|  NET™
or Neuro Emotional Technique™ is one of the newer “power
therapies” that along with TFT (Thought Field Therapy), and EMDR
(Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) have become popular in
the last ten years. These therapies seem to work quicker than traditional
talk therapies. This appears to be due in part because they target the
more primitive parts of the brain. These would include the Limbic system,
the Medulla Oblongata, and the Enkelphin system, which is in every cell
of the body. Neuro Emotional Technique is the most powerful and versitile
of these new therapies.
Dr. Scott Walker
developed NET™ or Neuro Emotional Technique™
in the early 1980’s. Dr. Walker is a chiropractor by training, who
uses Applied
Kinesiology or AK. AK is based on Chinese
Medicine, acupuncture and the Meridian
System. Chinese medicine is concerned with the body’s need for
balance or homeostasis. If the Chi or energy of the body is in balance
then it is assumed that the body will be able to cure itself and run at
top efficiency. Practitioners do this by testing acupressure or acupuncture
points in the body, which are divided up into 12 main Meridian Systems.
These Meridian Systems are named for the main organs of the body such
as the Lung Meridian or the Liver Meridian. Each of these systems is correlated
with particular emotions. The lung meridian is associated with grief and
sorrow and the liver meridian with anger and resentment.
Applied Kinesiology
tests the Chi or energy by taking a strong indicator muscle, any strong
muscle, and asking the client or patient to lock their muscle as the practitioner
tries to challenge the strength of that muscle by pushing or pulling the
area to see if it will hold. The practitioner might ask a client to hold
their arm straight out in front of them and lock it while the clinician
with an open hand firmly pushes down on the arm right above the wrist.
This checks to see if the arm will hold. Almost any major muscle will
work for muscle testing.
The body consists
of water and electricity. It is believed that muscle testing checks to
see if the muscle has enough electricity in it to hold. It appears that
Chi is essentially the same as this electricity. Dr. Goodheart, the father
of Applied Kinesiology, first demonstrated therapy localization. Therapy
localization occurs when you test a strong muscle alone or in the clear
and then touch another part of the patients’ body to test if a change
of muscle strength occurs. If it does then dysfunction is assumed to be
present in the localized area.
Chiropractors
who practice AK routinely test or challenge a vertebra in the neck or
the back, and if the muscle goes weak then they can assume that the vertebra
is misaligned or out of position in the spine. They then put the vertebra
back in and retest. When the muscle is strong it is assumed the vertebra
is back in alignment. The client routinely reports feeling much better.
Dr. Walker adapted
and built on Dr. Goodhearts’ work by applying AK to the emotions.
Emotions are energy. Emotions can be tested through the electrical system
of the body. Therefore, if a muscle tests strong in the clear and then
the NET™ recipient thinks of some issue that is upsetting, that
previously strong muscle will become weak. Dr. Walker believes that what
he is testing is the “emotional reality” of the body. This
means that theoretically if a person believes an untruth his muscle testing
will be consistent with that belief.
However, the emotional
belief of a client, at least when they are not psychotic, is usually consistent
with reality. Therefore, if a person says “My name is Sam”
and his name is Sam, a muscle test of that statement will be congruent
and will hold strong. The reverse is equally true. A clinician can now
test how a person is feeling even if they do not consciously know how
they are feeling. A therapist can now trace present feelings and problems
a person is suffering from, and discover if there is an original trauma
or feeling that the present problem or feeling is reactivating.
This essentially
means that Dr. Walker has found the royal road to the subconscious. The
ramifications of this discovery cannot be overstated. There has never
been a better diagnostic indicator for subconscious reality. In my experience
working with trauma survivors and children who have grown up in these
environments, this technique is essential for a full recovery.
These populations
usually show a tremendous amount of dissociation. This essentially means
that consciously they often do not know how they feel. NET™ accurately
diagnoses the feelings that a client is having and the client then often
reports congruence with that previously dissociated set of feelings. Then
it releases it from the body by tapping on a few vertebrae that are related
to the particular Meridian System that is associated with the emotion.
Usually at that point several things occur. The client reports subjectively
1) A lessening of that particular feeling state that was bothering them
2) A feeling of relief and 3) Less dissociation in general and more overall
integration.
NET™ seems
to work in several ways:
- It diagnosis problems
and feelings.
- It accesses the
subconscious.
- It discovers early
traumas and how those traumas relate to present problems.
- It acts as a biofeedback
loop, which teaches people what they are feeling.
- It increases congruence
between the Human Brain composed of the Cerebral Cortex and the Pre
Frontal Cortex, the Limbic system or Mammalian Brain, the Medulla Oblongata
or Reptilian Brain, and the Endorphin System, which is an even more
primitive brain located in each cell of the body and
- This congruence
thereby increases overall mental, emotional and physical health. The
possibilities for the spiritual side of man are also immense.
While all of these
are good reasons to become proficient in NET™, with trauma work
and Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder this technique is a must. PTSD
is so pervasive and the symptoms are attached so securely to the body,
that unless some relief to the physical part of the trauma is attained
the client will remain in great distress. Neuro Emotional Technique™
is a welcome addition to a clinician specializing in this section of the
field.
If you want to learn
more about NET™, visit NetMindBody.com
© 2002 Jef
Gazley, M.S., LMFT, DCC |
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