Our focus changes now from the OPENING PHASES of treatment (including neurological disorganization, psychological reversals, and the various ways of creating a context for energy-based treatments as covered in the previous module) to the

This and the next two modules address this second phase of treatment:

The third phase of treatment is covered in the Closing Phases Module.

This module presents basic theory for understanding how interventions in the meridian energies can resolve psychological problems. The subsequent two modules present a systematic set of procedures.

The purpose of the energy intervention phase of treatment can be described in various ways, but operationally, it is to get the SUD rating of a well-formulated target problem and each of its aspects, down, ideally, to 0.

The anatomy of the energy body is believed to include: 1) centers, where energies concentrate, 2) pathways, along which energy travels, 3) energies that surround and protect the body, 4) energies that connect and harmonize other energy systems, and 5) energies that control biological and psychological cycles. Numerous cultures and healing approaches emphasize one or more of these energy systems. For instance, in yogic tradition the energy centers are known as chakras, in acupuncture the pathways along which energy travels are called meridians, and the energies surrounding the body are often referred to as the aura.

Interventions within energy psychology have focused upon the:

The initial focus of this program is on the meridians. Some energy-oriented therapists routinely begin with one of the other systems or assess the client’s energies to determine which system is most strongly indicated for the initial intervention.

Most psychological problems, however, can be addressed by attending to the meridian system alone, partially because bringing the body’s energy pathways into balance simultaneously impacts all the other energy systems. Additional psychological benefits of working with other specific systems, particularly the chakras and the radiant energies, will be given substantial attention later.

The meridian system carries vital energy—called chi or ki in the traditional Oriental healing arts—to every organ and every other system in the body.

The meridian system is a complex energy pathway that runs deep into the body and also surfaces to run along the skin in 12 places, appearing as 12 segments. Each segment is called a meridian, and each of the meridians is named for the primary organ or system it services.

There are actually 14 major meridians carrying energy into, through, and out of the body: the 12 segments of the primary meridian pathway just mentioned, plus two additional energy pathways, the central and governing meridians.

The twelfth, triple warmer, is not named after an organ, but rather after the energy system that stimulates 1) the fight-or-flight response, 2) the immune response, and 3) the formation of the body’s habitual responses to stress and threat.

The remaining two meridians, central and governing (also called "extra meridians" or "collector vessels"), are special meridians. Rather than serving as links in the chain of the 12 major meridian segments, central goes up the center of the front of the body and governing goes up the spine, through the brain, and connects with the central meridian at the back of the throat.

Like the other meridians, central and governing are energy pathways. But, like triple  warmer, they also exhibit the properties of the radiant circuits (addressed in a subsequent module). So central, governing, and triple warmer are meridians, and they are also radiant circuits. A fourth energy pathway, spleen meridian, also functions as a radiant circuit as well as a meridian.

While the ancient Chinese maps of the meridian system were at first discounted in the West because they had no known anatomical correlates, a number of studies dating back to the 1960s identified correspondences between physical structures and the energy pathways described in the early texts. In an experiment conducted in Korea, for instance, a liquid containing radioactive phosphorus isotopes, injected into the acupuncture points of rabbits and other animals, revealed the existence of a fine duct-like tubule system of approximately .5 - 1.5 microns in diameter (a human hair is approximately 1.5 microns). The liquid flowed along the tubules, paralleling the ancient descriptions of the meridian pathways (the correct translation of the word for these pathways is actually "vessel" or "channel," not "line," as the word "meridian" implies). Concentrations of the isotope in tissue that was adjacent to the meridian or near the acupoint that was injected were negligible. The tubular system included a superficial system and a deep system with a complex of subsystems. All were connected and ultimately traveled to the nuclei in all of the body’s cells.

Joaquín Andrade, M.D. (an Energy Psychology Interactive Advisory Board member who spent many years as a young man learning acupuncture in China and who frequently returns for further study and investigation) estimates that 60 to 65 percent of the acupuncture mechanisms described in the ancient system have been validated through vigorous scientific research. For instance, decreased electrical resistance on the skin corresponds with many of the acupoint locations described 5,000 years ago. But some concepts, such as the flow of meridian energy, continue to elude decisive empirical demonstration. The studies in France and Korea mentioned above, for instance, have not been precisely replicated and there is debate about some of their methods and conclusions. Dr. Andrade explains that scientists in China respectfully consider the ancient concepts as provisional assumptions based on the cultural context of the historical periods in which they originated. But they also attempt to verify these concepts with modern research techniques.

