Your choice of language in describing strange-looking procedures whose mechanisms are not understood invites careful consideration. The growing acceptance of acupuncture within medical care provides one bridge into established methods. And the mapping of the role of amygdala hyper- or hypo-arousal in many emotional problems provides one bridge into established explanations. The approach used within energy psychology has, for instance, correctly been described to other professionals as a way of teaching clients the "self-modulation of arousal through acupressure."

When introducing an energy-based approach to a client, it is of course necessary to orient your comments according to the person’s familiarity with and receptiveness to alternative treatments and your own familiarity with clinical and research support for using energy-based techniques with the client’s specific problems. Some practitioners pointedly avoid introducing concepts early on that are not well-understood or accepted, such as "energy" or "meridians." They might be more likely to say something along the lines of, "Here is a simple procedure that is proving itself to be surprisingly effective" and then demonstrate it on an issue where the client will be able to quickly feel a difference. Energy methods lend themselves well to such a "show me" approach. Further explanation can come later.

You are probably aware that chemical imbalances are involved in psychological problems such as anxiety and depression. Evidence is mounting that the body’s energies are also involved in emotional disturbances, and that interventions into the body’s energy system can shift the brain chemistry in a way that helps overcome many psychological problems. The interventions you will be learning have been effective in a wide range of situations, including helping people during major disasters and the aftermath of trauma. They make use of a simple process you already know: comforting yourself using your own hands and your own words.

Your hands carry an electromagnetic charge, and your body’s energies include the electrical charge in every cell and organ, the electrical pathways in the nervous system, the electromagnetic fields surrounding every organ as well as the entire body, and also more subtle energies, such as the chi spoken of by acupuncturists and the prana spoken of by yoga practitioners. With psychological problems, an experience you regularly encounter causes your brain to send out electrical signals that lead to an emotion (perhaps anxiety, depression, or anger), a perception, or a behavior that is not appropriate for the current situation. The triggering experience may be one you encounter with some frequency, such as being in situations where you feel tested, but it also may be internal, a recurring memory, image, or thought. One way to approach the problem is to work directly with the energies that maintain the pattern in your brain’s response to the triggering experience. That is the approach used in energy psychology.

Information about how your body’s energies are involved in your problem can be gathered using a simple procedure where I apply some pressure to your outstretched arm. In this way, we can gauge the relative firmness of your muscle while you are thinking about your problem vs. when you are thinking about something else. Your muscles and your nerves work together, so when you have an upsetting emotion, it causes a change in your muscles as well. The muscles tend to become firmer with positive thoughts or emotions and somewhat weaker with negative thoughts or emotions. It isn’t that the muscles are really weak at such times, just that the electricity moving through the nerves gets interrupted so that the muscle momentarily cannot operate at its best.

"The method involves checking the firmness in a shoulder muscle while you hold your arm out straight. I’ll ask you to think about the problem that you want help with to see how this affects the muscle. I’ll also have you touch certain places on your body that are like circuit breakers and check the muscle in response to certain statements. I may ask you to do some other things, like moving your eyes in different directions, humming, and counting. We will be working together to learn how your body’s energies are responding to various aspects of your problems and to their treatment. Would this all be okay with you?"