Psychoanalytic energy psychotherapy : inspired by thought field therapy, EFT, TAT, and seemorg matrix

People like to talk. We know that talking to an attentive and thoughtful listener can be helpful in clarifying conscious and unconscious feelings, thoughts, and motivations. But is talk enough? The complex physiology of anxiety and traumatic stress reactions is often stubbornly persistent, despite therapeutic exploration in both conscious and unconscious areas of the mind. In the case of severe trauma, talking can stir up the emotions and associated bodily disturbance without providing any resolution - sometimes leaving clients feeling worse. The developing field of energy psychology offers an entirely new perspective and gamut of techniques for locating where these traumatic patterns are encoded. They are not in the mind - but in the energy system at the interface of psyche and soma. By addressing these realms concurrently, a powerful therapeutic synergy emerges that allows rapid and deep shifts in the patterns of distress that drive the psychosomatic system. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Dedication 10 DISCLAIMER 12 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 14 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 16 CHAPTER 1 Introductory remarks—and rationale for psychoanalytic energy psychotherapy 18 CHAPTER 2 The essence of energy psychology 28 CHAPTER 3 History: how did we get to modern energy psychology? 46 CHAPTER 4 Some simple beginnings—tapping points and procedures, using EFT as a derivative of Thought Field Therapy 78 CHAPTER 5 Basic procedures in an energy psychology session 108 CHAPTER 6 Neurological (energetic) disorganisation 140 CHAPTER 7 Psychological reversal and associated resistances 158 CHAPTER 8 Muscle testing (energy checking or body dowsing) 190 CHAPTER 9 'Parts' and programmes—and other elements of the structure and functioning of the psycho-energetic system 224 CHAPTER 10 Energy toxins 240 CHAPTER 11 Working with the chakras 268 CHAPTER 12 Some thoughts on Tapas Acupressure Technique [TAT] 290 CHAPTER 13 The energy perspective 308 CHAPTER 14 Freud, Reich, and bioelectrical energy—from libido to Qi 326 CHAPTER 15 Is the 'energy' concept necessary? A cognitive model of Emotional Freedom Technique 352 CHAPTER 16 Energy psychology perspectives and therapies for borderline and other personality disorders 366 CHAPTER 17 A systematic review of the evidence base for energy psychology methods 398 CHAPTER 18 Case studies 438 CHAPTER 19 Ethical aspects of energy psychological work—dangers of idealisation and illusions of knowing 484 REFERENCES 492 INDEX 510

Psychoanalytic Energy Psychotherapy is the outcome of one psychoanalyst’s encounter with the field known generically as energy psychology, which reveals how the conflicts and traumas active within the psyche are encoded as information within the body’s energy system. It is inspired primarily by the remarkable and far-reaching work of Dr. Roger Callahan in his development of Thought Field Therapy. There were important figures before Dr. Callahan in the lineage–notably George Goodheart, the founder of Applied Kinesiology, who first explored muscle testing as a source of information about the body’s organs and functions, and psychiatrist Dr. John Diamond, who extended this enquiry into the emotional and psychological domains—and many have built substantially on his work since.

The author is compelled to the conclusion that purely talk-based forms of psychotherapy—although not without value—are simply not able to engage effectively with the realm in which the patterns of emotional distress are encoded: the area at the interface of the psyche and the soma, the body’s energy field. For this reason, he encourages psychotherapists to consider the implications of TFT and the wider domain of energy psychology. He is convinced that this realm of the body and its energy is entirely congruent with—and indeed an extension of—the psychoanalysis originally developed by Freud.

The outcome of one psychoanalyst's encounter with the field known generically as 'energy psychology', this title reveals how the conflicts and traumas active within the psyche are encoded as information within the body's energy system. It is inspired primarily by the remarkable work of Dr Roger Callahan in his development of Thought Field Therapy.