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The Magical Healing Powers of

Ritual & Energy Psychology

By

Sherry O’Brian, LCSW, NBCCHt, DCEP

Rituals give significance to life’s passages.

They provide form and guidance to our lives,

prescribing behaviors during perilous times

when bodies, minds, and spirits are broken.

Without rituals, we would have no map for how

to act, no occasions for people to share their

common bonds and experiences.

- Achterberg, J. Dossey, B. & Kolkmeier, L., 1994,

Rituals of Healing: Using Imagery For Health and Wellness

Defining Ritual

Dictionary definitions: an established and

prescribed pattern of observance, e.g., in a

religion; the observance of actions or procedures

in a set, ordered, and ceremonial way; a pattern

of actions or words followed regularly and

precisely, and so forth.

What is missing from these definitions is intention.

Without attention to the intention, the behavior

just becomes a routine.

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Defining the Healing Practice of Ritual

Historical Overview

• Shamanic Healing - a process whereby a person journeys on behalf of another, and brings back information or instructions that can be used to provide mental/emotional/spiritual healing to another person.

• By some estimates, shamanism healing has been around for over 40,000 years. Shamanism healing is typically practiced by the indigenous population of various races and practiced all over the world. In shamanism healing, both physical and mental illness is viewed as an imbalance or disharmony in the person. It is the job of the shaman to help restore harmony.

Various Religious Rituals

General Christian Practices

• Baptism

• Confirmation

• The Eucharist (or Communion)

• The Sign of the Cross

• Sunday Services

• Prayer

• Bible Study

• Ordination

• Marriage

• Healing

• Funerals

Distinctive Protestant Rituals

• The Altar Call (Evangelical)

• Speaking in Tongues (Pentecostal)

• Spirit-Led Worship (Quaker)

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Distinctive Catholic and Orthodox Rituals

• Mass

• Confession

• Penance

• Last Rites

• Canonization and Veneration of Saints

• Devotion to Mary

• Praying the Rosary

• Pilgrimages

• Stations of the Cross

• Ordination to Religious Orders

• Monastic Life

• Holy Water

• Exorcism

Defining the Healing Practice of Ritual

Necessary Components

1. Structure:

Beginning - Awareness of universality,

Middle - Severing from everyday reality &

Transitional: healing/rebirth,

End – Return: rejoin community.

2. Preparation: time, place, etc.

3. Belief: honor individual belief system

4. Intention: release, remember, redefine, etc.

Rituals for Healing

• Releasing Rituals.

• Remembering Rituals.

• Redefining & Rediscovering Oneself – an

exploration of self.

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Releasing Rituals

• Burning ceremony

• God Box

• Breath-work

Remembering Rituals

• Light a candle

• Memory box

• Journaling

Redefining & Rediscovering

• Self Exploration: Who am I? What can I do

with/without? How can I feel safe again?

• Self-growth: How can I make myself feel

better?

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EFT Personal Peace Procedure

Make a list of all issues you can remember

(Most people have well over 100)

• Tap on at least one per day

• Keep tapping on all aspects of the one

issue until it is gone

• Go on to the next issue

• In one year you have resolved

as many as 365 of your issues!

The Mind/Body/Spirit Connection

• “The cause of all negative emotions is a

disruption in the body’s energy system.”� EFT’s Discovery Statement

1. Amygdala becomes over charged

2. Hippocampus becomes disabled

3. Chemical cascade interferes with electrical

transmission within nervous system.

4. Emotion(s) becomes frozen within.

The Human Biofield (Aura)

• The Biofield is an electromagnetic field that

surrounds the entire body.

• The Biofield contains a person’s own

energy, protects against harmful

environmental energies & helps us to

connect with others.

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The word Chakra is taken from the Sanskit word meaning “wheels.” Chakras resemble whirling vortices of subtle energy.

The Chakras are involved in transmuting higher vibrational energy into a usable form. This energy is then utilized by the body’s endocrine & nervous system.

Because of this interconnection, any dysfunction within the Chakras can create pathology within the nervous system.

