the history of energy therapies

modern energy therapies apply some of the ancient knowledge of meridian channels and points, first discovered by the neolithic peoples of central europe around 5000 BC.  in 3000 BC, the “yellow emperor” of china developed these discoveries further, applying his knowledge to the field of acupuncture, which inserts very fine needles into meridian points to treat dis-ease.

this ancient knowledge has been developed in modern times by several practitioners with a range of skills and experiences, leading to the development of modern energy therapies.

in the 1960’s and 1970’s, the links between muscle strength, meridians, organ and gland health, and psychology were explored, leading to the development of muscle-testing as a diagnostic tool, and the field of kinesiology. chiropractors dr goodheart, dr thie and psychiatrist dr diamond were pivotal to the development of this knowledge.

in 1979, clinical psychologist dr roger callaghan applied his learning about  kinesiology techniques and meridian points with a client, mary, who had a severe water phobia that he had been unable to help with in the 18 months that he had been treating her. he noticed that, when describing her fear of water, mary would hold her stomach area. he wondered whether her energy flow was blocked in the stomach area, and tapped on the stomach meridian point to find out if this might help. her recovery from the water phobia was instantaneous and permanent. over time, he identified 15 meridian points that could be used in the treatment of all negative emotional responses, and he named this “thought field therapy” (TFT).

in 1995, gary craig, an engineer and lay preacher who had trained with callaghan, developed “emotional freedom techniques” (EFT), by simplifying the use of the 15 meridian points that callaghan had identified, so that rather than learning each meridian point and understanding the situations in which it should be used as callaghan had identified, craig used all 15 meridian points for all emotional responses, and so developed a simple technique that all people could learn easily.

since then, other therapies have been developed that apply meridian & energy principles, including “emotrance” (ET), “be set free fast” (BSFF), “tapas acupressure treatment” (TAT) and “integrated states therapy” (IST), leading to the formation of the association for meridian energy therapies (AMT) in the UK by silvia hartmann and chrissie hardisty in 1998.