Highly educated author and physician Andrew Weil, MD, said some years back that energy medicine will be the wave of the future. These techniques are in use now, and they are actually moving more into the mainstream than ever before. They can be used as an adjunct to the more standard therapies. EMDR is one such technique. It involves stimulating right and left brain function with either light or eye movement, and it seems to help reduce intensity of traumatic memories. Many psychiatrists and psychologists and emergency medicine practitioners are using this at scenes of trauma, such as disaster sites. Emotional Freedom Technique was originally formulated by psychologist, Roger Callahan, PhD. Many others have contributed to this since his rather accidental discovery. It is based on Chinese medicine, which has a five thousand year history, and seems to work off of the acupuncture system. A person taps on acupressure points on the body, which are thought to be located at the endpoints of certain meridians, and where it is thought that chi energy is blocked. Another possible explanation is that endorphins are released by tapping these points. The idea is to talk about an issue or an emotion while tapping on these…
