David Feinstein – Energy Psychology Enters the Mainstream: A Power Tool for Your Practice

Energy Psychology Enters the Mainstream: A Power Tool for Your Practice – David Feinstein

Now that the body of peer-reviewed scientific research has lent credibility to the emerging field of Energy Psychology, skeptical therapists have increasingly incorporated tapping protocols into their usual methods to boost their effectiveness. This workshop will demonstrate how to use a variation of Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), the most popular form of energy psychology, based on tapping selected acupuncture points while target scenes are mentally activated. You’ll learn:

• A basic tapping routine you can use with clients and apply in your own life
• How to use EFT with PTSD, anxiety issues, relationship conflict, and other difficult conditions
• How to integrate EFT with your current methods to regulate emotional over-arousal and escalating patterns of reactivity while creating greater personal empowerment

1. Explore a basic tapping routine you can use with clients and apply in your own life
2. Adapt EFT interventions to presenting symptoms of PTSD, anxiety issues and relationship conflict
3. Integrate EFT with your current methods to regulate emotional over-arousal and escalating patterns of reactivity while creating greater personal empowerment
4. Analyze varied models of “energy psychology” and understand the common aspects of the approach
5. Administer physical interventions used in energy psychology protocols
6. Practice tapping procedures in to facilitate implementation in clinical practice and for personal use
7. Critique current EFT research and contrast with the efficacy of standard trauma approaches

Origins of Energy Psychology and Initial Research

Stages of Reality Construction and Development of Personal Mythology

• Identification, counter-myth, dialectic, synthesis and translation
• Varied efficacy of interventions across stages

Case Example – Tapping Therapy and Systematic Desensitization

Case Examples – Emotional Field Technique Demonstrations

• War veterans and EFT resolution of PTSD symptoms

Neurology Underlying Emotional Memories and Triggers

• Effect of tapping on brain structures associated with threat and arousal

Memory Reconsolidation – Steps to Change Through Conflicting Cognitive Inputs

Resistance to Acceptance of EFT into Existing Trauma Treatment Systems

Application to Couples Work – Take Home Skills

Integration of EFT Interventions into Larger Treatment Frameworks

• Methods of enhancing efficacy and addressing multiple symptoms
• Limits of efficacy and contraindications – research findings and limitations

Evolution of Cultural Mythology in South Africa

Case Demonstration – Phobia, Factors Related to Treatment Outcome

• Movie technique, use of ongoing SUDS assessment, modulation of intensity
• Physical discharge of negative energy and distress
• Energy Testing assessment procedure – use of pressure points
• Adjusting procedures for children, clients with self-esteem or underlying issues

Use of Stress Release Points in Group Work – “Borrowing Benefits”

Solidifying Gains with The Positive Projection Procedure – Moving into The Future

Commonalities Shared by Varied Energy Psychology Approaches

Sequential Structure of Intervention Procedure

• Energy Balancing
• Selection of reminder phrase
• Setup and tapping
• Sandwich and rerate the problem
• Acceptance statement paired with statement of the problem
• Integration sequence and repeat tapping procedure

Addressing Psychological Reversals – Assessment and Intervention

Overview of Research Findings

• Carolyn Sakai and single session orphanage intervention
• Adult interventions administered by lay individuals in Rwanda
• PTSD veterans work – TFT positively compared to CBT