Intuitive or energy counselling

Intuitive or energy counselling
By Jimmy Henderson

Those who offer consultations, life coaching or complementary therapies, will benefit from a few insights into a new method of counselling using intuition and shifts in energy.
I have personally been involved in lay counselling and the training of counsellors for 25 years but only recently understood the deeper interactions taking place between counsellor and client at an intuitive and energy level.

The foundation of intuitive or energy counselling
Before examining the new process, we first require a little understanding of the functioning of the human body, mind and spirit. To begin, in order to benefit from this process, therapists will require a firm belief in the existence and operation of different energies and to have developed a fair degree of intuition.
Second, this model is based on some new ideas which suggest that our bodies radiate energy which can be perceived and interpreted by those with the necessary skills and that illness or distress can be related to imbalances or blockages in the healthy flow of energy through the body, and are often the result of unresolved emotional or psychological issues.
The development of intuition was discussed in my previous article on the Inner Voice, Intuition or Inner Sense and ideally, in order to perform intuitive or energy counselling, one should have had some experience with energy-work. However, for those who are new to the process, I will deal briefly with the most essential requirements for sensing energy.

• The easiest method of sensing is with the hands, holding them about 30 cm apart in front of your solar plexus with your palms and fingers relaxed and facing each other until they become warm and tingly. This feeling is the energy flowing between your hands.
• The next step is to enlist the help of a friend or family member. Have them sit in front of you and hold your palms up in front of your shoulders facing forward (still relaxed), slowly move closer towards your partner until you feel a subtle pressure on your palms. You are now sensing the energy from the other person. For the best effect during these processes, keep your mind absolutely quiet and peaceful.
• Your use of intuition is required for the third step, in which you attempt to interpret the energy from your friend or family member in terms of sensations, impressions, thoughts or even images.
• Using your intuition, decide if the energy feels warm or cold, calm and smooth or rough and prickly, hard and heavy or soft and fluffy. Also try to interpret it in terms of a colour (or different colours). Describing the energy in this way exercises your symbolic processes of interpretation.

It is important to master these earlier steps before attempting intuitive or energy counselling, as well as familiarising yourself with the different ‘energy-signatures’ associated with emotional and psychological states. For example, the energy of a depressed person feels ‘cold’ and ‘heavy’ and appears a darker colour, whereas the energy of someone who is very anxious (highly agitated) can best be described as ‘hot’ and ‘prickly’ and ‘all over the place’ with bright colours in shades of red. The energy given off by a person in a balanced state is generally smooth, harmonious and light in colour.
As you will be interpreting and responding to these energies, it will also be necessary to prevent yourself from actually taking on these states, as they can very easily be energetically transferred during the process. This is one of the dangers of energy or intuitive counselling and is usually dealt with by forming a mental block, intention or prayer to protect yourself. It is also sometimes not a good idea to inform clients that you are reading their energy, as it may not be clearly understood or accepted and create additional tensions, unless of course you have previously advertised the fact.

The process
During normal counselling we are trained to read the client’s body language and tone of voice in order to note strong emotional or psychological responses to any particular issue under discussion. And this is as far as our perception goes. During intuitive counselling, in addition to reading body language, we are actually sensing the subtle changes taking place in the energy surrounding the client’s body, which also indicates changes in their emotions or state of mind.
Energy or intuitive counselling thus builds on the process for sensing energy indicated previously.
• Have your client seated a short distance away from you (about two meters) and open your hands on your lap or resting on your knee. Your palms should be facing the client if at all possible. Enter a light meditative state and set an intention to connect and’ tune into’ the energy emanating from your client. You will know you have achieved this connection when you feel a sudden pressure on your palms (or other area of your body) and intuitively know you have connected.
• Normal counselling can be quite structured and generally follows a number of stages, such as building a relationship of trust, questioning the client about his or her thoughts and emotions, challenging negative or unhelpful thoughts and thought-patterns and building self-esteem to equip the client to find possible solutions to the problem. Follow these same steps with intuitive or energy counselling, but in addition to listening and reflection, try to feel the shifts (changes) taking place in the client’s energy field while you are counselling. Also open your intuition to any sensations, impressions or images you may experience and strive to interpret them in terms of thoughts and ideas about the client.
• This form of counselling is extremely powerful, as by being energetically connected to the client you can lift his or her mood simply by applying your own positive energy. Clients can sometimes also be unknowingly deceptive and in denial. And you will know this when what they are saying does not correspond to the energy-signature you are intuitively sensing. For example, they may say they are fine when you can intuitively feel the resistance or blockage in their energy. In this case you could gently challenge them with phrases such as ‘I feel you are not being honest with yourself’. When faced with a tense and unresponsive client, the most likely intuitive thought you receive will be that of a blockage of the energy flow, seen in the body as a build-up of tension.
• If your counselling is successful, a ‘turning point’ will also be reached, which is usually indicated by an emotional release in the form of an outburst or crying. You will intuitively feel this coming and the release will be sensed as a shift from the heavy depressive feeling (in the case of a depressed client) to a lighter, more positive energy. In the case of a manic client, you will be searching for that approach which produces a balancing and relaxing of his or her energy state. These changing states of mind and energy will also be clearly seen in their body language.

When the counselling is concluded, you need to consciously disconnect from the client by setting the mental intention to do so.

Jimmy Henderson is a well-known metaphysical teacher and regular radio talk show guest. He is the author of a number of articles as well as two self-help books titled ‘Multi-Dimensional Thinking’ and ‘Multi-Dimensional Perception’.
www.jimmyhendersonbooks.com
http://www.kimaglobal.co.za/cgi-bin/go.pl/author_books.html?author_name=Jimmy%20Henderson