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Conditions Most
Frequently Treated
Grieving,
loss and abandonment issues are
frequently treated. Depression responds
very well both in releasing old emotions
and mobilizing energies to physically
raise one from depressed states. Bipolar
problems are often defused in intensity
and duration. Separation issues are
often mobilized by releasing old
emotional holding patterns and beliefs.
Anxiety, stress, panic disorders, and
somatic disorders respond well to the
releases often resulting in a more
relaxed state. Co-dependence issues are
released and brought out more quickly
when the emotion is released and
validated. Post-traumatic stress issues
are often totally wrapped up in blocked
emotion - mobilizing and releasing the
emotion facilitates the resolution of
past traumas. The bottled-up emotion
from abuse and its defense of denial is
addressed and released with ERT, which
releases the pain and trauma. Some
physical conditions that improve are
headaches, digestion problems, genito-urinary
conditions, chronic pain throughout the
body, and pain caused by accidents and
injuries.
The above is only a
partial listing of the conditions that
respond well to ERT. The end result
is that people feel so much better.
Clients generally experience a "new
lease on life."
Much of the emotional
pain that sends people to counseling is
stored in the body, and thus is the
cause of many physical conditions. Our
culture has led us from freely
expressing emotions to being constipated
emotional pressure cookers. We have been
taught not to express our emotions and
have often been shamed and abandoned
when we did.
Many emotions can be
stored for years and become stuck behind
hardened muscles called character armor.
This character armor actually blocks the
expression of desirable emotions like
love and happiness, and restricts
expressions of fear, anger and sadness,
leaving these less desirable emotions
jammed behind the tightened muscles of
character armor. Painful issues from
years past that are associated with this
stored emotion are unavailable for
recall. Consequently, they remain
unresolved only to be manifested in
painful recurring behavioral patterns.
The awareness and flexibility needed to
change is blocked by the character
armor.
ERT frees the blocked
emotions, allowing their release in a
safe setting. The character armor then
softens and memories from the past that
are buried in the tissues come to
awareness for resolving in the present.
When the old emotional energy is
released, the old painful emotional
patterns disappear, and many physical
conditions can then heal.
What Happens In
ERT?
ERT starts with the
client explaining to the therapist what
is happening in his/her life allowing
the therapist to assess the client's
emotional and physical state, and
together they set goals. The therapist
provides a safe and supportive place to
express the emotions, and a way to
ground them. Sometimes emotions such as
sadness, rage, or fear are overwhelming,
or childhood taboos restrict emotional
expression. It is then necessary for the
therapist to give supportive permission
to release them. Some clients may fear
that once they start to release
emotions, they won't be able to stop.
The fact is, most people are in too much
control, and will only release as much
as they can handle at one time.
The process begins with
deep rhythmic breathing to build a
charge of energy in the client's body.
Then the therapist may: have the client
continue breathing until the charge
dissipates, taking with it the emotional
energy that has been mobilized; have the
client actively express emotions that
are being mobilized; enable blocked
emotions to release by the body
positioning or stimulation of the
character armor, allowing the
chronically tightened tissues to soften.
When the therapist has
the client continue breathing until the
charge dissipates, any emotion that has
been blocked, sometimes from earliest
consciousness, may release. This
technique is also for clients who are
afraid to express their emotions or have
a tremendous charge of one emotion - it
brings this emotion down to a manageable
level before having an overt emotional
release. Many clients who experience
anxiety attacks and hyperventilation
will no longer have them after a few
sessions.
When the therapist
chooses to facilitate an emotional
release with the breathing, the
therapist is assisting the client to
actively express blocked emotions. This
is often used to mobilize grief that is
stuck around the client's heart. Deep
sadness and grief may also be blocked in
the throat, jaw, and eyes. To facilitate
the release of anger, the therapist may
have the client hit, kick, scream or
bite. This form of overt anger is often
necessary for the client to feel that
he/she has stood up against an oppressor
or abuser. Standing while releasing
emotion can create an energetic
grounding that becomes an internal
support system. Since many clients feel
abandoned for having and expressing
emotions when children, it is important
for them that they are supported after
overt emotional releases.
When the charging
breathing leads to jamming of the
character armor, the therapist places
the client in a position that will open
and stretch the blocked muscles, or
presses on the tightened muscles
specific to the emotional jamming -
throat or chest to release grief;
stomach to release swallowed anger; jaw
to release fear, anger or sadness. With
the therapist's pressure, the blocked
areas relax, allowing the client to
overtly emotionally release.
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