AMT’s European EFT and Energy Conference 2013

I have had an exceedingly interesting long weekend at the AMT EFT and Energy Conference.

It was fab to meet ‘energists’ (complementary therapists, such as myself, incorporating energy work into their practices – everything from EFT and crystals to Heart Math and shamanism).

As Silvia Hartmann mentioned in her keynote speech, the fact that Thought Field Therapy creator, Roger Callahan, had died the week before made it especially poignant as, for all the advances in the fields, without his pioneering work, EFT and similar models wouldn’t exist.

Highlights for me included Olivia Robert’s ‘Go away! Go away! Go away!!!!!!’ stomping. Try it – you don’t need to know ANYTHING about energy work to understand that when something annoying/painful/etc happens, we grown ups tend not to stamp our feet and shout. Instead, we often suppress our disappointment, frustration, anger and pain.

Roberts came across this strange tool when, sick of migraines, she finally shouted at it. She’s also helped herself and others through IBS and fibromyalgia (AND, fury at friends and many more prosaic irritations).

While she talked about how neurological waves (from shock, disappointment, anger etc) hit vulnerable areas be that searing head pain for migraine sufferers or IBS symptoms or arthritis. You can find out more at Resolution Magic.

And, of course, the simple act of stamping the feet is grounding, offering a great way to release pent up anger and other emotions, potentially offering a safe way to perform ‘effective action’ if the stressful situation was one in which we felt trapped and unable to be free and safe. It also helps us discharge some of the stress hormones we create when such events trigger our fight/flight response.

I love tapping (EFT) but ‘Go away!’ appeals to my inner toddler and I have used it several times, with instant success, since learning a little about it on Saturday.

My biggest highlight (apart from daily swims) was Susan Kennard‘s fab workshop on the work she’s been doing with military veterans struggling with PTSD using EFT.

Working with trauma and PTSD is my favourite. So much so that I’m hoping to do some training with Susan as one of my birthday treats. I absolutely love learning about the different ways to support people who feel broken beyond repair (having spent a large chunk of my life feeling like that myself), helping them learn how to help themselves.

While I’ve been fortunate to learn about using yoga therapy to help people find safety in their own bodies from Heather Mason (and I’ve interviewed people like Dave Emerson from the Trauma Centre in Boston and co-author of Overcoming Trauma through Yoga and Daniel Libby of the Veterans Yoga Project in the US) and have integrated that into my work with clients, this was the first time I’d really understood how EFT can be so supportive (and I’ve been a practitioner for many years now!).

We are all connected and learning more about Heart Math and the fact that our hearts not only have so much sway over our own bodies but, when we cultivate compassion and strong hearts, we can calm stressful situations by simply breathing mindfully as if through our hearts. This can help others around us remember their own calm, loving centres and get them back in touch with their resourcefulness as well as helping us not get hooked into others’ dramas.

I’ve barely touched the tip of the iceberg re the inspiring speakers but for now, am enjoying what I’ve learned into my work… If any of y’all are interested, do check out my website and get in touch to find out more.

Metta x

Healing painful pasts doesn’t HAVE to hurt

Even though Jane Fonda has long since eschewed her ‘No pain, no gain’ mantra from her workout video phase, there’s a part of many of us that thinks that growth, recovery and healing has to hurt.

I only embarked on counselling training (after years of coaching myself into overcoming inner feelings of hideousness) when I felt ready to delve into past traumas and finally do whatever it took to heal ‘properly’.

Comfortably uncomfortable with my default setting of self-loathing, I didn’t want to hear it when told that it was all about acceptance and allowing, self-compassion and so on but they’re key to everything.

Fortunately, the type I chose (psychosynthesis), is a transpersonal psychology and one of the earliest exercises we did in the first week showed me that I didn’t have to cut open wounds to heal or have what felt like the equivalent of emotional surgery. I could simply be open to healing.

I don’t want to dismiss that natural grieving that can (and often does) arise. I regularly remind clients that although my practice is called the Feel Better Every Day Consultancy, it CAN be hard.

But it doesn’t HAVE to be.

Even when it’s so hard that you feel like you need a ‘closed for refurbishment’ sign so you can just pause life and focus on recovery (something I longed for at one point), it’s worth it.

Still, it was delightful to hear clinical psychologist, psychoanalyst and psychotherapist Phil Mollon reaffirm my own experience at an Energy Psychotherapy workshop I attended recently.

‘It doesn’t have to be hard work,’ says Dr Mollon. ‘It doesn’t have to be painful. It can be gentle and easy.’

Talking about energetic techniques including EFT, he explained that many people are so surprised by how much better they feel afterwards that there’s a tendency to minimise how badly they’d been feeling before the treatment. Roger Callahan (founder of Thought Field Therapy which inspired EFT) called it ‘the Apex effect’.

Mollon explains that because it can’t track the process, the dramatic shifts in emotional states can be confusing for the brain.

If you’re interested in blending your counselling / coaching / yoga therapy with EFT (or any of these services on their own), click here to find out more.

They are available in Witham, Essex (and everywhere via Skype and telephone)

Metta x

Image courtesy of Markuso / freedigitalphotos.net