Do you have any idea what it’s like to sit across from a patient (or client) in a therapeutic/healing session and discover that what the patient is describing to you is what’s happening in your own life experience? It happens all the time! And it can be pretty challenging to say the least. The reason for this is that we attract what we’re vibrating.
And that goes for all of us, not just healing practitioners. We attract what we’re vibrating. Period. The end.
In therapeutic settings, this issue is known as countertransference. Here’s Wikipedia’s definition: Countertransference is defined as redirection of a psychotherapist‘s feelings toward a client—or, more generally, as a therapist’s emotional entanglement with a client.
Ewwwwww…..never a pleasant scenario – that emotional entanglement thingy. And yet, Freud began talking about it in the early 1900’s. And countertransference is researched, discussed and observed in the classroom and in supervisory settings for therapists ad nauseum.
Healing practitioners who set effective therapeutic boundaries may well navigate the emotional triggers that arise and generate the entanglement with clients. Yet many still find that they feel encumbered with emotional energy, thoughts, and patterns in spite of their carefully competent therapeutic approach.
Sadly, these therapists have not been taught about the energy correlation; the ways in which we share energy with one another in casual and intimate interactions. If they were taught about countertransference and ‘counterenergetics’ at the same time, they would have had a winning formula for managing their practice without taking on the emotions AND energy of their patients.
The truth is, therapeutic practitioners often work overtime – 24/7/365 – because they carry emotional energy that belongs to others and assume that it’s their own emotions and energies. Their problem has less to do with effective therapeutic practice and more to do with energy hygiene. Over time, this overtime adds up – to the practitioner feeling debilitated, exhausted, consumed.
Recently CK had the privilege of meeting two fabulous, well-educated, deeply committed professionals with therapeutic healing practices. Both of these dynamic folks are serious about their work. But they also feel overwhelmed and burdened by the heaviness they carry and by the suffering that is endured in their life experiences.
One of the two struggled with deep, prolonged depression. The other therapist dealt with a fairly extreme case of compassion fatigue (and emotional and physical exhaustion). In both cases, neither practitioner was able to continue practicing full time.
CK gave these two dear people an energy hygiene kit – a few energetic practices, some energy medicine for clearing the treatment space and a protocol for applying which practices at which times. Away they went, kit in hand, back to their individual practices.
Want to know something? Within two weeks both of them were back, sans kit (it was integrated now, carried within, part of their practice management strategy). The practitioner struggling with depression bounced off of the elevator, beaming an enormous smile. She sat down across from CK and said, ‘Depression? What depression? I don’t got no stinkin’ depression!’
CK’s mighty pleased about this, let me tell you! And had it been earlier in her career as an energy healing practitioner, she would have fainted dead away from shock. But it’s not, and she’s seen this occur repeatedly over the years.
But wait. It gets better.
The second practitioner returned to CK’s office, sat down and said, ‘I’ve decided to let go of my practice and return to my work as an artist and painter.’ He said he felt energized by re-engaging his artistic self and had figured out a gradual transition plan for his patients and his practice that allowed him to return his energy and time to painting. His compassion fatigue was gone, and he could feel his overall vitality and joie de vivre returning as he began the process of transitioning out of his practice.
Think about it. CK has written post after post speaking about energy properties and principles, practices and protocols. Why wouldn’t healing practitioners be susceptible to the same energy issues that ‘us normal folk’ have? Energy is energy, people are people and our stuff is our stuff, yes?
So practitioners who are reading this article; think energy hygiene. If you don’t got it, get it.
Consumers of therapeutic practices, think energy hygiene. Does the practitioner have it? If not, share this post with them. And be sure you’ve got your own energy hygiene in place. Hint, some of the posts CK’s written have some awfully good energy clearing and hygiene tools.
Know a therapist or a consumer of therapeutic services who might benefit from thinking about energy hygiene? Please forward them this post. They may even thank you!
And keep your vital energy flowing!
