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In-Depth Information
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The Energy Psychology Story
Energy Therapy was brought into the
practice of psychotherapy with the development of a new approach called
Thought Field Therapy, or TFT, developed by Dr.
Roger Callahan, a Clinical Psychologist. (see
www.tftrx.com) TFT has been a
catalyst for a growing number of methods all based on clearing the Energy System to rapidly relieve
psychological and emotional distress. Thought Field Therapy is now only
one approach under the broader umbrella term "Energy Psychology".
Another powerful Energy
Psychology approach you may have heard of is "Emotional Freedom
Techniques", or EFT, developed by Gary Craig. (see
www.emofree.com) The
development of EFT has given us a method that is easily accessible and
usable for anyone for a multitude of issues and problems.
Dr. Roger Callahan's significant
contribution is that he combined already known disciplines and applied
them in a new and unique way to the field of mental and emotional health
... in a way that brings welcome relief from all kinds of emotional pain.
In 1980, Dr. Callahan was already a well
established and seasoned Clinical Psychologist specializing in, among
other things, the treatment of phobias.
As the story goes, Dr. Callahan was
treating a woman named Mary for her severe fear of water. This fear
was so debilitating that she was flooded with fear and panic whenever she
was confronted with any type of water. She had severe fearful
reactions to puddles, baths, showers, even rain! Dr. Callahan was
treating her at his home, where he had a swimming pool, in hopes of
getting her used to the water gradually, using the usual Cognitive
Behavioral and Desensitization Techniques. It was very slow and very
painful for Mary.
Dr. Callahan was becoming dissatisfied with
the results of traditional therapy techniques and was searching for a
faster, more pain-free, medication free, and more effective way for his
clients to be relieved of their symptoms. Among the theories he was
exploring were Applied Kinesiology and Acupuncture and Acupressure of
Eastern Medicine.
One day, Mary mentioned that when she
looked at the water she felt sick to her stomach. Dr. Callahan knew
that the first point on the Stomach Meridian (in Acupuncture) was just
under the eyes. He asked Mary to tap firmly under both eyes (a way
to introduce vibration into the meridian). To the total amazement of
both Mary and Dr. Callahan, her fear of the water rapidly disappeared!
In minutes, Mary’s fear of the water was totally gone, and has not
returned to this day, more than 20 years later!
Needless to say, Dr. Callahan was
fascinated! Mary's experience turned out to be just the starting
point. He threw himself into finding out why this had happened and
how to make it happen again with others, and how to apply it to other
kinds of emotional and psychological distress.
Dr. Callahan has been developing these
breakthrough techniques since then and presenting his methods to mental
health professionals. He developed a very effective system for
rapidly treating many forms of emotional distress (and often their
physical symptoms as well). These techniques have proven themselves
to be highly effective and now they are available to all.
Other professionals who learned these
techniques from Dr. Callahan, including myself, continued working on the
expansion and variation of their application. Therapists all over
the world are successfully using energy clearing techniques in various
forms to relieve trauma, depression, anxiety, and other mental health
conditions, as well as enhance positive experiences and personal
performance.
This emerging field in psychology and
psychotherapy is known as Energy Psychology. There is now a
professional organization called the Association for Comprehensive Energy
Psychology, of which I am a member.
How it works:
This kind of therapy treats a wide range of
psychological problems by addressing the bio-energy system directly, not
just our conscious thinking minds. It uses various Energy Systems, but in particular the Meridian System that is used in Acupuncture and
Acupressure.
First the therapist will test the client's
energy system in the face of the problem. (I will show you how this
is done - it's easy, and fascinating.) Then they will have
the client do some corrective "energy exercises" while focusing on the
problem -nothing strenuous or painful. They may have the client tap
on (introduce vibration into) a specific sequence of Acupuncture Meridian
points while focusing on the issue. The tapping takes the place of needles
and other methods that acupuncturists use to clear or enhance the flow of
energy in the meridians. There may be other energy exercises to do
as well. (One of the beauties of this work is that the client does
the tapping and other corrections on themselves, so they can
use them between sessions for even more rapid progress.) In the
majority of cases the client will physically experience an immediate
positive shift in the specific emotional reaction we are addressing.
By directly accessing and then easily
correcting and strengthening the body's energy flows, clients are often
quickly able to end long-standing, overwhelming negative feelings in the
mind and body. It does not involve prolonged re-living of a problem or
painful emotional catharsis for clients to get better.
Therapists can also easily teach their
clients the tapping patterns and other energy routines so they can
continue to treat their problems outside the session.
This therapy is sometimes used to treat
specific problems (which are often completely relieved very rapidly!) or
in more ongoing therapy as part of a recovery process. The treatment
of more complex problems is woven into the therapy, and shortens the
recovery time, and therefore decreases expense and suffering,
dramatically. I have treated many people for whom years of talk
therapy had not helped at all, but energy therapy began to help right
away.
Another explanation:
You can think of Thought Field Therapy as
"Therapy" applied to "Thought Fields". Other Energy Psychology
approaches are the same.
