Much of the ancient world knew that energy was central to life. Nearly a hundred years ago Einstein showed the modern scientific world that energy is all there is. While many Eastern approaches to health and healing include the body’s energy as fundamental, Western medicine and psychology generally have not taken that reality into account, missing basic aspects of how the body-mind-consciousness functions and heals. Quantum physics is demonstrating the reality that everything is energy, just vibrating in different frequencies: higher or lower; more subtle or more dense; visible to the eye or not.
In the West, Energy Psychology and energy therapies are now rapidly gaining ground. Energy healers can be found in hospitals in Complementary or Integrative Medicine departments. The National Center of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) within the National Institutes of Health has named Mind-Body Medicine and Energy Medicine as two of its top priorities for the five year Strategic Plan 2005-2009. Energy Psychology is highlighting energy’s central role in emotional health and wellbeing. The Association of Comprehensive Energy Psychology (ACEP) is supporting research into and practice of Energy Psychology techniques that are being used effectively to heal a range of emotional challenges, as well as enhance overall wellbeing.
While Energy Psychology techniques differ in their specifics, they all address the human body’s energy matrix, which include two inter-related systems:
- Biofields of the human body; the energy matrices that surround and interpenetrate the body
- Energy meridians or pathways through the body, including acu-points and the primary and secondary chakras (energy centers or “wheels”)
Energy Psychology techniques work with the body’s energy to relieve and heal emotional wounds and tensions, symptoms and stress. EP techniques can be effective with psychological and emotional difficulties, often helping heal physical distress and illness in the process. EP approaches can also be used to increase overall wellness, develop creativity, and reach relaxed, centered peak performance in areas including academics, business, sports, and the performing arts.
In my Integrative Psychotherapy practice, I offer clients Energy Psychology perspectives and techniques as part of an integrated, holistic approach to emotional healing and wellness. I have found EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) to be one effective and easy-to-use EP method. With each client, we tailor our approach depending on each person’s wishes and goals, using the techniques that could be most helpful for each individual situation. Energy Psychology and Integrative Psychotherapy can make change and healing more effective and efficient, allowing people to move forward in their lives more freely in positive, creative ways.
