Psychoanalytic Energy Psychotherapy [Paperback]

PhilMollon's latest book is the most comprehensive overview of the new and exciting therapeutic tools emerging from energy psychology -TFT,EFT.TAT and AIT.It is richly illustrated with case material which demonstates their capacity for deep and rapid emotional healing in complex difficulties.It is especially relevant to mainstream psychotherapists seeking to integrate such new approaches into their work.Having trained in some of these modalities I am very impressed by their results in my own practice.

Mollon's comprehensive outline of current energy psychoanalytical practices (PEP: Psychoanalytic Energy Psychology) are at first astonishing, for someone with no background in this area, but then by the time of completion and having indulged in 474 pages of 100% inspiration, my subjective unit of excitement (SUE) registered very high!

The techniques developed by pioneers in the field of energetics appear to be derived from traditional healing methods such as Shamanism, Ayurveda and Chinese medicines, but within a conventional medical use of energy information: the content of this book is devoted to the informational wave basis of biological life theory, and the underlying belief, in healing, that the physiology of the body is influenced by the energy of thought.

A good place to start in understanding the new (some debunkers would say pseudo) science of energetics is the example offered by the author William Tiller, Professor Emeritus of Materials Science at Stanford University, who in his findings discovered that there are the two broad levels of physical reality - the coarse particulate (i.e. measurable material parts) and the fine informational wave part which homeopathy, acupuncture and advanced kinesiology act on. Newtonian reductionist paradigms are at a loss to properly explain this wave phenomenon, whereas the quantum perspective reveals interdependent energy fields that influences biological regulation. Therefore with every atom and molecule having its own electromagnetic frequency the future of magic bullet designer drugs could turn out to be instead the prospect of tailor-made waveforms as a therapeutic agent. Interesting futures surely lie ahead..

One of the many many likeable aspects of PEP, non the least being the author's scientific standpoint of Popperian not knowing, is the encompassing theoretical framework and its numerous exploratory interconnections that are presented as bridging concepts in communicating to the reader. As well as traversing the field of traditional psychoanalysis there is also considerable description of new age fringe theorists, such as parasitic energies (background energy ocean), Sheldrake's morphogenetic fields, Manaka's X-signalling system and homeopathic inherited miasms and so on. However a crucial direct link between Freud's original pre- 1926 insights and 21st century cutting edge energy psychology is made: "..this realm of the body and energy is entirely congruent with the psychoanalysis developed by Freud.. the libido is a scientific concept on the frontier between the mental and somatic.. it is extremely close to the concepts of subtle energy that are worked with in energy psychology." Mollon carefully intertwines the three paradigms of trauma (toxic experience), toxins (chemical trauma), and toxo-psychodynamic conflict as a disruption in the libidinal flow resulting in regression (or cathexis of atavistic positions) thereby grounding the subject for those from a more conventional psychotherapeutic background.

Mollon's default position is Dr Roger Callahan's TFT (Thought Field Therapy) method of muscle testing which he developed for treating 'reversals' where the body's thought field has been negatively programmed into a spiralling death-wish or hidden self-saboteurial depression. The body may exhibit its disguised negativity in aversions to toxic foods and psychological chaotic disorganisation, even if consciously, a more positive affirmation is given in response to "How are you feeling?" There is thus the understanding that unconscious 'programmes' must be resolved, akin to the self-defeating patterns which NLP techniques try to uncover, which can remain even after a trauma has been cleared such that a problematic energy pattern continues to pervade the personality.

Mollon regards Callahan as the principle pioneer in identifying and treating perturbations in the energy field, and EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) is very heavily derived from this work. In TFT, the state of the energetic meridian and chakra biosphere are ascertained through muscle testing with an outstretched arm, and then a healing code sequence tapped back into the body's energetic system bypassing conscious awareness. The crucial difference with EFT is that the client's mind is engaged through symbolic access of the issue represented (i.e. the energy-word quantum) at the same time as tapping, which does not have to follow a specific sequence. EFT makes more use of affirmations and suggestions that introduce a healing intention that eventually wear away any lingering self-doubt or objections - 'tail enders' as Garry Craig terms the phenomenon.

Generally when energy psychology methods are used, either dysfunctional information is cleared or new and corrective information, designed to encourage healing, is input into the energetic system in layers (which incidentally may explain the placebo effect). Continual refreshment over a number of sessions until the necessary clearing is achieved is also a strong feature of PEP. Traditional talking therapies are seen as somewhat backward, as they cannot reliably effect energetic changes. In support of this assertion is the view that the classic defensive mechanisms of over-intellectualisation and rationalisation, for example, resorted to by a client, are intended to block any activation of and connection with the body, limiting the effects of any healing changes invoked by the therapist. Transference too is not encouraged, as it diminishes the effectiveness of the therapeutic relationship by introducing a strong resistance.

Though Mollon's book is targeted at the practitioner, and requires more than a basic understanding of psychotherapy, the layperson who is prepared to persist beyond the technical passages would gain enormously in being able to make an highly informed decision about which approaches to follow. You are left in little doubt that there are many competing specialisations in the Association for Meridian Therapies and I was particularly struck by TAT and Seemorg Matrix (renamed to AIT) in having their own chapters; a mood of spiritual reverence overtook Mollon in describing his encounter with TAT for the first time. This may of course be down to the rather transparent nature of the psycho-spiritual roots these two practices exhibit but nonetheless a fascinating element of PEP is that at whatever juncture point you enter the subject, there are sure to be many jumping-off points to discover!

A mild advisory is offered by Mollon at the outset that you may have to revisit the more dense and obscure passages again - which I can vouch for - and you will certainly have to undertake practical workshops in order to gain the most from your learning. However by the time you have completed this introduction to PEP, the prospect should be no great hardship.

Finally, for the Harry Potter generation of children growing up today it is not implausible to think that they could be clearing their own energy fields (and others) in the most explosive therapeutic development for societal well-being the world has ever seen.. and what's more it has the potential of being free! However there is the inescapable fact that the weight of the professional fee earning psychoanalytical establishment and possibly the incredulity of many non-believers might likely mean PEP has a long incubation period or has to dumbed down for broader acceptance. In my time reviewing books this has to be one of the most ground-breaking areas of information I have ever come across. If 'The Black Swan' by Nassim Taleb can generate 3 million copies because it gives you a fresh insight into speculative finance, and makes it to the Sunday Times 12 Most influential Books since WW2, then surely a book that shows you how to heal yourself has far more significance?

I am a busy psychotherapist in a London psychiatric hospital. I was lucky enough to be introduced to Phil Mollon's work and have found it invaluable as a complement to the other types of therapy I practice - psychodynamic, CBT, EMDR. This book is an excellent first step into understanding this very exciting field as well as being a comprehensive text for more experience practitioners.