What is a Thought Field?
We all experience “thought fields” in our
everyday life.
By definition, a "field" is an “invisible
sphere of influence", like a magnetic field or the gravitational field.
When we focus on a current problem or painful memory (or the object of a
phobia, like heights or water), we can tangibly feel the “invisible
influence” of that thought in our bodies, its “field”, especially if that
thought is particularly distressing. Thinking about the problem or memory
may make us uncomfortable, angry, fearful, sad, depressed, defensive or
upset. These feelings can be very strong and be a powerful influence for
us to act, or avoid acting, in some particular way. They can seriously
limit our positive choices and pleasure in life.
What Dr. Callahan describes is that when we
“tune into” a distressing thought, and experience the negative emotions
and physical sensations that go with it, we are actually feeling a
disturbance in the body's subtle energy system. You might think of it
as tuning into a radio station with interference in the signal.
Energy Psychology techniques seem to
eliminate the disturbance in the body's energy system. Once the
disturbance is eliminated, we no longer experience the upsetting feelings!
This opens the way for more comfort, more options, personal freedom,
pleasure and personal power.
To use a simple example, consider a person
with a phobia of snakes. When they are in touch with it, they can suffer
intense fear. The thought or mental picture of a snake, or the memory or
prospect of confronting a snake, may provoke a severely uncomfortable
reaction. Their life choices may be curtailed because of this fear: they
might not go hiking, to the beach, into long grass, woods, or desert, for
instance.
This tangible fear is the evidence of the
disturbance in the thought field. When the phobia is treated successfully
with Energy Psychology, the disturbance in the thought field of snakes is
eliminated and the person can think of snakes, and be in the presence of
snakes, without distress.
By the way, one great advantage of these
techniques is that it removes the fear response but does not remove normal
caution. In fact, it enhances the ability of the person to handle a
situation in a calm, sensible and clear minded way .
(Imagine what this may mean in personal
relationships!)
When treating simple phobias, such as
Mary's fear of water, or fears of snakes, heights, spiders, etc., even
public speaking, it is possible have relief in one session...and the
relief can be immediate, complete and lasting...likely with no relapse.
Energy Psychology is also used to treat
more complicated emotional problems. TFT and related therapies can treat
the long standing effects of past trauma, anxiety and panic, anger,
depression, grief, obsessive thoughts, love pain, jealousy, performance
blocks, addictive cravings, and more. Energy Psychology is also used to
bring out and reinforce positive emotions.
We find that we can take this even further.
These techniques can help people change any deeply held negative beliefs
about life and themselves in favor of more positive and hopeful ones. The
new perspectives naturally trigger more positive feelings and positive
behavior.
What problems this helps with:
Energy Psychology can make real and lasting
changes with all kinds of emotional distress and painful situations:
Energy Psychology can dissolve the
lingering effects of past trauma such as abuse, crime, accidents, and
negative personal events large and small.
It significantly accelerates recovery from
depression, anxiety and panic disorders, phobias, grief and loss, love
pain, jealousy, anger, etc.
It can remove blocks to success and
personal performance in public speakers, actors, singers, teachers,
salespeople, or anyone wishing to enhance their level of success.
Energy Psychology can dramatically reduce
destructive patterns in personal relationships, parenting and families so
they can be as enjoyable as they were meant to be.
It can reduce emotional issues that
interfere with satisfaction and productivity on the job.
Energy Psychology can help people in
recovery successfully manage addictive cravings and the ups and downs of
life without their addictive substances and behaviors.
You can expect excellent results in, among
other things:
improving your self-esteem,
overcoming procrastination ,
becoming more assertive,
overcoming fear or avoidance of conflict,
letting go of anxiety and worry,
having the courage to pursue your goals,
improving relationships ,
stopping your attraction to the wrong people,
changing old patterns ,
dealing with difficult people,
handling stress ,
fear of the dentist or other medical treatments,
dissolving test and interview anxiety,
turning around negative self concepts,
controlling your emotions as a parent,
changing your belief that suffering is necessary...and more.
But I've had this problem for so long…
How long the problem has been with you does
not matter!
We are treating the effects of the problem
in your Energy System as it stands in present time. Very long standing
problems can often be relieved simply. Sometimes a problem that has begun
recently can be more complex. We treat whatever disturbance remains in the
Energy System here and now that is causing your distress.
What happens during a session?
Energy Psychology treatments are woven
naturally into the therapy process to help you be free of emotional pain
and move forward in your personal growth and healing.
During the actual treatment of a problem,
you will focus on the distressing thought or feeling that you want
relieved. We will be able to determine what condition your Energy System
is in when you are in contact with that thought or feeling. Then we will
be able to help you clear your Energy System. I may show you how to tap
on precisely the correct points on the upper body that will introduce
vibrational energy into specific Energy Meridians. I may have you do some
other “energy exercises” that will further help clear and balance the
Energy Meridians or other energy systems in your body. In most cases, you
will feel your distress level about that problem diminish right then and
there. And it will likely not return to its former level.
I will also teach you techniques that you
can do on your own to apply to the problem we were working on or other
issues in your life.
