Sherry O’Brian is a psychotherapist and the sole proprietor of Mind/Body/Spirit Inner-grations she specializes in personal growth and transformation, as well as working with those suffering from chronic illness, grief/loss, and other emotional disorders.
Sherry has assisted thousands of individuals through her workshops, groups, and private practice to transform their pain into possibility. The inspiration behind her book Peaks and Valleys: Integrative Approaches for Recovering from Loss is her passion to provide a larger audience with the transformational tools contained in her book. MysticMag is honored to have her here with us for this lovely and informative interview.
How do you define transformational integrative counseling and its connection to integrative health and energy psychology?
I integrate traditional counseling (talk therapies) techniques such as cognitive behavioral with hypnotherapy, guided imagery, energy psychology – Emotional Freedom Technique and Comprehensive Energy Psychology; as well as other modalities to assist others in releasing the somatic or physical experience of an event, emotion, belief, memory, etc. Transformation occurs as a result of the release, redefining, and recovery.
Can you provide an example of how you have integrated energy psychology techniques into your transformational counseling practice?
One of the ways I have integrated the various energy psychology techniques into my practice is by assisting others with releasing various forms of trauma – sexual abuse, traumatic losses, ancestral issues, etc., as well as assisting others with transforming various forms of loss.
For example, whole communities can grieve as a result of group consciousness. The morphic field of groups, such as the American Indians, African Americans, the Jewish community, and so on, have endured mass trauma. This trauma is held at a cellular level within the human body and within the energetic field or group consciousness of these cultures. Other generations within these communities can continue to hold this energy of grief for generations to come unless it is recognized and released at a cellular level. I used hypnotherapy and taping on the acupoints with my client who was experiencing this type of ancestral loss and trauma. Her ancestors had gone through the Holocaust and some did not survive, she was able to release and transform this trauma and the subsequent grief/loss that she unknowingly was carrying.
I have also written a book (Peaks & Valleys: Integrative Approaches for Recovering From Loss) which integrates the power of story, guided imagery, healing rituals, energy psychology techniques & other forms of subtle energy work to assist others with transforming the pain of all forms of grief/loss.
How do you incorporate the principles of integrative health into your transformational counseling practice?
An integrative health approach takes an individualized whole-person approach to treating the mind/body/spirit. Therefore, I use Energy Psychology, which is based on assisting others with reprogramming their thoughts/feelings, which can cause physical as well as emotional & mental challenges. This approach helps with resetting the chemical cascade that occurs within the brain during the fight/flight/freeze response, as well as the corresponding emotions that become frozen within the body at a cellular level. When the amygdala becomes overcharged, the hippocampus becomes disabled, which is the timekeeper within the brain, so the emotion/experience feels present. The memory of trauma gets stuck in a chemical feedback loop & is stored at the level of the neuropeptide receptor – this is body-wide. These techniques are a form of Memory reconsolidation – a neurobiological process that involves the modification/recovery and re-storage of existing memories.
How do you address the mind-body connection in your transformational counseling approach?
Another way this integrative approach works to address the mind/body/spirit connection is by reestablishing heart/brain coherence within an individual using a variety of methods of energy psychology, guided imagery, and other forms of energy work. The heart is the most powerful source of electromagnetic energy in the human body. As people learn to sustain heart-focused positive feeling states, the brain can be brought into entrainment with the heart. I created a guided meditation (Release & Transform Burden: a meditation to awaken the healing light within) that helps individuals to release the blocks that may be preventing this coherence as well as restore healing energy.
How do you tailor your transformational counseling approach to meet the unique needs and goals of each client?
During the initial assessment, the client will share their story and I listen to “energetically” charged words or experiences. This can often help with narrowing down the “priority” issue for us to begin working with. Then, I also use clinical kinesiology commonly referred to as muscle testing, however, this test is for finding any energetic interference, we are not testing the muscle. If there is any interference then there are exercises that I have the client perform that will help balance these energetic interferences. Then I will use this info to perform another test (clinical kinesiology) using the language of the client. For example, “The priority issue for me to work on/with today is….”
This is the gateway to resolving an issue(s) when this is uncovered it is often what is referred to as a “psychological reversal” which is an incongruence between the subconscious & the conscious mind. Therefore, every session is tailored specifically for each client, as well as each time the client comes in. For example, I was working with a client who was severely sexually abused as a child by her father and uncle; each time they abused her they blamed her for it. This showed up as an adult every time someone would blame her for something, she would become triggered – her emotions consisted of all the times and ways she was blamed when she was being abused – which led her to feel incapacitated by her emotions. We worked several sessions to help her release and reframe this energy in her body, mind, and spirit.
How do you ensure ethical practice and maintain professional boundaries when incorporating energy psychology techniques into your transformational counseling work?
Energy psychology is actually one of the best forms to assist with maintaining professional boundaries as a result of recognizing the energetic triggers that may develop as a result of working with various clients. “As care providers empathically attune their receiving hearts to the frequency of their clients’… [if] that energy received is felt to be familiar in its tone and frequency, a sympathetic response may develop, resulting in absorption and internalization of that energy.” – Karl LaRowe
Practitioners may become impaired and incompetent as a result of: A practitioner attunes to a client – their energy feels familiar in its frequency and a sympathetic response occurs resulting in absorption and internalization of this energy; and/or Practitioner re-experiences dormant emotions that have been triggered by an interaction with a client.
As a result of this insight, I maintain a daily practice of energy exercises to release, refresh, & protect myself & my client. Moreover, another important aspect of maintaining a healthy boundary begins with informed consent where the client receives basic information on the benefits and risks associated with Energy Psychology. For example, Clarity about (limited) personal touch – inaccessible acupoints, muscle (energy) testing, as well as the appropriate time for integration and closure of the session. In addition, it is important to recognize my level of professional training, as well as define my scope of practice with a client and adhere to a professional code of ethics. Lastly, the other wonderful thing about energy psychology is that you, the practitioner, can tap on your acupoints as a way of showing a client where/how to tap or stimulate the acupoints and in doing so prevent being triggered or it may assist you in releasing any similar energetic blocks. I know this has helped both me and my client.