Investigating the time-honored system scientifically sometimes leads to clinical innovations and sometimes corroborates earlier methods. For instance, electrical acupuncture machines, a logical modern extension of the ancient concepts, have been tested as a way of diagnosing meridian energies based on the skin resistance at selected acupoints. But they are not favored in China because so many variables affect electrical conductivity, such as the temperature and humidity of the room, the thickness of the skin, basal metabolic conditions, the presence of hair over the point, etc. According to Dr. Andrade, "They prefer the poor man´s Dermatron [an electrical acupuncture machine, whose newer versions are priced from $3,000 to $50,000], the sensitive finger pads of a trained clinician."

In the way an artery carries blood, a meridian carries energy. The flow of the meridian system is no less critical than the flow of blood. No meridian energy, no life!

The meridians affect every organ and every physiological system, including the immune, nervous, endocrine, circulatory, respiratory, digestive, skeletal, muscular, and lymphatic systems. As the body’s energy bloodstream, the meridians bring vitality and balance, remove blockages, and adjust metabolism. They also influence the speed and form of cellular change.

Each system is fed by at least one meridian. If a meridian’s energy is obstructed or unregulated, the system it feeds is compromised.

Each meridian regulates a particular set of emotions and behavioral themes. While these vary from person to person, some generalizations hold. For instance:

The functions of the heart meridian tend to correspond with poetic associations to the heart: loving feelings flourish when it is in a healthy balance; heartache and heartbreak correspond with a disturbance in the energies of the heart meridian.

The stomach meridian, when in balance, supports a sense of basic trust; but when its flow is impeded, the reactive emotion is obsessive worry. This is a plausible energetic link between worry and indigestion or stomach ulcers.

The governing meridian (which runs along the backbone) seems related to confidence ("standing tall") when its energy flow is unimpeded and a lack of courage ("no backbone") when it is out of balance.

The emotions associated with each meridian when it is in balance and when it is not in balance (the "reactive emotion") have been mapped.

Through simple physical interventions that balance the energies of a meridian that is involved in an emotional problem, the reactive emotion can be deactivated.

Yes, while there is much more to the treatment, thinking of treating the heart meridian for heartbreak provides a vignette of how energy psychology operates.

Correcting a disturbance in the meridian energies associated with a specific issue also boosts the effectiveness of other clinical interventions targeted toward that issue.

Emotional disturbances can be treated by correcting a corresponding disturbance in the meridian energy, but a more thorough approach is often required if the correction is likely to hold.

First, neurological disorganization and psychological reversals act like static that interferes with the energy treatment if they are not resolved. Attending to them is sometimes discussed in terms of establishing an electromagnetic, neurological, and psychological "readiness" for treatment.

The major piece of work in the energy intervention phase of a meridian-oriented treatment approach, however, concerns treating meridians that are directly involved in the presenting problem.

The manner by which a triggering event or image can disrupt the meridian energies has a biological analogue in the body’s instinctual forms of self-protection: the immune response and the fight-or-flight response.

In the way that a pathogen (a disease-producing microorganism or substance, such as a virus, bacterium, or environmental pollutant) causes a cascading series of chemical events within the bloodstream (immune response) and a perceived physical threat mobilizes an emergency response in the autonomic nervous system (fight-or-flight), an experience that is psychologically stressful or threatening results in a sequence of programmed responses within the meridian energies.

This series of events in the energy system, in fact, precedes and regulates the physiological responses. The entire mechanism is governed by triple warmer.

Just as autoimmune illnesses are caused when the immune system is chronically activated though no actual pathogens are threatening the system, and stress-related illnesses are caused by the fight-or-flight response being chronically activated though no actual physical danger is present, many emotional problems are caused when triple warmer goes into a reactive mode that impacts the emotions though no actual interpersonal or other emotional threat is present. In all three instances, an overgeneralization is made; a "false positive" initiates a maladaptive and costly response.

One of the unique functions of triple warmer is its ability to conscript energy for the purposes of defense from any of the other meridians (except heart meridian, whose  energies are  protected at all costs).

These conscripted energies are utilized in both the immune response to microorganisms and its behavioral analog, the fight-or-flight response to threat or stress. The emotional consequences of this process correspond with the emotions associated with the meridians that are depleted by these threat-related responses.

