Hi
I'm a remedial/sports massage therapist.
I do mainly myofascial release work, along with trigger point work. The only time I really do standard massage is when I work with one of the local pro fotball clubs.
I am feeling a strong pull towards either NLP or EFT. I need something to supplement the physical/mechanical work I do.
Since doing the myofascial stuff I have become much more intuitive in my work. I can usually see tension in people and can usually tell if it's because of the mental state of the client. If I don't see it, I feel it and can some how differientiate between physical trauma/tension or mental issues manifesting as physical pain.
I have read an awful lot over the last few months and have become interested in meditation (Shakti Dawain, Tolle), healing (Barbara Ann Brenan, Alan Seale), quantum touch (Richard Gordon), the human energy field, etc.
At the moment, I am recommending Tolle to people who I know to be receptive to and may get some help from this stuff. It's easy going and a good starting point.
It's very odd in a lot of ways. I have never really been into spirituality in the past. Although it has knocked on my door many times from the age of about 20. Guess I have only been ready for the last 2 years, at 42.
Look forward to hearing your views on this.
Kevin
Hello Kevin:
This is actually my first post to Healthy Pages in quite some time, so welcome to both of us! 🙂
Either NLP or EFT would be a welcome addition to any therapist's toolkit. NLP is actually as deep as it is long, and the length and quality of training varies significantly. NLP is actually a methodology for modeling human excellence through analysing and replicating language, internal sensorimotor representations, and physical cues associated with a person's behavior who is particularly successful in a certain context. This has important implications for healing changework, not only because the original models were master therapists, but also because those methodologies have been used to model and then alter pathological human patterns.
EFT borrows from NLP in some of the skilled use of language to facilitate change (EFT's developer Gary Craig was already an NLP Master before he learned Roger Callahan's more complex TFT and then generalized its tapping patterns into EFT). The thing that distinguishes EFT is its focus on meridian points and the ease with which the "basic recipe" can be learned and used to immediate beneficial effect as a self-help technique. Of course, nuances distinguishing the partial uniqueness of all humans mean that skill and mastery in facilitating EFT by a professional --what Gary Craig calls "the art of delivery"-- can make a massive difference in the therapeutic outcome.
Because you are already a bodyworker, I think that, while either modality is highly useful, you may find that energy medicine and energy psychology including Behavioral Kinesiology (Touch for Health, Psych-K) EFT, TAT®, Be Set Free Fast™ (my favorite of the bunch) make a more natural blend and synergy with what you are already doing and could easily be incorporated into your existing practice. I'm sure others will have opinions to consider...
Best wishes on your journey!
Blessings,
Alfred