Exploring the dynamics of the mind expressed in the energy fields of the body - a therapeutic synergy inspired by Thought Field Therapy, EFT, TAT, and Seemorg Matrix |
This website does not relate to work in the NHS
Note of caution: click Basic PEP 'protocol': click
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Energy Psychotherapy -
the astonishing synergy of mind and bodyclick .
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News:
- American Psychological Association approves ACEP energy psychology trainings as CE credits for psychologists click
- How did traditional psychiatrists and psychotherapists become involved in energy psychology? Video click
- David Feinstein's review of the current status of energy psychology research - published in Review of General Psychology: click
- David Gruder's review of energy psychology in the Psychotherapy Bulletin [Division 29 of the APA] click
- Many clinical trials of EFT click
- EFT for PTSD - impressive results click
- The secret that is in danger of being lost click
PEP is the outcome of one psychoanalyst's encounter with energy psychology. The basic principle of PEP is that distress within the psyche is also encoded within the energy fields of the body.
PEP is NOT used within the NHS
The energy field is the interface between mind and body - where traumatic information is encoded. It is Bion's'proto-mental system' [*see below]
[please scroll down for more information]
About these books, and where to purchase them
What is PEP?[PEP is NOT used within the NHS]
Some clients - especially those who have suffered trauma - may not be helped sufficiently by talking therapies alone, because the patterns of distress are encoded in the body as well as the mind. In PEP, as in other energy psychology approaches, simple procedures are used to guide the client gently to stimulate his or her own energy system whilst focussing the mind upon the target problem. Often this will rapidly release the underlying psycho-energetic structure that is generating or maintaining the experienced problem or pattern of behaviour. Thought Field Therapy, as developed by Dr Roger Callahan [click] out of the Applied Kinesiology of chiropractor George Goodheart [click] and the innovations of Dr John Diamond [click], were originally applied to anxiety, phobias, and traumatic stress. However, when combined with psychoanalytic insights, the therapeutic synergy of psyche and energy system can be applied to much more complex problems within the personality. There are many subtleties and complexities to this work. Psychoanalytic listening and the understanding of deep emotional conflict are crucial - along with an awareness of the subtle energetic qualities of the therapeutic relationship [click for an article on cardiac energy exchange between people, from Brain and Value Ed. K.H.Pribram]
A crucial part of the work is the identification of the hidden anxieties and resistances that hold the problem in place. These are commonly based around motives to do with safety ['it is not safe to be free of this problem']; deservedness ['I do not deserve to be free of this problem']; or identity ['I will not be me if I am free of this problem'] - but there are others in addition. In many respects, these correspond to the meta-cognitions, or meta-anxieties, outlined by sophisticated cognitive therapists [e.g. Wells 2009 click] - although those theorists do not endorse the energetic perspective. Unless the meta-anxieties are addressed, the more conscious anxiety does not shift. In the case of obsessive-compulsive disorder [OCD] and related ruminatory states of depression, it is also necessary for the client to explore ways of relinquishing the mental strategies (ritual behaviours and thoughts) that he or she has developed in maladaptive attempts to control anxiety.
PEP is not merely a technique or procedure, but an overall approach of therapeutic enquiry into, and engagement with, the informational energy fields of the body, mind and brain. It is not a closed system but is continually evolving - recognising the obvious truth that whatever appears an adequate understanding today inevitably becomes tomorrow's obsolete paradigm. This caution is particularly important in the field of energy psychology, where developments in both theory and practice continue to evolve with remarkable speed.
The physics of subtle energy and psychoenergetic science is best described through the complex work of Dr William Tiller, Professor Emeritus of Stanford University Department of Materials Science click. Physicist Dr Claude Swanson has recently published a remarkable 700 page summary of the science of subtle energy: Life Force: The Scientific Basis.click
Purpose of the websiteThe purpose of this website is to provide information about PEP and related developments - for both colleagues in the energy psychology field and those who might wonder if the approach could be of personal assistance. You are welcome to browse and read the articles. For general introductions to PEP. click here, and here, and here, This website does not relate to work within the British National Health Service.
