works, the hypothesis that it is ineffective for reducing the participants' levels of sadness, anxiety, and stress symptoms was rejected. Nevertheless, the researcher will create an intervention called “Psychological Acupuncture for Comfort” as the output for the study.
Citation (APA Style): Bustamante-Paster , A. (2022). The efficacy of EFT on the symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress among college students’ during the COVID-19 pandemic: Basis for the development of psychological acupuncture intervention. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Analysis, 5(7). https://doi.org/10.47191/ijmra/v5-i7-06
Direct link: https://ijmra.in/v5i7/6.php
EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) As An Alternative Therapy To Reduce Anxiety Disorders and Depression in People Who Are Positive Covid-19
Abstract
The increasing number of deaths from Covid-19 is in line with anxiety disorders and depression in people who are positive for Covid-19. The emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is known as an effective therapy to reduce mental health disorders in certain patients but has never been applied to people who are confirmed positive for Covid-19. This study aims to analyze the effectiveness of EFT as an alternative therapy in reducing anxiety and depression in people who are positive for Covid-19. This research design uses a quasi-experimental approach with a one-group pretest and posttest approach. A total of 22 people were isolated in the Health Training Unit (UPELKES) provided by the Pontianak Government in June 2021. The data analysis technique used paired t-test (95% CI). There was a significant decrease in anxiety (t value = 6,738) and depression scores (t value = 2,585) after EFT therapy was given (p-value < 0.05). Thus, EFT can be an alternative therapy in overcoming anxiety and depression disorders in people who are confirmed positive for Covid-19.
Citation (APA Style): Tambunan, M. B., Suwarni, L., Setiawati, L., & Mardjan, M. (2022). EFT (emotional freedom technique) as an alternative therapy to reduce anxiety disorders and depression in people who are positive covid-19. Psikostudia Jurnal Psikologi, 11(1), 59–59. https://doi.org/10.30872/psikostudia.v11i1.7104
Direct link: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/75b8/6018f2d6dc5c194533fe324dfbb2281ca9bd.pdf
Effect of Emotional Freedom Techniques on Anxiety, Depression and Insomnia Among COVID-19 Patients
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a massive impact on various aspects, including mental health, especially for people confirmed positive for COVID-19. People who are positively confirmed for COVID-19 tend to experience decreased immunity caused by feelings of anxiety, depression, and insomnia. emotional freedom technology (EFT) therapy has been proven to reduce mental health disorders but has never been applied to people who are positively confirmed for COVID-19. This study aimed to examine the effect of EFT therapy on mental health disorders (anxiety, depression, and insomnia) in COVID-19 patients in Pontianak City. This research method is quantitative with a quasi-experimental design in the COVID-19 isolation area provided by the Pontianak City government, namely Upelkes and Rusunawa in June 2021. The total sampling was employed consisting of 42 people. A validated questionnaire on anxiety, depression, and insomnia was employed as a research instrument. A repeated ANOVA test was used to analyze research data. The results showed that EFT therapy was effective in reducing anxiety, depression, and insomnia scores in positively confirmed people for COVID-19 (p-value <0.05). EFT therapy can overcome mental health disorders experienced by people who are positively confirmed for COVID-19 and as an alternative therapy to speed up the healing process.
Citation (APA Style): Tambunan, M. B., Suwarni, L., & Selviana, S. (2023). Effect of emotional freedom techniques on anxiety, depression and insomnia among COVID-19 patients. International Journal of Public Health Science, 12(2), 545. https://doi.org/10.11591/ijphs.v12i2.22403
Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) Tapping for Pediatric Emergency Department Staff During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evaluation of a Pilot Intervention
Abstract
Objective: Emergency-department (ED) staff may experience psychologic distress due to the stressful nature of their work. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this distress. Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) tapping, a somatic psychophysiologic intervention combining vibratory acupressure with elements of cognitive-behavioral and exposure therapies, can reduce psychologic distress. This study tested the short-term effect of 10-minute EFT tapping on the psychologic distress of pediatric ED staff responding to COVID-19.
Materials and methods: During the COVID-19 pandemic, diverse staff in the pediatric ED of a New York City teaching hospital participated in this single-group study. A licensed creative arts therapist led participants in 10-minute EFT tapping sessions. A self-report questionnaire with 7 items based on the Trauma Exposure Response framework was administered immediately pre- and postintervention. Standardized mean differences between both timepoints were calculated.
