Old Stuff Rears Its Ugly Head
A big life transition can be challenging not only because of the pain and uncertainties of the transition itself, but because old pain, losses, and traumas re-emerge in order to be healed. This is Bad News, but it’s also Good News: a supported life transition can leave you renewed and reinvigorated, free to move into a livelier future unstuck and unburdened by old stuff.
Enter Energy Psychology
Energy Psychology theory says that painful emotions, self-destructive behaviors, and unhealthy beliefs are caused by disruptions in our bodies’ energy systems. (These energy systems are also used in acupuncture, acupressure, and other healing modalities.) When the disruption is corrected, negative emotions are replaced by deep inner wellbeing. Unhelpful behaviors are replaced by healthy ones, often effortlessly. And most women say that their sessions are deeply relaxing and renewing.
Energy Psychology can treat many distressing problems:
• worries, fears, anxieties
• trauma, whether present or past
• painful memories and grief
• stress, burnout, exhaustion
• anger, rage, resentment
• insecurity, low self-worth
• limiting beliefs
What Is Energy Psychology?
Energy psychology is an array of techniques used to create rapid, dramatic and lasting changes in feelings, thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors. The techniques are so simple that even kids can learn to use them well. Yet they are so powerful that they are used by organizations worldwide that provide first response to trauma and disasters.
Energy psychology combines physical techniques derived from acupuncture and other systems with therapeutic techniques such as guided imagery and hypnotherapy. Clients learn skills that have been shown to reduce or even eliminate unwanted anxiety, anger, grief, guilt, and shame. Negative reactions to trauma, phobias and other fears are replaced by positive, healthy feelings of calmness and centeredness.
Energy Psychology’s efficacy is being studied by the National Institute of Health, the Kaiser Foundation, and the Veterans Administration. Clinical research has been very promising; click here if you'd like to read about it.
How can it help you during transitions?
1. IT ACCELERATES CHANGE IN A SIMPLE AND EASY WAY
I’ve been a psychotherapist for 25 years, and I’m still amazed at the power of Energy Psychology to quickly heal painful issues that normally take months or even years of psychotherapy. Sometimes it’s very important to talk through old issues, particularly as we’re just becoming aware of them. Other times, though, we KNOW the “names and addresses” of our old issues; we’ve talked about them, expressed them, analyzed them, and they still run our lives and hinder our wellbeing. (In fact, the latest neurological research finds that continuing to talk about old traumas simply retraumatizes us and strengthens their neural circuits). This is where Energy Psychology shines.
2. YOU CAN LEARN TO DO IT FOR YOURSELF:
I love the techniques because they are easy for my clients to learn. Clients can continue the transformative, liberating, and healing effects by using the simple techniques at home. These techniques can be used present stresses and anxieties, as well as old woundings. The more frequently clients use Energy Psychology at home, the less challenging their life transitions become, and they are able to move through them with more grace and ease. Using Energy Psychology outside of the therapy session stimulates creativity, new ways of looking at their issues etc, and quite often reducing the amount of therapy needed to support their life transition.
3. IT GENTLY BYPASSES RESISTANCE AND SELF-SABOTAGE
One of the greatest gifts of Energy Psychology is its ability to bypass our very-human resistance to change. Most of us are discouragingly familiar with knowing we could be doing things differently, but can’t seem to make changes, or even sabotage our own efforts. And many of us then beat ourselves by feeling guilty or ashamed that we “don’t have enough will-power.” All forms of resistance, in Energy Psychology, are seen as a reversal in our energy system. When a simple correction is used at the beginning of each treatment (whether in a session or at home), the resistance melts away and we can move forward in our lives. We don’t need to try to muscle our way through change through willpower, or by guilting or shaming ourselves. What a sweet relief.
My Love Story with Energy Psychology:
I went to my first Energy Psychology professional training about 15 years ago, skeptically interested. The first morning, the teacher asked for a volunteer. My hand shot up: OK, buster, SHOW ME, my skeptical part silently sneered. I told the group I had a lifelong terror of flying (you know the call button? Each time I heard it, it sounded like “UH-OH” and I was sure that it was REALLY the pilot calling the flight attendant to announce we were going down. Really.) I had tried everything: hypnosis, past life therapy, drugs, even NyQuil.
Wayne showed me how to tap and I followed his lead, while feeling my terror of flying. And then a miracle occurred. After 10 minutes of tapping I couldn’t find my terror any more, no matter how hard I tried. I just wasn’t afraid, no matter which part of the flight I imagined. Holy S***! I thought, This is weirder than skiddish.
I flew across the country the next week, and enjoyed it for the first time in my life. The fear has never returned.
My life was changed, and continued to change over the following 15 years as I received more professional training in several different Energy Psychology modalities, used it with hundreds of clients, and explored its healing and transformative power in my own life. I’m a clinical member of the Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology, and professionally trained in several modalities.
If you'd like to explore how Energy Psychology can support big changes in your life, give me a call or shoot me an email. I'd love to talk with you about it!
