Meridians carry energy that flows in an orderly and balanced fashion, and any disruption or imbalance in this flow may lead to physical and emotional symptoms. Psychology energy therapy uses acupuncture point tapping techniques such as Acupoint Tapping Therapy in order to address such imbalances.
Numerous energy psychologists have used their skills to assist disaster survivors cope with trauma from disasters. Studies of their techniques show positive outcomes.
What is it?
Psychology Energy Therapy is a collection of mind-body techniques that strategically interact with human bio-energy systems known as meridians and chakras to improve physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing. Psychotherapists, counselors, coaches, energy healers and health optimization practitioners may employ such cognitive somatic practices for enhanced outcomes in psychotherapy sessions, counseling sessions or coaching programs, energy healing treatments or health optimisation efforts.
Many techniques involve tapping or touching specific acupoints (known as acupoints) throughout the body while at the same time mentally activating specific scenes, feelings, beliefs and/or physical symptoms that need changing. For example, someone seeking treatment for posttraumatic stress may be asked to imagine the scene they experienced while simultaneously tapping their body; those afraid of spiders might gradually expose themselves to one, two or three spiders while tapping; this treatment often combined with contemporary psychological interventions such as mindfulness techniques or cognitive reframing to help overcome fears and reclaim their lives.
Disaster Relief This approach has proven extremely successful at alleviating psychological trauma suffered by survivors of natural or human-caused disasters. This work is grounded in the theory that human energy systems contain electrical meridians similar to those found in Chinese medicine, tapping which restores balance and well-being.
Utilising both modern psychotherapy and ancient healing traditions, energy psychology interventions use energy psychology to alleviate states of hyperarousal caused by memories or fears associated with past or anticipated events. Such states are typically marked by muscular tension, difficulty sleeping, anxiety and feelings of dread – characteristics often manifesting themselves through muscular tension, sleep disruptions or feelings of dread.
As well as tapping, these approaches typically incorporate breathing exercises and mindfulness techniques into their regimens. Studies have proven the efficacy of such treatments for reducing PTSD-induced arousal; one research study even revealed their greater efficacy when delivered in virtual reality using digital technology to bring therapy sessions directly to individuals around the world. For instance, one Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) research with combat veterans found that 90% who were treated by licensed professional counselors no longer scored above the PTSD cutoff on standardized psychometric measures.
How does it work?
Practitioners of energy psychology believe that traumatizing memories and fears create an uncomfortable state known as hyperarousal. This state causes increased psychological and physiological activity such as feelings of anxiety or jumpiness, difficulty sleeping and increased responses to stimuli such as sounds or smells. There are various therapies used to alleviate hyperarousal from traumatized memories or fears; energy psychology techniques take a unique approach by targeting various human energy systems known as meridians and chakras for relief.
Energy psychologists believe that blocked energies can become imbalanced and manifest themselves physically or emotionally as symptoms. Rebalancing can be achieved by tapping specific points throughout the body based on traditional Chinese acupuncture meridian points to change electrical impulses running through them; tapping these meridians alters electrical impulses that run through them, dismantling neural pathways connected to upsetting emotions such as fear of water by creating new neural pathways without these negative associations and creating a new pathway without them.
Energy psychology’s physical interventions, like body tapping, are meant to be completed alongside mental engagement with thoughts or feelings that need changing. This could take the form of recalling painful memories while tapping acupressure points along meridians – using “gradual exposure” techniques in this process in order to avoid retraumatizing clients further.
Stimulating acupoints to traditional exposure treatments appears to enhance their impact, as evidenced by reduced activity in the amygdala and cortex during exposure, lower cortisol levels, increase vagal tone for improved heart rate variability and keeping people within their tolerance window of tolerance. Thus this combined approach appears effective for treating trauma, as witnessed by disaster relief workers using it following mass shootings or natural disasters, as well as treating chronic stress reactions or disorders.
What is the goal of therapy?
Energy psychology seeks to alleviate feelings of tension and stress among its patients. Many times these emotions stem from past trauma or fears that cause hyperarousal – marked by muscular tension, low tolerance for pain, jumpiness, difficulty sleeping and more – which makes life increasingly challenging after experiencing trauma, potentially contributing to anxiety disorders and increasing risks of physical illness.
Energy psychology sessions typically consist of stimulating various energy points on the body known as acupoints in order to release emotion blockages and ease anxiety or stress symptoms. This may also involve using contemporary psychological interventions like mindfulness techniques or cognitive reframing for maximum effect.
Energy psychologists may employ traditional talk therapies and encourage clients to practice new behavioral skills outside of sessions, including learning to forgive others and yourself, building positive self-esteem strategies, and practicing better communication with friends and family members.
Energy psychology can also be applied to more complex issues caused by trauma experiences, including issues in relationships, work environments and physical health. An energy psychology approach for dealing with such complex issues combines stimulating acupoints with mental activation of carefully chosen scenes, feelings or beliefs and can address each component of an issue step-by-step.
Find the Right Therapist Regardless of Your Therapy Goals It is crucial that you find a therapist that meets both your unique goals and individual needs. Communicate openly and honestly from the initial counseling session on, while being honest about your expectations from session one on. A support system outside the office may also be beneficial, particularly if dealing with upsetting topics – joining support groups, activities that help express emotions or simply sharing with trusted family and friends about counseling experiences are great ways of staying on track towards reaching long-term success goals.
How do I get started?
Psychology energy therapy‘s central methodology is tapping, which is believed to combine contemporary psychological interventions such as cognitive reframing with stimulating one or more human energy systems to release blocked trauma events and facilitate healing. Practitioners may also employ visualization techniques as healing aids.
An individual in therapy would typically engage in dialogue with their therapist about an area of concern while performing body tapping. It is believed that pairing physical interventions with mental engagement in order to alter specific feelings or emotions, coupled with Meridian Point Stimulation can help decrease hyperarousal levels and create new healthy responses in an individual.
Roger Callahan, a behavioral psychologist, first developed psychology energy therapy. He discovered that by targeting anxiety-inducing events or emotions and using specific acupuncture points on the body as focus points, clients could break through emotional blockages associated with traumatized experiences and heal emotionally.
Energy psychology encompasses many modalities, with thought field therapy, tapping meridians technique and emotional freedom technique being some of the more popular ones. Each modality works on similar principals in which an individual must focus on an upsetting thought or feeling they would like to change while tapping their fingers along meridians with fingers to facilitate change.
Thought field therapy has proven itself an effective treatment for many mental health conditions, including phobias and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A study published in Frontiers in Psychology used thought field therapy as part of its efforts to treat survivors of the 2010 Haiti earthquake with posttraumatic stress disorder diagnosed through thought field therapy sessions; most experienced reduced symptoms after just two days.
Psychology energy therapy operates under the assumption that unprocessed trauma affects every aspect of a patient’s self-esteem, interpersonal relationships, career path, and physical wellbeing. Therapy such as this often identifies and targets multiple contributing factors to mental illness conditions including childhood attachment experiences, self-defeating beliefs and heightened appraisals of interpersonal threats.