Results: There were statistically significant reductions for 6 of the 7 items studied, including stress (3.32-2.14), obsessive and intrusive thoughts (2.50-1.85), feelings of pressure (3.20-2.17), loneliness (1.84-1.44), and emotional and physical pain (2.28-1.70); all P < 0.001. No significant changes in professional satisfaction were reported following the intervention.
Conclusions: Despite the limitations of a single-arm study design, a 10-minute brief EFT tapping session was a promising way to reduce short-term psychologic distress in pediatric ED health care workers. Future studies, including rigorous randomized controlled trials, are needed to evaluate the effectiveness of brief EFT tapping interventions in other settings.
Citation (APA Style): Bifano, S. M., Szeglin, C. J., Garbers, S., & Gold, M. A. (2024). Emotional freedom techniques (EFT) tapping for pediatric emergency department staff during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evaluation of a pilot intervention. Medical Acupuncture, 36(2), 70–78. https://doi.org/10.1089/acu.2023.0099
Direct link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38665925/
The Effect of Emotional Freedom Techniques on Nurses’ Stress, Anxiety, and Burnout Levels During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Abstract
Background and Objective: Infectious disease outbreaks pose psychological challenges to the general population, and especially to healthcare workers. Nurses who work with COVID-19 patients are particularly vulnerable to emotions such as fear and anxiety, due to fatigue, discomfort, and helplessness related to their high intensity work. This study aims to investigate the efficacy of a brief online form of Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) in the prevention of stress, anxiety, and burnout in nurses involved in the treatment of COVID patients.
Methods: The study is a randomized controlled trial. It complies with the guidelines prescribed by the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) checklist. It was conducted in a COVID-19 department at a university hospital in Turkey. We recruited nurses who care for patients infected with COVID-19 and randomly allocated them into an intervention group (n = 35) and a no-treatment control group (n = 37). The intervention group received one guided online group EFT session.
Results: Reductions in stress (p < .001), anxiety (p < .001), and burnout (p < .001) reached high levels of statistical significance for the intervention group. The control group showed no statistically significant changes on these measures (p > .05).
Conclusions: A single online group EFT session reduced stress, anxiety, and burnout levels in nurses treating COVID-19.
Citation (APA Style): Dincer, B., & Inangil, D. (2020). Emotional freedom techniques on nurses’ stress, anxiety, and burnout levels during the COVID-19 pandemic: A randomized controlled trial. Explore, 17(2), 109–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2020.11.012
Direct link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550830720303839
The Effect of the Emotional Freedom Technique on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Fear and Anxiety Levels of Nurses Working in the Emergency Department: A Randomized Controlled Study
Abstract
Objectives: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which has been a significant public health problem due to its high mortality and morbidity rates, has particularly affected the fear and anxiety levels of health professionals. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) on the anxiety and fear of COVID-19 levels of nurses in the emergency department.
Methods: This study was designed in line with a pre-and post-test, two-group methodology. A total of 88 participants (experimental group, 44; control group, 44) were included in this study. Data were collected using the following four tools: Questionnaire Form, Subjective Units of Disturbance (SUD), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and Fear of COVID-19 scale.
Results: A total of 84 nurses, 41 of whom were in the intervention group and 43 in the control group, were included in this study. After the intervention, the fear of COVID-19 (-4.58±2.47) levels and the mean anxiety intensity (SUD) of the participants decreased (-5.61±1.16) in the experimental group, and the difference was statistically significant (p<0.001) when compared to that of the control group; the state anxiety (-8.82±7.26) and trait anxiety (-1.16±2.97) averages decreased, the decrease in state anxiety was statistically significant (p<0.001), while the decrease in trait anxiety was not significant (p>0.005). There was no significant change in the mean scores of the control group (P19S=-0.09±2.47; SUD=0±1.15; DDS=-0.22±7.25; SDS=-0.04±2.97).
Conclusion: This study showed that EFT sessions administered in a group setting reduced and helped the emergency nurses better cope with COVID-19 anxiety and fear levels.
Citation (APA Style): Okut, G., Alpar, Ş. E., & Dönmez, E. (2022). The effects of the emotional freedom technique on COVID-19 fear and anxiety levels of emergency nurses: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Psychiatric Nursing, 13(4). https://doi.org/10.14744/phd.2022.60948
Direct link: https://jag.journalagent.com/phd/pdfs/PHD_13_4_269_278.pdf
Emotional Freedom Techniques for Elderly Patients with COVID-19: A Case Series on Clinical Recovery, Frailty, and Inflammatory Biomarkers
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Older adults are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 due to immunosenescence and comorbidities, resulting in higher rates of severe illness and mortality. Psychological distress such as anxiety and fatigue further compounds disease burden. Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), an integrative psychophysiological approach, has shown potential in enhancing psychological resilience and modulating inflammatory responses.
