There’s a new kid on the block … a controversial one. It’s name—“energy psychology.” With reports claiming that, in a very brief amount of time energy psychology methods can heal major trauma, and other life issues, it is creating quite a controversy in the field of psychology. The energy psychology (EP) technique that most know about is the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) where a person taps various acu-points while practicing cognitive therapy methods. Many meridian based psychology methods were born from applied kinesiology, an alternative therapy that has been heavily criticized. This is part of why traditional psychology is skeptical even though both the chief medical officer of Kosovo and the founder of Green Cross have reportedly said that energy psychology methods are among the most powerful that they’ve seen in resolving complex trauma.
In my book Energy Psychology, I review the literature in the energy psychology field; however I take a broader view of the nature of EP. I believe that in addition to incorporating well-known methods such as EFT, the field of energy psychology should expand its terrain to include Qigong and methods of energy cultivation from other traditions of meditation and postural initiation, depth psychology, symbolic process traditions, and various traditional psychotherapies.
Qigong (of which Tai Chi is the best known system) is a many thousand-year-old method of cultivating the energy of life through breath, posture, movement, touch, sound, and imagery. As one of the most ancient forms of energy psychology, with much research to back up the efficacy of its methods, it is a natural for integrating with EP methods, yet it is underrepresented in EP approaches. Tapping is just one of the many forms of medical Qigong techniques, with many thousand years of empirical research from which EP could benefit. For example, tapping in medical Qigong is part of a broad-based holistic system which is used to activate energy, whereas the circle, stop, and feel method or simply compassionately holding and soothing the heart is beneficial for relaxing.
Another way I like to broaden the scope of EP is to share meanings of acu-points with my patients to help to further activate the positive dimension of the placebo (belief) effect. For example in traditional EP often the Karate Chop point on the side of the hand (Acu-point SI 3) is hit while saying a new belief. In Qigong training it’s said that this point is used to activate the Yang meridians up the spine; so when one of my patients needs to activate self-assertiveness I might suggest at an appropriate moment that they tap this point while saying a new constructive belief. I have found that this helps to somatically anchor a new assertive life stance. As I became aware that Qigong could be beneficial to my patients for stress reduction and other behavioral health concerns, I began to integrate Qigong into my practice with cases involving anxiety, carpal tunnel syndrome, insomnia, hypertension, depression, and various behavioral health concerns.
The most recent phase of my work has involved bringing Qigong into my work with patients without ever doing a Qigong movement and without ever mentioning a word about Qigong. The greatest Qigong involves cultivating the energy of life by practicing living a life cleared of psychological encumbrances which block the rivers of our chi. On this pathway one can extract out the essence of what creates transformation from Qigong as a self-cultivation practice; for example a practitioner can use Qigong breathing methods (such as microcosmic orbit breathing); acu-point self-touch, helping to facilitate the energetic “felt shift” that comes from a patient’s discovering new meaning and anchoring the gestures/postures that a person expresses at the moment of felt shift (these are oftentimes the same as practiced by Tai Chi/Qigong practitioners); and symbolic process methods such as my Mythic Journey Process and River of Life Process which create an internal energy, helping a person find a meaningful life path and new life stance. Thus one can cultivate “the spirit and soul” of Qigong.
I have incorporated these traditions into my energy psychology approach. To take another step forward on the path to actualizing the contribution that EP has to make to the field of psychology in general, I believe it will be important to increase the recognition that all psychotherapy is energy psychotherapy. For example, psychodynamic psychotherapies have “libido” at the center of their approach; cognitive therapy emphasizes changes in beliefs, but could benefit from the understanding that these beliefs create somatic changes and energetic shifts and Dr. Eugene Gendlin revealed that the process of change in all therapies involves a felt energetic shift. At the core of the process of psychotherapeutic change is a felt energetic shift that creates a new life stance.
For the field of energy psychology, the most viable course seems to be to incorporate a wide range of energy psychology methods from diverse traditions as research grows and we see which methods are most efficacious for which people at what times. I hope that the energy psychology approach I’ve laid out in my book will contribute to it becoming increasingly acceptable to the wider field of psychology, and add vital elements to our healing traditions.
For a complete bibliography, please refer to Energy Psychology (North Atlantic/Random House, 2009).
