Energy psychology represents a
new paradigm. Not surprisingly, it is controversial, particularly
since many of its procedures seem quite strange and the field's
early claims of extraordinary clinical outcomes far exceeded
research substantiation. Beyond this, experienced therapists are
incredulous on hearing reports of almost instantaneous and lasting
cures for longstanding psychiatric conditions such as phobias and
generalized anxiety disorder. Therapy is not that rapid. Time is
needed for building rapport, examining the antecedents of the
problem, exploring the meaning of the symptoms in the person's life,
assessing which therapeutic modalities are most appropriate for this
unique situation, and applying them. Attempts to explain the
purported dramatic treatment outcomes of energy psychology in terms
of insight, cognitive restructuring, reward and punishment, or the
curative properties of the therapeutic relationship make no sense.
But if the electrochemical shifts in brain
chemistry that are brought about by stimulating acupuncture points
are examined (see brain scan
images), a coherent hypothesis begins to emerge:
If research supports anecdotal reports that these
methods may be more rapid and as or more effective than standard
treatments for certain psychological problems, energy methods should
become a standard of care for those conditions. This, however,
raises the question of whether psychotherapists are qualified to
practice these procedures. Do they fall within the appropriate
"scope of practice" for psychotherapists?
This issue is being addressed within the
profession of psychology in particular. It has not been resolved.
But even as the question is being debated, the tide of clinical
practice is clearly moving toward the acceptance of energy
interventions. The 600-member professional organization that has
grown around energy psychology since its establishment in 1999 (The
Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology) has developed
formal Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice statements.
Its membership is composed primarily of licensed health and mental
health professionals and includes individuals who hold positions on
the faculties of psychology departments at distinguished
universities, who hold ABPP Diplomate status, who work in highly
regarded clinical settings, and who represent a broad range of
clinical backgrounds and orientations. The organization, as well as
its individual members, has developed training programs that provide
mental health professionals the knowledge and skills to incorporate
the methods of energy psychology into clinical practice.
The essential question regarding scope of
practice, assuming that the methods of energy psychology are of
substantial relevance to clinical practice, is whether it is
practical and reasonable to expect psychotherapists to be able to
learn the techniques at a level where they can be practiced
competently and safely. Following is the perspective of the
developers of energy psychology on this question.
The experience within the energy psychology
community is that its methods can be taught to licensed clinicians
at a level where they can responsibly introduce them into their
practices within less than 100 hours of training. The number varies
widely depending upon the practitioner or organization conducting
the training. There is no established standard on this issue, and
one of the reasons that Energy Psychology Interactive was
created was to offer standards regarding the specific knowledge and
skill areas that should be mastered before clinicians introduce the
methods into their practices, based on a consensus of the field's
leadership.
The Energy Psychology Interactive Advisory
Board, under whose auspices the program was developed, consists of
24 of the field's pioneers and recognized leaders, including 10
psychologists, 5 physicians, and 9 other licensed health or mental
health professionals. On the opening page of the Energy
Psychology Interactive CD, the program represents itself as a
40-hour course. Whether requiring 40 hours or 100 hours, however,
the experience of the energy psychology community is that the
methods can be taught to psychotherapists within a reasonable
training period and without mastering a separate discipline such as
acupuncture, yoga, or qi gong.
In fact, the essential techniques used in energy
psychology are unregulated. Anyone, as long as they are not
diagnosing or treating illness, can teach another person to
self-stimulate energy points for positive effects. Energy psychology
does not utilize invasive procedures. It does not involve surgery,
medication, physical first aid, or even the superficial insertion of
tiny needles. The methods are perhaps most akin to those taught in
Touch for Health. Tens of thousands of laypeople have been certified
in Touch for Health over the past three decades, and no more
training than that is required for a psychologist to effectively
apply energy interventions to help people with anxiety and other
psychological issues.
The closest established clinical precedent to the
methods of energy psychology actually exists within rather
than outside the field of psychology, and that is systematic
desensitization. As with systematic desensitization, a stimulus that
causes an unwanted or dysfunctional emotional response is brought to
mind and a physical intervention is used to replace a disturbed
response with a normalized response. In systematic desensitization,
muscle tension is replaced with muscle relaxation by teaching the
client the willful induction of muscular tension and release. In
energy psychology, disturbed neurological responses are replaced
with neutral responses by teaching the client to stimulate
electrically reactive areas of the skin. Systematic desensitization
is of course not the only clinical procedure to utilize overtly
physical interventions, and many physical interventions used by
psychotherapists, particularly in aversion therapies, are invasive
as well as physical. The physical interventions used within energy
psychology are painless, non-invasive, and generally self-applied by
the client.
Still, clinicians considering the use of energy
interventions are wise to investigate the positions of both their
licensing board and their malpractice insurance carrier. Assuming
they are not specifically prohibited, one of the most responsible
and self-protective steps you can take during this period while the
professions are coming to terms with the energy paradigm is to be
certain that you have obtained clear informed consent from your
clients before you utilize energy interventions. The Energy
Psychology Interactive CD includes sample wording that can be
copied into your word processor, revised for the particulars of your
practice, and integrated into your informed consent statement.
In deciding how to regard energy interventions,
the clinical professions will best serve themselves and their
clients by being very careful not to define their scope of practice
so it omits safe, unregulated procedures that are, according to
evidence that is rapidly accumulating, also highly effective for
treating certain psychological issues. The profession of psychology,
for instance, which is fighting to gain drug prescription
privileges, would be taking a significant step backward if it
defines these non-invasive methods as being outside the scope of
practice of psychologists who have taken training in stimulating the
body's energy centers for psychological benefit. The clinical
professions should, in fact, be leading the way in setting standards
for the responsible application of energy interventions as their use
by laypeople is proliferating, sometimes in troubling ways.
Energy Psychology Interactive offers clinicians a readily
accessible and authoritative resource for educating themselves about
the responsible uses of energy interventions with psychological
issues.
