Core energy therapy is an integrative healing approach focusing on harmony between body, emotions, mind, will/intent, and spiritual self. It combines bodywork and energy healing techniques with traditional therapeutic counseling approaches.
John Pierrakos created this practice, drawing inspiration from Wilhelm Reich’s belief that blocked inner energy could create physical manifestations. Additionally, The Pathwork provides practical spiritual wisdom originating from John Pierrakos’ wife Eva Broch.
The Theory
Core energy therapy is a holistic healing approach that unifies body, emotions, mind, will and spirit into one cohesive whole for maximum expression of your complete reality. Qualified practitioners of core energy therapy incorporate bodywork techniques combined with energy work techniques into an integrative process designed to explore and transform any limiting beliefs or patterns that impede happiness, love and connection in your life.
This healing model’s main tenet is that mind and body are intrinsically psychosomatic; therefore it follows that the body possesses its own ability to heal itself; hence the therapist should not be seen as a healer but as facilitator for that process. A secondary tenet holds that humans possess an innate capacity for creative transformation of themselves as individuals as well as contributing to greater human and cosmological evolution.
According to this theory, individuals’ limiting beliefs and patterns that they hold within their minds act as energetic blocks that prevent us from loving. The theory asserts that our physical bodies contain “core energy”, similar to what Chinese medicine considers chi, Indian spirituality prana and Reichian orgone. When this energy flows freely it promotes good health while when blocked or stagnant it decreases vitality reducing health outcomes and diminishing vitality.
Proponents of energy therapy believe that many mental disorders stem from an improper flow of energy, caused by emotional trauma or lack of awareness, which in turn may be affected by genes and environment.
Core energy therapy therapists employ physical exercises and breathing techniques, in combination with roller tools (resembling large rolling pins) to treat blockages and imbalances within the body’s muscles. This technique differs significantly from Somatic Experiencing therapies which focus more on controlling autonomic nervous systems.
Therapists typically conduct an initial client assessment during their first few sessions in order to understand where they are in their process, what resources and support systems are available, their ego strength and capacity for self reflection, physical limitations, general health conditions, family histories, current circumstances as well as any prior ones. A body reading will be performed in order to detect areas of over or under charge, asymmetry, postural distortions and freedom of movement.
The Practice
Core Energetics is a system of body-psychotherapy that integrates physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of oneself. CE proposes that internal energy blocks as well as insufficient awareness of different parts of one’s personality contribute to maladaptive thoughts, feelings, and behavior patterns that lead to maladaptive outcomes. A therapist practicing CE uses breathwork, postures and movement therapies to unblock energy flow throughout the body and thus help shift long-standing patterns of behavior that have persisted for some time now.
Sophia came to see a CE therapist for anxiety and fear of living on Earth, having made some progress with standard talking therapy but feeling stuck and with feet feeling stuck to the ground. With Core Energy Therapy she was able to identify patterns in her energy flow that had her stuck in survival mode and break that energy loop so her feet relaxed more naturally and she began believing she could exist on this Earth.
Long term work with a CE practitioner aims to connect you with your inner power and wisdom. Core energy therapists view each client as possessing treasures that wait to be unlocked within them – not as part of an intricate character defense network that manifests across various levels of personality.
Core energetics provides a spiritual dimension by drawing upon lectures channeled from John C. Pierrakos, a student of Wilhelm Reich and collaborator with Alexander Lowen to develop Bioenergetics. Furthermore, its foundation lies within Fritz Perl’s Gestalt therapy, Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing and Carl Jung’s psychosynthesis principles.
A core belief is that our bodies serve as containers for emotion and memory, with practitioners trained to recognize these patterns of behavior in a safe therapeutic setting, helping you move through them to reconnect with the innate flow of your life force and find greater clarity and meaning for living. Furthermore, this process opens us up to an even deeper level of love and acceptance for ourselves and others alike.
The Benefits
Core energy therapy or healing aims to address all aspects of an individual. Through psychotherapy, body work, and spirituality techniques it examines how one’s energy system affects their wellbeing and looks at why love should be at the core of who we are as people – an idea supported by Sigmund Freud, Wilhelm Reich and Carl Jung among many other people.
Goal of Somatic Experiencing therapy: to connect individuals to their true essence or soul through emotional, physical and spiritual issues that prevent them from living an authentic life. A key method used in Somatic Experiencing to do this is mindfulness practices such as sensory awareness training, imagery creation and movement-as-touch techniques that help regulate autonomic nervous system.
Under this form of therapy, the therapist is often trained to assess how well a body and its energy systems are operating. Body readings and character analysis help mobilize energy while challenging any energetic or muscular blocks present in the body and releasing any negative aspects such as depression, addiction, self-destructive behavior or limiting beliefs that might otherwise persist in someone. This process may change their life course forever by freeing them of negative aspects like depression, addiction or self destructive behavior while expanding horizons with life changing experiences such as liberating energy mobilising and character analysis can change yours forever!
At these sessions, therapists may ask their clients to perform breathing exercises and touch specific parts of the body in order to promote an increased flow of energy in their system and release any areas that have become blocked or stagnant. Discharge is a physical sensation which often accompanies this release and can result in feelings of euphoria, joy and love.
Known by its alternate name of body psychotherapy, this form of therapy was developed from Wilhelm Reich’s work as a psychoanalyst who studied under Sigmund Freud. Wilhelm believed that people’s inner energies had been affected by childhood trauma and emotional abuse and could therefore be altered through psychotherapeutic approaches to alter negative patterns of behavior that have formed within their psyches.
The Cost
Core energy therapy requires a four-year commitment. The first year focuses on understanding your personality and its development while exploring its interactions with physiological body systems. The second year emphasizes body reading techniques as well as Core Energetics’ theory base; finally, third and fourth years develop individuality as Core Therapists.
Core Healing is a hypnoanalytic approach to therapy that uses personality assessment and memory access to identify negative self-concepts that need healing and to delete them during this process. New, positive opposite beliefs replace any harmful ones; for instance, if someone keeps getting into unhealthy relationships we look into why this may be occurring and try to remove negative self-talk that perpetuates these dynamics; once these emotional roots have been addressed many physical conditions such as autoimmunity disorders and excess weight can have emotional roots too.
Core healing sessions typically last 2-3 hours and the hourly fees vary between therapists; some provide sliding scale payments based on your income. Many find the benefits of core energy therapy more than outweigh its associated costs; additionally, certain health insurance plans now cover it and many psychologists offer it as part of treatment options.