[Note that Seemorg Matrix, developed by Jungian Psychotherapist Asha Clinton, has been renamed Advanced Integrative Therapy (AIT) ]
DisclaimerPlease note that although there is considerable evidence, of various kinds, to support the use of energy modalities, these cannot yet be regarded as fully established therapies. They are not recommended in the UK NICE guidelines, although EMDR (arguably related to energy psychology methods) is recommended as a treatment for trauma. Those of us who are familiar with energy modalities usually find them to be effective and gentle when used appropriately. For a review of evidence for energy psychology methods click here & here. For a critique of NICE guidelines, click here - and for a critique of the critics, click here and here. The views expressed on this site, and in the book Psychoanalytic Energy Psychotherapy, are to be considered hypotheses and working assumptions - always to be reviewed in the light of emerging evidence. Energy psychology modalities are not based on theory but on observation. None of the material on this site is intended as a substitute for appropriate medical or psychological treatment by a qualified doctor.
For applications within public health settings [for pain and stress relief], I recommend the REMAP process developed by Steve Reed [click], since this employs evidence-based acupressure points that have been demonstrated, using fMRI scans and other measures, to produce brain states and physiological changes (including Heart Rate Variability) associated with relief of stress and pain - and which form an effective trauma-focused stress relief method that can be combined with CBT and other approaches. I do not recommend 'EFT' for professional practice, although it can be valuable as a self-help tool for clients and for novices in energy psychology.The PEP approach is not used within the NHS.
A note on memoryNone of the techniques within PEP can be used in the service of 'recovered memory'. There are no methods that reliably recover memories of forgotten events of childhood. Imprints of trauma may lodge in the energy fields, but their source may remain unknown. The human psyche appears to contain distortions, and is prone to self-deception, which can lead to incorrect perceptions. Phil Mollon supports the work of the British False Memory Society [click] in helping those who suffer as a result of false beliefs and false accusations regarding historical child abuse [but is not associated with that organisation]. A helpful book is: Fractured Families: The Untold Anguish of the Falsely Accused [Ed. Norman Brand. BFMS 2007] For further comment click here.
[Please also note that this website is not concerned with psychoanalysis, nor with psychoanalytic psychotherapy. For information about psychoanalysis, please go to www.psychoanalysis.org.uk ]
For information regarding the wider field of energy psychology, the website of the Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology is recommended: www.energypsych.org
The new Association for the Advancement of Meridian Energy Therapies [AAMET], mainly focused on EFT, is also recommended:
www.aamet.org
* In his book Experiences in Groups [1961 London: Tavistock Publications], the psychoanalyst Wilfred Bion described a 'proto-mental' level, where the mental and physical are not clearly differentiated. A perturbation [to use a Callahan term] in the proto-mental system could manifest either as a mental or physical dis-ease. Thus Bion wrote: "Since it is a level in which physical and mental are undifferentiated, it stands to reason that, when distress from this source manifests itself, it can manifest itself just as well in physical forms as in psychological." [p 102] As J & N Symington put it [The Clinical Thinking of Wilfred Bion: 1996 Routledge. London] "With Bion, an illness, an accident or a vocal utterance are all 'speech' of the proto-mental system." [p 138]. Bion's concept seems somewhat related to our observations of an energy system containing information that manifests in both body and psyche. One way of working with the energy system is to locate the particular meridians underpinning a mental state, guide the client to tap on these, and invite him or her to say whatever comes to mind. In this way the meridians are allowed to 'speak'. The information condensed in the meridian system, stimulated by a physical action of tapping, is thereby enabled to evolve into the form of communicable thought and symbol. Bion also considered the proto-mental system to be one that communicates between individuals - corresponding to the common observation of the way in which people form intercommunicating energy fields. He wrote: "in my opinion the sphere of proto-mental events cannot be understood by reference to the individual alone, and the intelligible field of study for the dynamics of proto-mental events is the individuals met together in a group." [page 103] However, whilst Bion's concept is theoretical, the procedures of energy psychology, including PEP, are atheoretical, being based essentially on observation of tangible and replicable phenomena.
![Psychoanalytic Energy Psychotherapy [PEP] - Dr. Phil Mollon Ph.D.](bg-1-31923.jpeg?u=1372278365)
