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Energy Psychology For Today's Health
By
Lindsay Kenny, EFT Master |
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It has now become widely accepted that our emotional health plays an important role in our physical well being. Once we recognize that our hearts pound when we’re frightened, our faces turn red when we’re embarrassed, our palms become sweaty when we’re anxious, and most commonly, our heads ache when we're stressed, it’s hard to deny that emotions are affecting our bodies. In fact, there is an endless list of ailments attributed to stress alone, that includes indigestion, stiff neck, shoulder pain and teeth-grinding.
Left untreated, negative emotions can have a devastating impact on our long term health, including ulcers, hypertension, depression, asthma, and even cancer. In fact, unresolved emotional issues have become a silent epidemic in our country. Millions of us carry around a lifetime of betrayals, anger, stress, anxiety, grief, rejection, and much more. While some may seek help for emotional problems…the majority, tragically, do not.
Moreover, we now have thousands of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, who are not only physically injured, but emotionally wounded as well. The VA says it has already treated 6,400 veterans of the Iraq and Afghan wars for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and experts predict that approximately 23,000 returning troops will suffer from this traumatic mental illness alone. VA hospitals are already full of Vets who can’t let go of what they saw, heard, smelled and felt in combat. Friends and family will suffer as well, living on the outside of the embedded memories their loved ones are experiencing internally.
Many of these returning Vets, as well as millions of others who suffer from chronic pain or emotion issues, seek help from traditional therapists. Talk therapy, however, often takes months or years to resolve an issue with the patient having to re-experience the trauma many times over. In the past 25 years a new branch of emotional healing is its territory as a credible healing technology. Energy Psychology, which works via the body’s electrical or meridian system, much like acupuncture, has been shown to produce highly effective and relatively rapid results.
Energy Psychology
Energy Psychology is a family of novel mind/body interventions that have been clinically shown to help with a wide range of concerns by treating the human vibrational matrix. Energy technology has been effective alleviating mind-body distresses such as traumas, anxiety, phobias, stress, limiting beliefs, addictions, compulsions, allergies, personality disorders, and chronic pain. This type of work is rapidly growing and so popular that the governing body, The Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology (ACEP) now has over 500 members worldwide. ACEP, as the "cousins club" for energy therapies, is rapidly growing as the acceptance of Energy Psychology increases.
Meridian Therapies
There are actually several Meridian or Energy Psychology therapies available today. Thought Field Therapy or TFT was perhaps the granddaddy of them all, having being developed in the early 80s by psychologist, Roger Callahan. Since then numerous other “cousins” in the field have emerged. Most meridian based therapies, known by their initials, such as EMDR, TAT, BSFF, IEST, EFT and countless others, are already being successfully used by thousands of practitioners and therapists around the world. Unlike talk therapy, there is a physical element to Energy Psychologies, and relief from an issue can often be realized in a matter of minutes rather than months or years.
EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) seems to be the forerunner of these therapies in that is has the largest following, is easy to use, and remains the fastest growing. For that reason the majority of this article will focus on the EFT modality of the Energy Psychologies. EFT was developed in the early 90s by Gary Craig, a retired Stanford- educated engineer, who went to great lengths to make EFT easy to learn, user-friendly and available to the masses.
How Acupuncture Benefits
Because acupuncture is a Meridian based procedure it stands to reason that one of the largest benefactors from EFT or other energy therapies would be acupuncturists. Indeed thousands of acupuncturists are already big fans and practitioners of these modalities. EFT and other Energy Therapies can add a new dimension to a practitioner’s options for their clients and provide a viable alternative for needle-phobic, aging, disabled or very young patients.
Zoe Walton, L.Ac says this about EFT:
“In 1999 I incorporated Energy Therapy, in the form of EFT, into my practice and the results I have seen using this tool have been amazing. I now use EFT treatments with about 95% of my patients and can’t imagine where my practice would be without it.”
Applying EFT
Unlike using needles as with acupuncture, the client or patient simply taps or touches lightly on specific meridian points as instructed by the practitioner. These points are mostly on the upper body and face and stimulating them sends tiny “shock waves” or soothing pulses throughout the energy system. By performing this systematic stimulating of the meridian points, (about 10 in all), while verbally addressing a specific problem, the emotional or physical issue progressively disappears. This simple process balances and re-energizes the system, often in a matter of minutes, clearing blockages and dissipating the negative emotions as you go. Often an issue is resolved in only a few minutes
More complex issues, like rape, PTSD, or serious illnesses, however, may encompass several aspects and could take an hour or more to get ideal results. Persistence, however, will usually completely eradicate the issue, and in far less time than other therapies.
