Ideas You Can Use: Energy psychology practitioners make a difference in their communities
(by Sarah Murphy, LPC) Many energy psychology enthusiasts want to share these powerful techniques in the community, spreading the word and making our techniques accessible to anyone in need. We all know the power of energy psychology practices. In this time of covid stress, social isolation, and political upheaval, our work is more important than ever.
A role model
ACEP Humanitarian Committee Chair Rachel Michaelsen, LCSW, DCEP, has been sharing energy psychology’s tools for resilience in her native California and beyond. Funded by a state program to train mental health and social services providers who work with system-involved youth, Michaelsen has taught energy psychology practices to providers who would not otherwise have had the opportunity to learn about them. Through that work, she has been instrumental in getting energy psychology techniques into communities in need.
Michaelsen was part of the team that developed ACEP’s Resources for Resilience website (r4r.support), a great resource filled with information on simple, effective energy psychology and other energy-based techniques. Under her leadership, the Humanitarian Committee also created a toolkit to teach energy psychology practitioners to share our methodologies with community groups and organizations. Members have used the toolkit to teach fire departments, schoolteachers, and community organizations. You can find the toolkit, and get trained in how to use it, here.
ACEP Humanitarian Committee at ACEP’s International Energy Psychology Conference (2018).
Rachel Michaelsen is in the 2nd row in the middle, in the blue dress.
How it helps – one example you can use
In addition to her professional and committee work, when the pandemic and lockdown struck, Michaelsen opened her own Zoom to share free sound and energy healing, including tapping. She has been sharing these free sessions twice a week for months now, and her work has reached hundreds of people.
Michaelsen says that she regularly has about 25 participants and sometimes as many as 50. Although the pandemic was the impetus for convening the group, the healing results extend beyond covid-era problems. One frequent attendee wrote to Michaelsen that she is handling pre-existing life stressors better now than before the pandemic. In these days of suffering, that is saying a lot.
The night after the insurgence in Washington DC, Michaelsen’s group gathered to restore their equanimity and increase their resilience. Demand was higher than usual that day. The combination of sound healing and EFT tapping helps downregulate our autonomic nervous systems. Participants left the session with a renewed sense of peace and wellbeing. This is a powerful way to help address our collective trauma.
Michaelsen suggests that any energy psychology practitioner can offer something similar to their community. All it takes, she said, is a platform and an audience. The need is great, and so are the rewards.
Because of these practices, many participants are able to see clearly how the things that unite us are so much greater than those that divide. Whenever we waver from that truth, it is time to get back to our tapping, or other energy-based practices, or our meditation cushion. From that place, we can help others to find their place of calm and ease.
The road ahead might be bumpy, but we can have a smoother ride if we keep practicing what we know works. And as we work to keep calm and remain steady as best we can, we are doing our part to create a more peaceful world – one more peaceful person at a time.
Get involved!
If you would like to check out Michaelsen’s Energy & Sound Healing groups, you can sign up here. To learn more about ACEP’s Humanitarian Committee, go here, and to access the Humanitarian Committee’s Resources for Resilience, go here. To sign up for free training in how to share emotional first aid with your community, go here.
Author
Sarah Murphy, LPC, is a licensed professional counselor and coach with more than 12 years of clinical experience. She specializes in energy psychology, including EFT, as well as mindfulness and hypnotherapy. In her therapy practice, she works with individuals seeking to find peace within themselves, people who have serious medical diagnoses, and couples who want to resolve conflict and live in harmony. Sarah’s personal motto is that we are here to create a more peaceful world, one more-peaceful person at a time. She is an ACEP member and chair of the Communications Committee. Learn more at www.transformative-therapy.com.