If triple warmer conscripts energy from large intestine meridian, for instance, which governs issues involving holding on and releasing, emotional problems concerning the issue of control might emerge. The continuum from tolerance to judgmentalness is governed by gall bladder meridian; disturbances often lead to feelings of rage. Bladder meridian governs hope; when its energies are disrupted in service of the fight-or-flight response, the result might be a sense of futility.

The physiological impact of the fight-or-flight response (the "stress response syndrome") includes: a doubling or tripling of the heart rate; an increase in blood pressure as the coronary arteries dilate; an increase in the respiratory rate; an increase in muscle tension ("muscle bracing"); the release of hormones such as adrenaline, noradrenaline, cortisol, oxytocin, and vasopressin into the bloodstream; the secretion of hydrochloric acid into the stomach; a release of glucose from the liver; an increase in the basal metabolic rate; a surge of blood from the forebrain and digestive tract to the muscles and limbs; dilation of the pupils improving eyesight; and a virtual shut down of systems not essential for fighting or escaping, such as the immune, digestive, and sexual systems.

In addition to its immediate costs on the body’s physical and energetic resources, if fight-or-flight is chronically activated (as it often is in modern high-paced cultures), the cumulative  buildup of stress hormones can lead to disorders of the immune and autonomic nervous systems, susceptibility to infection, autoimmune diseases, chronic anxiety, chronic fatigue, and depression.

The fight-or-flight mechanism is activated when the autonomic nervous system’s ability to operate optimally is overwhelmed. At that point, triple warmer mobilizes the body’s energies for the fight-or-flight response. When understood at the level of the body’s energy systems, the fight-or-flight response is an even more intricate and pervasive mechanism than when understood only in terms of biochemistry. It is, in fact, believed to be the underlying mechanism involved in many psychological problems:

1. Whenever psychological stress or perceived threat reaches a critical threshold, an analog of the fight-or-flight response occurs within the energy system (this, again, precedes and regulates the biochemical reaction).
    

2. This response can be activated by:

3. The psychological impact generally includes: quickened impulses and reactivity, increased acuity, and diminished perception of pain, but also a significant decrease in  perspective and other cerebral functioning and a tendency to rely on habitual stress-induced behavioral patterns rather than to form a creative response to the situation. In addition:

4. The specific psychological impact also depends on which meridians have been activated in the service of the fight-or-flight response (recall that the triple warmer system may, using its own unique calculus, conscript the energy from any of the meridians for the fight-or-flight response, and each meridian governs specific emotional and behavioral themes).

John’s wife raises her voice slightly while asking John once more not to leave his clothes on the floor. This evokes a habitual pattern within John’s energy system that traces back to his mother’s criticism when he was a boy.

Triple warmer treats the increased volume and trace of irritation in the voice of an intimate female as a threat to John’s well-being. It conscripts energy from the liver and gall bladder meridians, as it has been doing for decades in similar circumstances, and uses these energies to activate the stress response into a "fight" reaction.

John’s anger is instant and intense (in addition to anger being characteristic of the fight response, rage is the reactive emotion when the gall bladder meridian is disturbed). He simultaneously is angry with himself, first for again having left his clothing on the floor and then for his angry response to his wife (anger toward the self is the reactive emotion when the liver meridian is out of balance). Neither response is tempered by his usual good humor or good judgment, as is often the case when stress reactions trigger behavior.

His wife, having witnessed this sequence too many times, stomps out of the room with derogatory observations about how he refuses to grow up and, with her own fight and flight mechanisms now activated, she withdraws and will not speak with him.

One basic treatment approach (after correcting for neurological disorganization and  psychological reversals) might involve having John bring to mind his wife’s raised voice, assessing the meridians that become disturbed (probably the liver, gall bladder, and triple warmer meridians; possibly others) and balancing them until the image can be held with no disturbance in the meridian system.

Along each of the 14 meridians are points that, when stimulated, affect the flow of energy within that meridian. Called acupuncture, acupressure, or simply acupoints, these spots have significantly lower electrical resistance than other areas of the skin (12,000 to 14,000 ohms compared with 300,000 to 400,000 ohms). At least 360 such points are distributed throughout the surface of the body along the meridian lines.

