Energy Psychology: Evolution or Regression?

After completing this course, health professionals will be able to:

1. Define the basic assumptions guiding the field of energy medicine, which make it a distinct field from other Complementary and Alternative Medicine modalities.

2. Identify at least five different modalities/methods used in the field of energy medicine.

3. Describe three energy psychology modalities and how these are different from other energy medicine modalities.

4. Critically evaluate the research, pro and con, for various modalities ranging from Light Therapy, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, Bioenergetics, Reiki, Aikido, Acupuncture, Zero Balancing, Therapeutic Touch, and various energy psychology modalities.

Roots of energy medicine have a vibrant history that can be traced back to Eastern traditions practiced for thousands of years, groundbreaking discoveries in biology and physics, esoteric Western and Indigenous traditions, and early psychological theories developed by Freud and Reich. Norman Shealy, M.D., the founding president of the American Holistic Medical Association, suggests that “energy medicine is the future of medicine”, which highlights the importance for practitioners to be knowledgeable about this up and coming cutting edge field. Moreover, energy medicine is gaining widespread acceptance amongst a growing body of mainstream primary care practitioners; the NIH now includes energy medicine among the main areas of the field of complementary and alternative medicine. This online CE course provides an overview of several modalities within energy medicine, while highlighting a newly emerging sub-field called energy psychology which shows promising results for the future of psychology. The methods used are just as exhaustive as its vibrant history, so this course will highlight a few key modalities, with a focus on Bioenergetics, Reiki, Aikido, Thought Field Therapy, Emotional Freedom Technique, and Tapas Acupuncture Technique. Evidence-based research, theories, and suggested mind-body pathways to healing will be explored.