A Practitioners’ Introduction to Energy Psychology
Energy Psychology is a wonderful bridge between traditional psychotherapy and the broader fields of Energy Therapy and Energy Medicine.
If you are looking for a mental health related modality that includes some left-brain discussion of your issues, easy-to-use tools that you can apply in-between sessions with your therapist, a process that is fast and relatively painless, associated with permanent results, then there is probably an Energy Psychology approach that can be a perfect fit to help you achieve health and well-being of your body, mind, and spirit.
Many traditional psychologists and psychiatrists have incorporated energy psychology modalities or techniques into their practices because of the positive results they have experienced when using them with patients. Such modalities include:
• Emotional Freedom Technique / EFT
• Thought Field Therapy / TFT
• Neuro Emotional Anti-sabotage Technique / NEAT
• Tapas Acupressure Technique / TAT
• Among others…
Just like the field of Psychology was shunned at first by the Medical/ Psychiatric school of practitioners, so too, Energy Psychology is not yet totally accepted as a bonafide discipline by the associations of traditional Psychology, but full certification by their groups is sure to be forthcoming because of the popularity of Energy Psychology techniques and their potent results.
In the meantime, Energy Psychology has its own organizations. The Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology (ACEP) is the US-based organization which pulls together energy psychology practitioners and a variety of modalities like its sister organizations in Canada and Europe. ACEP is committed to supporting high quality research, education, credentialing, and setting ethical standards for the field of Energy Psychology.
The organization’s membership includes practitioners from a spectrum of backgrounds, clinical orientations, and credentials, and it categorizes practitioners into three main groups including: 1- Licensed mental health professionals who are trained and legally authorized to diagnose and treat mental disorders, as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition; 2– other allied health care professionals whose license and training do not authorize them to diagnose or treat mental disorders; and 3- unlicensed practitioners of the healing arts encompassing a broad spectrum of practitioners including life coaches, business consultants, and performance specialists or coaches working with specific target groups.
Energy Psychologists combine physical interventions using the acupuncture system, the chakras, and other ancient systems of healing, with modern cognitive interventions such as imagery-based exposure therapy and affirmations, to bring about therapeutic shifts in the thoughts, emotions and behavioral patterns that are involved in a wide range of problems.
Energy Therapists explain this further by saying that these “interventions” or approaches access the electro-magnetic field around the body as well as the inner circuitry associated with the meridian system in order to clear energetic blockages held in the brain, organs, viscera, “mind”, and aura.
Thousands of mental health practitioners, allied health professionals, physicians, and lay people world-wide use Energy Psychology techniques to achieve rapid, dramatic, and lasting changes in feelings, thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors. And, several multi-national organizations employ these powerful mind-body approaches to provide first response to disasters and other traumatic situations.
A variety of tests show positive clinical and experimental outcomes for different populations being treated for anxiety and phobias, trauma and PTSD, depression, addictions, weight management, pain, chronic physical conditions, and sports, school, and work performance.
Currently the One Foundation, the National Institute of Health, the Kaiser Foundation, and the Veterans Administration, among other organizations, are studying the Energy Psychology approach to mental and physical health. Research results of clinical studies show positive brain activity after the use of EP techniques. And, despite the fact that the scientific study of EP approaches is in it its early phases and the various EP modalities are still considered “experimental treatments”, these results are highly promising.
Numerous scientific disciplines including psychoneuroimmunology, epi-genetics, interpersonal neurobiology, and neuroplasticity now support the legitimacy of this relatively new field of practice. And, since the AMA now recognizes acupuncture as a legitimate health treatment modality, the eastern, energy-based side of the Energy Psychology equation also supports the legitimacy of EP. It appears that the successful results of EP modalities derive from a synergistic effect of systematically focusing attention on specific memories, feelings, and other cognitive-affective experiences while activating the energy systems of the body to normalize functioning, including disruptions in the brain and brain stem, organs, lymph and immune systems, and meridian chi flow. Subjects report spontaneous resolution of negative thoughts, feelings, and the charge around memories.
Personally, as an Energy Therapist using the EP modalities EFT, NEAT, and TAT, along with other Energy Therapy modalities including NET, NEXT, Reiki, Kinesiology, Healing Touch, I have noted dramatic results in my clients when treating them for: depression, panic attacks, PTSD, auto-immune issues including CFS, weight issues, addictions, self-sabotage, anxiety, procrastination, repeating negative cycles, among other conditions.
For more information about Energy Psychology you may view a short video of Dr. George Pratt, an ACEP board member, chatting with talk show host Larry King on his show, by going to: http://is.gd/EPLarryKing.