Even though Energy Therapy works in part
with acupuncture meridians, there are no needles used. There is no
repeated painful emotional catharsis, and no medications as in other
therapy methods ... just clearing and balancing the invisible (to most of
us) Energy Systems in the body.
Sounds crazy, doesn't it? But,
believe me, it works.
Success rates for these techniques.
Does this technique answer all problems, or
work for everyone? Of course not.
Dr. Callahan has observed, though, that
through working with thousands of clients, that Thought Field Therapy is
effective 80 to 90 percent of the time, unheard of in studies of
traditional therapy approaches, and definitely beyond any “placebo”
effect.
My experience with Thought Field Therapy,
Emotional Freedom Techniques, and other Energy Psychology methods
certainly confirms these estimates. Of course, no technique works
with 100% of people all the time, but this is far beyond any other therapy
technique I've seen.
How long does the therapy take?
Sometimes treating a problem is
astoundingly simple. Sometimes it is more complex and involved.
In either case, there is an impressively high success rate and the therapy
takes a significantly shorter time than with traditional therapy alone.
For single problems, such as a phobia
(snakes, heights, needles, the dentist, public speaking, etc.), specific
anger or rage, recovery from a specific traumatic event, etc., therapy
might take1-5 sessions. With one of my clients, a chronic problem with
anger was resolved in 2 sessions, and follow up showed that the problem
had not returned.
For more complex situations, these
techniques are integrated into the therapy process. The Energy System may
need to be “trained” out of a certain response, or we may need to treat
deeper issues or past issues, before the present issue will clear. But all
of these things are very possible. With these techniques included, therapy
is far more effective than ever before.
Do the effects last?
They seem to. We always follow up to see if
a treatment "holds". If it doesn't, there is a reason for it and we
address that. There may be more than one aspect to a problem, or
there may be other complexities that need to be addressed, but once the
problem has been successfully treated the effects appear to be permanent
in most cases. Sometimes there may be a need to repeat a treatment
later on, like a "tune up".
Dr. Callahan's client Mary has not had a
return of her water phobia in over 20 years. A debilitating fear of
heights over water that I treated in 1996 has not returned. There
are many, many cases like this.
However, as in any therapy, multiple
emotional reactions may need to be addressed that relate to the overall
problem that can be triggered by varied situations. So even though
one specific treatment is holding, there may be other more complex aspects
to address before the whole condition is resolved.
I have followed up with a number of my
clients who were treated for a variety of problems, simple and complex,
and they report that the specific emotional issues we addressed had not
returned, or stayed at the level that we left them when we completed
treatment.
Can this help my relationships?
Yes, absolutely. This is one of the
exciting changes people see in their lives.
Much of the difficulty in any kind of
relationship is due to repeated, "knee-jerk", negative emotional
responses, misinterpretations and patterns of reacting to each other, that
are damaging rather than constructive. Also, we as individuals we
may carry unconscious internal limitations and beliefs about having
successful and harmonious relationships.
This includes parent/child, friendship,
co-worker, as well as intimate relationships.
These emotional reactions and limitations
can result from reactions we have had to our formative relationships (our
family) or traumatic events along the way in our lives. We naturally
develop feelings and ideas about other people and ourselves from the past
that can carry over into the present.
Without real changes in ourselves, there is
no change. Our patterns continue and unhappiness goes on.
Whatever the origin of these
negative patterns and limitations, Energy Therapy can help. With the
gentle energetic dissolving of negative responses and encouragement of
positive new ones, different outcomes are possible in all relationships,
outcomes of harmony rather than discord, and closeness rather than
distance.
I'm skeptical…I can’t believe this is for
real…
Needless to say, I was doubtful, too, when
I was first introduced to Energy Psychology. It is so different from
our usual way of thinking about things and very different from any
other approach to therapy. And, it is new, and has not yet been
scientifically researched. I don’t fault anyone for having the same
caution I did.
It has only been with repeated, consistent,
obvious results, that I could not explain in any other way, that my
skepticism has faded. I have been using these techniques for many years
now, and with many, many people. The results are, in the vast majority of
cases, consistent and dependable.
Only a very few people since I started this
in 1996 did not respond to the work at all. I don't have a certain
explanation as to why that might have been the case for them, although I
have some ideas now. I keep learning, and if I knew then what
I know now, maybe we could "crack the code".
The more I practice, the higher my success
rate with more and more individuals and kinds of problems.
Thankfully, Energy Psychology works regardless of the belief of either the
therapist or the client. It seems to work (or not) for any given
person or issue independent of belief or skepticism.
The more I use these techniques, the more I
am amazed at the dramatically positive outcomes. When people are open to
trying Energy Psychology, they are amazed too. It is so exciting to see
people experiencing rapid emotional healing, positive feelings, new
possibilities and renewed enjoyment of life!
Please
email
or call me personally about individual sessions.
I would be happy to talk with you confidentially about your situation and
how Energy Psychology might help you.
Sincerely,
Marti.
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Energy Psychology could change your life!
