Energy Psychology

Just as no two people are alike, I have a variety of techniques to draw from during therapy with my clients. These techniques are collectively called energy psychology approaches.

Energy psychology tools are both integrative and holistic. Rooted in 3,000+ years of ancient Chinese medicine, we use these tools to address root causes of psychological suffering (Adams & Davidson, 2011).

Energy psychology can be an alternative to EMDR for addressing trauma. While some people find EMDR useful in addressing trauma, others find it ineffective or distressing. The evidence-based treatments we use offer gentler, yet powerful, research-backed alternatives to EMDR.

Energy psychology methods have been shown to be effective in treating anxiety, depression, physical pain, food cravings, trauma and PTSD, and peak athletic performance (ACEP, 2023).

  • Energy psychology … is a family of mind-body methods that rapidly reduce stress and trauma while increasing calm. 

    Energy psychology methods focus on your thoughts, feelings and emotions while … tapping or touching certain places on your body, such as meridian points or chakras. This calms the body, clearing stress and trauma that are held there. The result? It's easier to move on and break through to a more expansive experience of life. 

    Energy psychology has been shown to be evidenced based, cost effective and empowering for clients. Energy psychology integrates well with other methods and includes self-help techniques (paras. 1-3). 

Bottom-Up vs Top-Down

“Top-down approaches” or “thinking approaches” to therapy seek to help individuals change by correcting cognitive processes such as beliefs and thoughts. However, this approach is often not sufficient for addressing deeply rooted issues and trauma that is known to be stored in the body (van der Kolk, 2015). 

Energy psychology approaches utilize “body-based” or “bottom-up” approaches to provide therapy that focuses on the root of what is causing the problem, rather than symptom reduction. This can allow for lasting, permanent relief from core issues. The result? Freed up energy, mental space, time, and emotions to fully integrate with your unencumbered self. 

What is EFT/tapping?

One of the most well-known energy psychology techniques is Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). EFT is an evidence-based calming and relaxation technique that utilizes specific acupressure points - rooted in 3,000+ years of ancient Chinese medicine—to modify the fight/flight/freeze response as well as foster body awareness, and enable positive cognitive (mental) shifts (Adams & Davidson, 2011).

EFT  is an evidence-based comprehensive method of addressing trauma that involves gently tapping on Chinese medicine acupressure points to alleviate emotional distress.

EFT, often called “tapping”, is a somatic (physical) and cognitive (mental) therapy that has demonstrated effectiveness in over 175 outcome studies (including 88 randomized controlled trials)  for treating anxiety, depression, food cravings, smoking cessation, trauma, and PTSD, as well as to support peak athletic performance (ACEP, 2023). In fact, EFT is in the top 10% of published research on psychotherapy approaches. EFT has been compared to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) with comparable results, often in less time.

EFT is a comprehensive treatment method that is both complementary, integrative, and holistic. 

It is both powerful enough to thoroughly and systematically address both single incident and complex trauma, as well as distress, in therapy sessions while also being simple enough to learn as a coping strategy for use outside of sessions. 

References

Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology (ACEP). (2023). https://www.energypsych.org/researchdb8c71b7 

Adams, A. & Davidson, K. (2011). EFT: Comprehensive training resource. Energy Psychology Press. 

Van der Kolk, B. (2015). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Penguin Books. 

    • Childhood trauma

      • Feeling responsible for an alcoholic father

      • Growing up without experiences of understanding, support, and affection 

      • A history of being considered “stupid” by family and teachers 

    • Stigma and shame

      • “ADHD is not a real condition”

      • “My challenges don’t deserve help and support” 

    • Intrusive thoughts

      • “It’s just because I’m lazy.”

      • “‘I’m never going to amount to anything.”

      • “I don’t deserve to enjoy life.”

    • Troubling memories, such as:

      • Being embarrassed in front of grade school class

      • Feeling different/other than peers, friends