In a direct replication of Church, Yount, and Brooks (2012), this study examined changes in stress biochemistry and psychological distress symptoms in 53 participants randomly allocated to one of three 60-min group interventions: Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), psychoeducation (PE), and no treatment (NT). The Symptom AssessmentϪ45 (SA-45) was used to assess psychological distress symptoms. Method: Salivary cortisol assays were administered 30 min pre-and postintervention to test cortisol levels. The original study by Church et al. indicated the EFT group showed statistically significant improvements in anxiety (Ϫ58.34%, p Ͻ .05), depression (Ϫ49.33%, p Ͻ .002), overall severity of symptoms (Ϫ50.5%, p Ͻ .001), and symptom breadth (Ϫ41.93%, p Ͻ .001). The group also experienced a significant decrease in cortisol (Ϫ24.39%) compared to the PE group (Ϫ14.25%) and NT group (Ϫ14.44%). Results: The present results indicated the EFT group experienced a significant decrease in cortisol greater than the original study (Ϫ43.24%, p Ͻ .05), but these results were not mirrored by subjective reports of psychological distress. The EFT group reduction in cortisol was significantly different from that of the PE group (Ϫ19.67%), and as expected, the posttreatment cortisol level detected among the EFT group was lower than that of the NT group (2.02%); however, there was not a statistically significant difference between the 2 groups. Additionally, there were no significant improvements in cortisol reduction among the NT and PE groups. Conclusions: Findings support the original study indicating EFT to be an efficient and effective brief treatment for reducing biological markers of stress. Clinical Impact StatementAcupoint stimulation (Emotional Freedom Techniques, EFT) has previously resulted in significant changes in stress biochemistry and psychological distress symptoms in a clinical trial, and this replication study confirmed the original outcomes: that 1 hr of tapping on acupoints results in a significant decrease in the stress hormone cortisol. Changes in corresponding psychological symptoms were not observed in the replication trial. EFT may be an efficient and effective brief treatment for reducing biological markers of stress.

Brett Carter attained his Bachelor of Psychological Science degree at Bond University in Australia. He is currently pursuing postgraduate research in Health Psychology and physiology, with a particular interest in curbing the trajectory of obesity prevalence rates. Brett is also an elite level swimming coach and former professional triathlete. Aileen Pidgeon is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology and a board registered clinical psychologist with over 20 years clinical experience. She has had extensive training and exposure to contemplative-related work including trainings in Mindfulness Self Compassion, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and attending retreats. She has also led trainings, workshops and retreats in mindfulness. Dr Pidgeon is particularly interested in empirically investigating mindfulnessbased programs to cultivate resilience and well-being with people across the life span, clinicians and university students and academics. She is currently developing the Mindfulness