Chakras

Heart/Brain Coherence

The heart communicates with the brain and body in four ways:

1. Neurological communication (nervous system)

2. Biophysical communication (pulse wave)

3. Biochemical communication (hormones)

4. Energetic communication (electromagnetic fields)

Heart Math’s Research Key Points

• States of increased heart rhythm coherence are associated with improvements in cognitive performance.

• When people touch or are in proximity of one another, one person’s heartbeat signal it is registered in the other person’s brainwaves.

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Heart Math’s Research con’t

• The heart is the most powerful source of electromagnetic energy in the human body.

• As people learn to sustain heart-focused positive feeling states, the brain can be brought into entrainment with the heart.

The Role of Consciousness &

Spirituality on Healing

• The Role of Core Beliefs

• The Power of Intention

• Non-Local Healing/Prayer

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Research Demonstrates Power of Belief

The Placebo Effect

Shamanic Healing & Placebo Effect

• Seeker Finds Trusted Archetype to Aid in Healing: a doctor, acupuncturist, or shaman

• Archetype Engages in Healing Ritual: When seekers participate in a healing ritual with a archetype they tend to experience amazing healing benefits.

• Archetype Provides Seeker with Transformational Placebo: When trusted archetypes diagnose a patient after a healing ritual and provide a placebo for the patient to take, the simple act of taking the placebo oftentimes creates the healing patients seek.

The Power of Intention

Intention – “the quality or state of having a purpose in mind…a purposeful plan to perform an action which leads to a desired outcome.”

Research suggests the power of intention multiplies depending on number of people holding the same intent.

Lynne McTaggart’s Intention Experiment(s)

www.theintentionexperiment.com

Non-Local Healing/Prayer

Prayer: a spoken or unspoken address to God, a deity, or a saint. It may express praise, thanksgiving, confession, or a request for something such as help or somebody's well-being.

• 2 most common forms: Petition & Intercession

• Rituals such as prayer may trigger a myriad of emotions which may positively impact immune & cardiovascular systems.

• Placebo/nocebo effect & faith: expectation of God’s blessing or punishment.

• Being an object of prayer or laying on of hands or other ritualized activity may stimulate an endocrine or immune response.

Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine by Dr. Larry Dossey (1993)

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Non-Local Healing/Prayer

• Dr. Daniel Benor - Survey of Spiritual

Healing Research: intentional influence of

one or more people upon another living

system without utilizing any physical means

of intervention.

• Researchers performed 131 controlled trials

• 56 of these show statistically significant

results at probability level of <.01 or better

The Power of Story

Imagery

Connecting with the Inner Critic

Tap Into The Story

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Imagery for Transforming

Your Inner Critic

into Your Inner Goddess/Guidance

God Box & Heart Massage

Integrating Ritual Into an EP Practice

• Group work – bereavement, recovery, etc.

• Beginning each session.

• Ending each session.

• Client Homework

• Practitioner Self-Care: daily energy hygiene & creating sacred space.

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Ethical Considerations

• Avoid anything that counters client’s

belief system.

• Check for transference issues.

• Treat any psychological reversals (core

beliefs & internal conflicts).

• Maintain healthy energetic boundaries.

Review

What are the 4 necessary components of a

healing ritual?

1. Structure

2. Preparation

3. Belief

2. Intention

Continue Review

What are at least 2 ways to integrate EP with

Ritual?

� Guided Imagery & Acupoint stimulation,

� Heart Massage & God Box,

� EFT & Story Telling,

� Chakra Release Meditation

� EFT Personal Peace Procedure

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Continue Review

What is at least 1 technique to create

Heart/Brain Coherence?

� Hold the Heart in Mind

What are at least 2 issues to treat using rituals

& Energy Psychology?

� Grief/Loss, Eliminate Critical Voice,

Self-Healing/Growth/Exploration

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Inner-grationsSherry O’Brian, LCSW, NBCCHt, DCEPTransformational Integrative Counselingwww.mindbodyspirit-innergrations.com17555 Willowview Rd. Suite 203C, Noblesville, IN.

317-470-2328

Specializing in:

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