Integrative Medicine – Energy Medicine

This is the second part of an article I have written addressing Integrative Medicine.  In part one, I provided an overview of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) and identified Energy Medicine as one of the five categories. In this part, I will focus primarily on Energy Medicine and energy therapies, (also referred to as biofield therapies or modalities) a term used to identify any alternative or complementary treatment based on the use of modification and or manipulation of energy fields. Most energy therapies are based on the belief that matter and energy are not opposites, but that matter is just a denser from of energy itself. 

In order to understand how energy therapies work, you must accept that subtle energies exist everywhere. What you can see, smell, touch, hear and taste is also built entirely upon these subtle energies.  Each cell within our bodies pulse electrically and the body emanates electromagnetic fields.  In essence, the human body is a complex energetic system! 

Now that you are aware of the existence of subtle energies within all things, you can better appreciate that energy therapies work in the field located and utilized in or surrounding, affecting and emanating from the human body. 

Energy therapies are one of the oldest forms of healing around the world and they involve the transfer of energy from the facilitator/healer to patient or client. It is important to note that the physical body is not the only body in the energy field.  

The National Institute of Health Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), classifies Reiki, for example, as a biofield modality. Many but not all biofield modalities (therapies) derive from eastern concepts of health and disease. 

Some of the more popular energy therapies in the USA currently include:

Reiki (Dr. Usui)

• Acupuncture/Acupressure
• Qigong (pronounced: chi gong) 
• Polarity therapy (by Dr. Randolph Stone)
• EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) 
• Donna Eden’s Energy Medicine
• Craniosacral therapy

There are many energy therapies to choose from.  I personally believe the facilitator, the person who will be working with you, is more important than the modality. It is not absolutely essential that a good facilitator to be certified, however,  one should consider asking some important questions of their prospective facilitator, such as what influenced the facilitator to engage in energy therapy, and what is the facilitators experience with energy itself? Do they have a credible reputation and can they provide positive testimonials?