Perhaps because of this lower resistance, acupoints have been called windows into the body’s energy system. Stimulating an acupoint will affect the energy flow of the meridian on which it is located. Some acupoints are dedicated to bringing energy into the body, some to releasing energy from the body, some to increasing the movement of energy through the body, some to slowing it, and some serve several of these functions. Acupoints can be stimulated not only with needles, but also by non-invasive means (e.g., tapping, massaging, twisting, or holding, even through the use of imagination or focused intention) to switch the energies that flow along the meridian pathway "on" or "off."

The acupoints appear to serve as resistors and amplifiers that regulate the flow of energy through the meridians. Situated along each meridian are between 9 acupoints (heart and pericardium meridians) and 67 acupoints (bladder meridian),

Because any current will grow weaker with distance, due to resistance along the transmission cable, theorists wondered what boosted the meridian energies to allow them to maintain a balanced circulation.

The orthopedic surgeon and Nobel Prize nominee, Robert O. Becker, likened some acupoints to the amplifiers found along a telephone cable, boosting the signal so that it can continue to the next amplifier. His research yielded preliminary evidence that "the acupuncture points were just such booster amplifiers, spaced along the course of the meridian transmission lines."

Stimulating an acupoint whose function is to increase the movement of energy in a blocked meridian will tend to restore the meridian’s optimal flow. Stimulating an acupoint whose function is to slow the movement of energy in a meridian that is overcharged will similarly restore an optimal flow. Some acupoints will increase or inhibit the movement of energy as needed for balance in the meridian system, and these are the points that are generally used within energy psychology.

Many approaches have been developed within energy psychology for identifying the acupoints that when stimulated will have the greatest impact for alleviating a particular emotional or psychological difficulty. In Roger Callahan’s pioneering Thought Field Therapy, 14 acupoints are emphasized, one for each of the 14 major meridians. Treatment involves identifying the meridians enmeshed in the problem and tapping the associated acupoints while the problematic "thought field" is accessed mentally. Subsets of the 14 points have also been delineated as "algorithms," or protocols for working with specific emotional conditions or thought field disturbances.

Systematic investigation of how clairvoyants "see" thought forms dates back to a fascinating series of studies in the early 1900s. Scientific evidence has been accumulating that thought fields, though invisible, impact the physical world, including the firing of neurons. In this sense they are as "real" and verifiable as are magnetic and gravitational fields. Growing numbers of established scientific publications have introduced concepts analogous to the thought field to explain observed phenomena.

Based on findings from within their respective disciplines, informational fields (a field is a "region of influence") that are involved with consciousness and behavior have been postulated by neurologists, biologists, anesthesiologists, physiologists, psychologists, physicists, and engineers. In addition to the known chemical, neurological, linguistic, and subjective components of thought, the hypothesis that another component of thought consists of a field of information which directly impacts and is impacted by psychological functioning and physical health is rapidly gaining credibility.

This vivid illustration of the presumed impact of thoughts on the physical world, combined with the fact that the human body is 70% water, lends credibility to efforts to examine the impact of "thought fields" on psychological processes.

This disturbance in the thought field is believed to be the energetic structure that maintains many emotional and behavioral problems.

The trigger (an event, image, memory, or idea) that activated the psychological problem becomes associated with a balanced energetic state, the thought field is correspondingly altered, and the psychological problem is no longer activated by the original trigger.

The detail to which the energy dynamics underlying a psychological problem must be analyzed before effective energy treatments can be formulated is being debated within energy psychology. Clinical reports vary on this matter, and decisive research that establishes the "active ingredients" or the "necessary and sufficient conditions" for mediating the disturbed energy response within a thought field is not yet available.

You have already been introduced to one of the most popular self-help variations on Callahan’s Thought Field Therapy (TFT), Gary Craig’s Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT). Rather than attempting to assess which meridians are disturbed by the problematic thought or situation, EFT uses a subset, usually at least 7 of the 14 TFT points, and taps each in every instance in order to activate the energies in the entire meridian system.

Other practitioners believe that even if the successes reported using uniform protocols such as EFT are verified by controlled investigations, an assessment-based approach is required to insure reliable outcomes when working with a wide range of problems and clients. For instance, the choice of which points to treat may have distinct clinical consequences.

In a double-blind study with 49 individuals who had a fear of heights, a protocol based on TFT was given to one randomly selected group and a placebo tapping treatment to the other. The placebo protocol involved tapping various parts of the body that are not used in TFT. The TFT group showed significantly greater improvement on a post-test than the placebo group. Click here to view the entire report online.

