Anxiety and Depression Levels in Cancer Patients After Self-Application of EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques)

April 22, 2026 updated by: Dawson Church, Soul Medicine Institute
Anxiety and depression have been found to be significant co-occurring conditions in cancer patients. This study examines these and other psychological conditions in patients diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, a rare cancer of the bile duct, with an average survival time of three to six months post-diagnosis. Participants are taught EFT in telephone and internet group coaching sessions, and have access to an online support forum. They complete the Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer Scale (Mini-MAC), EORTC Quality of Life scale, the PTSD checklist, the Patient Health Questionnaire, and a brief health checklist. Participants also provide medical records confirming their diagnosis, and markers, both before and after the study. The study is expected to enroll 20-15 cholangiocarcinoma patients, and use a within-subjects, time series, repeated measures design. Symptoms are assessed prior to coaching, after four, and again after eight weekly coaching sessions. Follow-ups will occur in one month, three months, and one year. It is hypothesized that a drop in the severity of co-occurring psychological symptoms, pain and insomnia may occur after EFT coaching.

Study Overview

Status

Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

14

Phase

  • Early Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • California
      • Santa Rosa, California, United States, 95403
        • Soul Medicine Institute

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 89 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma
  • Ability to complete forms and attend phone coaching sessions

Exclusion Criteria:

  • None

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: 1
Lifestyle Counseling with Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)
Behavioral: Lifestyle Counseling with Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)
Two series of four sessions of phone support group coaching instruction in the use of EFT

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
depression
Time Frame: duration of study
duration of study

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
anxiety
Time Frame: duration of study
duration of study
pain
Time Frame: duration of study
duration of study
insomnia
Time Frame: duration of study
duration of study

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Soul Medicine Institute

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Dawson Church, PhD, Soul Medicine Institute

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

September 20, 2008

Primary Completion (Estimated)

April 23, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 25, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 18, 2008

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 18, 2008

First Posted (Estimated)

August 19, 2008

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 27, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 22, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • SMI-CHOL-82008

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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