Methods: We report a case series of five elderly patients with confirmed COVID-19 admitted to Persahabatan Hospital, Jakarta. Each received standard pharmacological care, including antiviral therapy, corticosteroids, and comorbidity management, alongside daily EFT sessions combining acupressure, affirmations, and exposure techniques. Clinical symptoms, frailty status (via WHAS criteria), WHO Ordinal Scale for Clinical Improvement (OSCI), and serum IL-6 levels were monitored over a 30-day follow-up period. Emotional well-being was qualitatively assessed through follow-up interviews and therapist observations of patient engagement and affective behavior.
Results: All patients demonstrated substantial clinical improvement. OSCI scores decreased from baseline values of 3–4 to 1 by the final follow-up, representing a 66–75% reduction in clinical severity. Frailty status improved markedly across all cases. IL-6 levels showed an average reduction of approximately 85%, suggesting a clinically meaningful improvement in systemic inflammation. No residual symptoms or adverse events were reported. Patients also demonstrated enhanced emotional well-being and adherence to EFT through digital guidance.
Conclusion: EFT may serve as a safe and supportive adjunct therapy in elderly COVID-19 patients, potentially accelerating clinical recovery and reducing inflammation and frailty. Further controlled trials are warranted to evaluate broader applicability in geriatric care.
Citation (APA Style): Kemala Sari, N., Burhan, E., Isbaniah, F., Yennita, D., & Stepvia, S. (2025). Emotional freedom techniques for elderly patients with COVID-19: A case series on clinical recovery, frailty, and inflammatory biomarkers. Frontiers in Psychology, 16. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1627592
Direct link: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1627592/full
Interventions to Reduce Burnout and Improve the Mental Health of Nurses During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review of Randomised Controlled Trials with Meta-Analysis
Abstract
This systematic review aims to investigate and determine the effectiveness of interventions on improving mental health (anxiety, depression, stress or mental well-being) and/or reducing burnout of nurses working in hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. A search was conducted on studies from conception to December 2022 in databases: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Scopus and Web of Science and in ProQuest Thesis & Dissertations Global Database, Google Scholar and ClinicalTrials.gov. A total of 17 randomised controlled trials that evaluated different interventions were included. The outcomes were anxiety (n = 11), depression (n = 5), stress (n = 13) mental well-being (n = 7) and burnout (n = 7). Not all interventions led to positive outcomes. Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) appraisal and risk of bias assessment using the Cochrane tool for randomised controlled trials (RoB 2.0) revealed poor quality of currently available literature, with low to very low certainty. Meta-analysis showed high heterogeneity among the five different outcomes, with subgroup analysis showing greater success in interventions conducted on nurses involved in the care of COVID-19 patients. More well-designed trials are necessary to reinforce current evidence to improve the mental health of nurses, to not only protect their quality of life but also to ensure the quality of patient care.
Citation (APA Style): Wong, K. W., Wu, X., & Dong, Y. (2024). Interventions to reduce burnout and improve the mental health of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review of randomised controlled trials with meta-analysis. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 33(2), 324–343. https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.13251
Direct link: https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.13251
Interventional Studies on Nurses’ Mental Health in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review
Abstract
This systematic review’s primary aim is to examine the interventional studies on the mental health of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the secondary aim is to determine the interventions that can be planned for future pandemics. For this, databases were searched, and a total of 12 studies meeting the inclusion criteria were included. It was determined that most of the studies were conducted online due to pandemic restrictions. The effects of the interventions (diaphragmatic breathing relaxation, emotional freedom techniques, sending motivational messages, a mobile wellness program, acceptance and commitment therapy, a neuro-meditation program, laughter yoga, gong meditation, distant Reiki, e-aid cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness-based breathing, and music therapy) on the parameters affecting the mental health of the nurses working actively in the COVID-19 pandemic were examined. In these studies, the interventions applied to nurses were seen to have positive results on mental health and well-being. The COVID-19 pandemic, which is a traumatic experience for healthcare professionals, shows that more interventional studies are needed to protect and improve the mental health of nurses who take care of critically ill patients during difficult times.
Citation (APA Style): Köse, S., & Murat, M. (2022). Interventional studies on nurses’ mental health in the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review. Psych, 4(3), 525–536. https://doi.org/10.3390/psych4030040
Direct link: https://www.mdpi.com/2624-8611/4/3/40