A reasonable clinical strategy is to begin with a relatively simple protocol, using the most effective points known, and to introduce more elaborate procedures when the simpler ones do not produce the desired results.

The more sophisticated approaches allow for greater diagnostic precision and for treatments that are tailored to the client’s unique energies and problems. In the remainder of this program you will learn:

You learned, in the opening module, an abbreviated EFT protocol that used eight acupoints and applied them to all problems. In the remainder of this module you will learn a somewhat more complex 14-point protocol in which one point is treated for each of the 14 meridians.

In the module after this one, Formulating Energy Interventions, you will learn how to apply this meridian balancing sequence within a treatment session.

And in the module following that one, Advanced Meridian Treatments, you will learn how to assess which specific meridians are involved in a psychological problem, as well as additional treatment points for each of the 14 meridians.

When a meridian associated with the problem state has been identified but the first intervention does not balance that meridian, the advanced techniques provide additional strategies for achieving that balance.

Most of the points you learned in the abbreviated EFT protocol will also be used in the longer protocol presented here. You can, alternatively, continue to use only the set of points you learned earlier. They are simple, widely known, now familiar to you, and good results are often reported. A more complex protocol, however, is introduced in this module for a number of reasons. Among them is that you will later find it is valuable to have memorized at least one treatment point for each of the 14 meridians.

Since for this protocol you will be learning only one point per meridian (of the possible 9 to 67), great care has been taken to identify the points that are most likely to be effective in the greatest number of situations. The selections are based on reports and experiences with TFT and EFT, other energy psychology approaches, and Touch for Health. The final selections were made by Donna Eden. If however, you already know a different set of  points, such as the complete set of TFT or EFT points, they will do for the purposes of this  and the next module.

The issue in selecting treatment points is not about some of a meridian’s points being "right" and others being "wrong." Rather, since none of the points will be effective in all cases, it is a judgment call, a best guess, about which points are likely to be effective with the greatest frequency when a simplified treatment protocol is used. In the more sophisticated approach that is presented in the "Advanced Meridian Treatments" module, these considerations are note at issue since single pre-selected points for each meridian are not relied upon. Instead, assessments about which of several possible treatment points are continually being made.

By assessing the meridians that are involved in the target problem, the treatment can be tailored to focus on those meridians.

Another reason for meridian and acupoint assessment is that, of the 9 to 67 acupoints that fall along each meridian, some will correct disturbances in the meridian’s energies more reliably than others.

The clinician who knows several points on each meridian, and who is able to assess whether stimulating the standard treatment point was effective, will have ready access to viable options when the "best-guess" point was not the best guess. In these cases, another treatment point can be used, and that is the topic of the "Advanced Meridian Treatments" module.

Of the 14 acupoints used in the one-point-per-meridian protocol (which you are about to learn), the points for each of the 12 major meridian segments are tapped. The points for the central and governing meridians are held.

The energies in the meridian system move according to a rapid pulse as well as a slower pulse that penetrates more deeply. The pause, followed by the second set of taps, is more likely to activate this second, deeper energy flow.

One way to pace your tapping is to tap during a deep inhalation and exhalation, pause during a deep inhalation and exhalation, and again tap the same point on a third inhalation and exhalation. Still, tapping just a few times and with no pause is often enough to significantly improve the meridian flow.

As with every guideline presented in this program, you can experiment to discover what you find to be adequate and effective. Practitioners who are particularly  well  attuned to subtle energies look for the desired effect rather than to the  guideline. This sensitivity develops as people log in more hours and experience using energy-based methods.

1. Middle finger of one hand in belly button
    
2. Middle finger of other hand at third eye
    
3. Press in and pull the skin gently upward
    
4. Hold about 30 seconds or until there is a spontaneous deep breath

Balance your own meridians by tapping the 12 points on the One-Point-per-Meridian Chart (for each point, tap during an inhalation and exhalation, pause during an inhalation and  exhalation, tap again) and then hooking up the central and governing meridians.

Instruct a partner in balancing his or her meridians.

Another approach is to access the problem state, determine which of the 14 meridians have become disturbed, and treat only those meridians.

We will use the first approach in the following module. While it may be redundant to keep treating meridians that are already balanced, it is simpler to tap without assessing the meridian system, it does no harm, and this procedure alone seems effective a reasonable proportion of the time. It also allows you to move forward before learning the more complex meridian assessment techniques.