As the San Francisco VA hospital recently discovered EFT proved to be an intriguing alternative treatment for PTSD, stress, grief, phobias and more. By using EFT with Viet Nam Vets at the hospital, Gary Craig, was able to alleviate PTSD in a matter of minutes with many patients who had suffered with the malady for 30 years or more. Additionally, he was successfully able to eradicate lifelong phobias, nightmares, addictions, and more using this “eyebrow-raising” process.
Ironically, EFT’s ease of use and the speed in which one experiences results are often the reasons it has not been more readily recognized by the medical community. We as a society have been conditioned that “these things take time to heal”. Thousands of doctors, nurses and other medical professionals, however, who have experienced EFT or other Energy Therapies feel differently about them. Here is what just a few have to say on the subject.
"Some day the medical profession will wake up and realize that unresolved emotional issues are the main cause of 85% of all illnesses. When they do, EFT will be one of their primary healing tools, as it is for me." Eric Robins, MD
“EFT has been, for me, the single most effective technique I’ve used in my 45 years of practice as a psychiatrist. I’ve had success with panic, social anxiety and many other disorders.” Curtis Steele, MD,
Some of the aspects that make EFT (and some of its cousins) remarkable healing tools are that they:
¨ Work when nothing else has
¨ Provide rapid, long lasting, and gentle relief
¨ Require no drugs, needles, or equipment
¨ Can be easily learned by virtually anyone and self administered
¨ Are effective on a multitude of issues using the same basic technique
How does it Work?
In order to understand how this surprisingly effective process works, it’s important to look at the “Discovery Statement”, which is the foundation for EFT…
“The cause of ALL negative emotions is a disruption in the body’s energy system.”
Gary Craig, founder of EFT
In other words, every negative emotion we experience, including depression, anger, frustration, stress, grief, guilt, anxiety, fear, etc. is a result of a blockage somewhere in the body’s energy system. This life-force energy is carried by the body's meridian system through tiny pathways, much as arteries and vessels carry the body’s blood. This principle, of course is second nature to acupuncturists. When that energy is blocked or disrupted by a traumatic or unpleasant event such as being dumped by our sweetheart, feeling pressured by a deadline, or being ridiculed by our boss, the resulting effect would be a negative emotion - like sadness, embarrassment, stress, humiliation or anger.
There is another step in the equation, however. If someone insults you, for example, the end result would most likely be anger. What actually happens first, however, is that the insult causes a disruption somewhere in your body’s energy pathways. It’s that disruption that causes the negative emotion of anger….not the insult itself.
The Real Culprit
In other words, there’s an interim step we never recognized before that's the real villain in the equation. It's the disruption of our energy that causes the negative emotion. So rather than just the cause and affect of insult = anger, it's actually insult + energy disruption = anger. When we’re injured we experience pain. And when our energy system is "injured" or blocked we experience a negative emotion. This was only discovered until about 25 years ago (although knowledge of the meridian system is 4000 years old). Assuming this formula is true (and experience suggests that it is), then the logical conclusion is: if we can dissipate the energy disruption, the resulting negative emotion will be eliminated as well. And that is exactly what happens when applying EFT.
Extraordinary, but not perfect
With all this praise I should mention that EFT is not perfect. There are rare times when it doesn’t appear to work. For instance, because EFT works with the electrical system of the body and water is an important conduit for that energy, dehydration will impede a successful treatment. Other factors such as polarity reversal, substance sensitivities, or applying the protocol incorrectly can inhibit positive results. The good news, though, is that the impediments to EFT’s success are correctable with the use of a skilled practitioner.
EFT, along with is Energy Therapy cousins remain the most exciting healing aids emerging today. Yet until a person experiences this type of process for themselves, it’s hard to fully comprehend the profound positive impact it can have on our emotional health and physical well being. Only time will tell what discoveries and progress we will make with these remarkable tool in the years to come. And in Gary Craig’s words…
“We’re on the ground floor of a “Healing High-rise”.
For more information on EFT, visit Lindsay’s website at www.LKcoaching.com
Author's Bio
Lindsay is an EFT Master, Life Coach, and workshop facilitator in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is also the Founder and Director of the National Alliance for Emotional Health www.NAFEH.org.
For over 30 years Lindsay has been helping people find their life partners, lose weight, decrease their stress and anxiety, and live more effective, joyful lives. She feels that teaching people EFT is the most effective way to help them deal with life's challenges, while providing them with a tool they can use throughout their lifetime.
Lindsay also conducts EFT workshops, regular EFT Teleclasses, and EFT Intensives. To contact Lindsay, visit her Website at www.LKCoaching.com or e-mail her at LKcoaching-Linz@yahoo.com
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