Toxins, and how they symbolize everything that’s wrong about energy psychology

 

First and foremost I would like to introduce you to the concept of energy toxins.  According to numerous  meridian energy therapy practitioners (EFT, TFT, TAT) they are certain substances and forces in the environment that disrupt your energy system, and make any treatment ineffective.  It’s a general term that describes numerous substances that disrupt our energy system and make it impossible for energy therapies to work.

–  Corn( Roger Calahan and then subsequently Gary Craig have emphasized numerous times that corn works as an energy toxins to many people)

– Red Meat (This could be somewhat related to  traditional energy approaches. Yoga especially stretches the importance of “Satvic foods”, and their purity)

–  Diary

– And potentially everything can be an energy toxin to someone, no food is excluded.

Well mostly the fact that energy therapists use it to explain away every failure. Numerous observations have noted that whenever  energy therapy doesn’t work therapists basically resort to energy toxins as an explanation for failure (That’s why they can claim a 97% success rate, a 97% success rate after omitting energy toxins)     As I have practiced meridian therapies on myself, and did see a lot of good results, and some failures. I do see numerous problems with this explanation.

 

First and foremost the term ‘energy toxin’ is very loosely defined. It’s basically any substance that acts as a poison to an energy system, the exact mechanism of how it works on it is not really specified. (Although I have a few hypotheses).

 

And this is actually one of the main criticisms of EFT and all other Meridian energy therapies- Energy toxins- This aspect of energy therapies is the main cause  for their academic dismissal, because it’s:

– Undefined -there’s no precise (specific)  definition what it does  to the body and energy system  and how it could be counteracted

– It’s all compassing – since everything can be an energy toxin even a raw-food-eating person living in the purest environment on the planet could be said to be subjected to energy toxins.

 

So energy toxins are the best excuse for failure, and also keep energy therapies from getting acceptance in the scientific community.

 

 

Another reason why I really dislike this aspect of energy meridian therapy is rather personal, but at the same time every common.   When I initially started practicing EFT on myself I became VERY anxious about the food I ate.   Meaning that I would obsessively muscle test every food item to check if it  was all right with my energy system to eat it, and additionally I was always afraid that it ‘might disturb me’. Which left me miserable.

 

This actually is not uncommon. Monica Pignotti indicated such a possibility in quite a few of her scholarly articles about TFT.  She said that one TFT practitioner   gas said that toxins might be the reason for the emotional problems  of an individual with Anorexia. This sort of advice could potentially really strengthen her present fear of eating. Although fortunately she was persuaded out of it by her medical doctor.

 

Additionally, it’s also next to impossible to avoid every potential energy toxin there is.

 

Although the thing is that numerous practitioners of EFT and TFT do state that they have treatments for energy toxins. But at the same time toxins are still used as an excuse in EFT

 

Currently I  only  saw clinical evidence for the existence of energy toxins. (Meaning that basically some therapists have found that this was the cause of TFT not working). And no peer-reviewed studies have been done on this topic.

 

Although at the same time  it does have quite a bit of face validity (meaning it makes sense).

 

Tradditionally in yoga there has been a concept of Rajavistic and tattavistic foods (check spelling)  which are said to cause disease. These do actually include corn in them in some schools of yoga, and at the same time red meat and diary, which might relate to the concept of energy toxins quite a bit.  A satvistic diet (free from such ‘energy toxins’) has been emphasized in such ancient scriptures as the Hatha Padriprika (I even believe it was in the first chapter) so from a traditional perspective there definitively is evidence that diet has an immense influence on our energy system and therefore could cause a disturbance.

 

Actually there is, at least part of it. One study done by Schmitt Jr. and  W. H., & Leisman, G.  indicates that you can ‘muscle test’ an allergy by putting food in your mouth and doing a muscle test, this corresponds to the theory of energy toxins and  to a practice that’s popular in the energy medicine circles. (Although many therapists advocate you to basically take the food into your hand while they test it with the other hand, here they put it in the mouth without swallowing). So as I said it seems that there in fact is something similar to an energy toxins, although putting emphasis on them seems to  be impractical and damage the credibility of energy therapies. (Many approaches to EFT don’t even talk about it neither. )

 

EFT  and TFT has another similar problem which in my opinion has been racitified – psychological reversal. This could also be potentially used as a ‘total explanation’ for each failure. The thing is that both of those energy therapies have included a treatment for psychological reversal in their treatment protocols.  I know that some energy therapists are working at a way to desensitize people to energy toxins, which would also make the energy toxin defense meaningless in the study of energy therapies, and at the same time would refute one  problem with the scientific study of EFT.

 

(As it would stop making TFT a ‘non-disprovable’ theory)

 

 

Although at the same time I have to also note that the emphasis on energy toxins is different in different ofshoots of TFT. EFT for example has only a mild emphasis on it, just as PEAT and TAT do.  Off all energy therapies TFT is the one that puts the most emphasis on energy toxins.

 

In summary I do think that the concept of energy toxins might be true, but at the same time by not having a ready solution to it we’re basically hurting energy therapies as they are. I think the perfect solution to it would be to have a ready made protocol towards recitifying energy toxins (Even calahan had that even though he did not emphasize it) and definitively NOT blame the patient for refusing to stop eating their favorite food or avoid  a substance that’s very hard to avoid in our current life.

 

 

references

(American Psychological Assoc.)

References

 

 

Schmitt Jr., W. H., & Leisman, G. (1998). CORRELATION OF APPLIED KINESIOLOGY MUSCLE TESTING FINDINGS WITH SERUM IMMUNOLOGOBULIN LEVELS FOR… International Journal Of Neuroscience,96(3/4), 237.