Most books on Energy Psychology focus on one, two, or three forms of Energy-based interventions for psychological change. The most often mentioned are Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), and Thought Field Therapy (TFT).
EMDR, developed by Francine Shapiro as a way to reduce the impact of traumatic memories, has clients think about the problem while watching hand (or object) passes back and forth in front of their eyes. Both EFT and TFT, which was developed by Dr. Roger Callahan and seems to have been the precursor of EFT, use tapping on acupuncture meridians in combination with affirmations to eliminate or reduce negative thought patterns. For a good overview of EFT and TFT, see Appendix A in Dawson Church’s The Genie in Your Genes: Epigenetic Medicine and the New Biology of Intention.
Although these and related techniques have a mixed history of success, they have the definite advantage of being noninvasive. They either work, have limited success, or don’t work, depending on a variety of factors. Because these techniques are noninvasive, they will not produce the same kind of unwanted side effects that pharmaceutical products often have, nor is it risky to quit using them. If they don’t work, the client can stop using them without the untoward consequences that may result from discontinuing many psychotropic pharmaceuticals.
What these techniques have in common is that they engage both the left and right hemispheres of the brain. EMDR does this with hand passes. EFT and TFT do this by tapping on opposite sides of the body at the same time. When people are “stuck” in negative thought patterns, they are typically continuing to reprocess the thoughts using the same neural circuitry. EMDR, EFT, and TFT bring more neural circuitry “online,” which helps provide expanded awareness and additional perspectives of the problem.
My sense is that the principal difference between times when these three systems work and when they don’t is the way the therapist communicates with the client during the intervention. The techniques induce a hypnotic trance in the client, and when the therapist uses appropriate language, the client gets over the trauma or other negative thought pattern. When the therapist’s language and nonverbal behavior fail to support the desired change, the change fails to occur as well.
The missing piece in Energy Psychology is an understanding of hypnosis in general and the hypnotic language patterns of Neurolinguistic (Neuro-Linguistic) Programming (NLP) in particular. I am not sure why NLP has been the “forgotten child” of Energy Psychology. At an Energy Psychology conference held in Toronto a few years ago, one of the presenters told me that NLP was evil and manipulative. She based that opinion on Richard Bandler’s behavior in the 1970s. Aside from the fact that Richard has changed over the years, his behavior doesn’t influence the efficacy of the NLP approach to treating a variety of behavioral problems, from phobias to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). In general, NLP works faster and more completely than EMDR, EFT, and TFT. It is a lot faster and better for clients than cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
A couple of years ago, I wrote about some of the reasons that NLP (when employed by a skilled practitioner) is so much more effective: NLP, EMDR, and EFT. We now know a lot more about why NLP is more effective. The techniques of NLP are rooted in hypnosis, sometimes overt and sometimes covert (as is true for the “Fast Phobia Cure”), and a therapeutic trance automatically produces what Herbert Benson has called “The Relaxation Response.” This, in combination with the changes in beliefs resulting from the NLP practitioner’s use of hypnotic language patterns, influences the epigenes that determine whether particular genes are turned on or off. See my previous blog on Epigenetics for a more detailed explanation.
EMDR, EFT, and TFT also produce a trance-like state, and the practitioners of those modalities who also employ effective language patterns can achieve good results. Most of them are, however, not well-trained in what words to use. Those who have backgrounds in psychology have, in fact, learned many of the same bad language habits that traditional psychotherapists have. The most common example is the reinstallation of the problem state at the beginning each appointment. A classic example is the psychotherapist seeing a client for depression sends the client home after the session. The client has a pretty good week, with perhaps a few depressive episodes along with some really good times. When he or she sees the psychotherapist for the next appointment, the first thing the therapist asks is, “So how has your depression been this last week? Did you experience more depression?” When the client thinks about the previous week, he or she is going to find depression because that is what was requested.
Further, therapists without training in NLP and hypnosis, might deliver the phrase, “experience more depression” as an embedded command. First, the therapist installs a depressed state by getting the client to associate into memories of depression, and then he or she tells the client to “experience more depression.” It may not be a good strategy from the client’s perspective, but it does help ensure continuing visits at the therapist’s hourly rate.
My sense is that, regardless of the principal modality being practiced by those who do therapeutic work of any nature (goes for massage therapists, too), an understanding of NLP and hypnosis is required to help ensure that the therapists follows the medical dictum of first, do no harm. NLP is not only the missing piece in Energy Psychology, it is the key piece.
