Does Energy Healing Actually Work?

What is it exactly that makes us pursue the path of self-help and recovery?

In the past decade alone, the burgeoning spiritual growth and self-help sections of many bookstores have made it easy to become overwhelmed by the myriad choices. Many of us might even start to wonder whether we had some unknown underlying issue, just by reading all the titles.

The many options to become immersed in a life-altering or even transcendental experience are even more alluring — you can have a Reiki session, be re-birthed or sound healed, have your chakras realigned and be blessed by water. And if you don't have any personal issues or problems in this lifetime, then certainly someone can help you find the past life in which you did.

So what separates true recovery from faddish explorations of Self that may be fun or intriguing, but don't always lead to authentic transformation?

As a seeker myself and now a counselor, I have tried many of these options for shifting my own energy. However, I now believe that in most cases they will never lead to the ultimate shifts that most of us desire. The fundamental problem is simple — you can find a true energy master and healer that can absolutely shift your energy, clean your aura, open your chakras or remove your blockages — but then what?

If you continue to live your life in the same way; with the same beliefs and patterns and choices ... what will happen? Your energy will eventually revert back to its original state.

That doesn't mean that the energy shifts aren't helpful or that they can't give you a much-needed nudge in the right direction, however it's really just a holistic form of taking a pharmaceutical pill. Unless you address the underlying dysfunction and dis-ease in the body, emotions and spirit, you will either be dependent upon your energy practitioner or, you will eventually end up where you started energetically.

I can speak from personal experience as well as from seeing which of my clients are really able to transform their lives, and which whom remain stuck. For instance, I developed chronic adrenal fatigue from overdoing it in my 30s. I used to see a very gifted acupuncturist on a weekly basis, who was able to help tone and cleanse the Qi in my kidneys.

However one day she looked at me and said, "You know if you keep spending this Qi as fast as I put it back in, you you're never going to get better." So I then had to take a serious look at my habit of overdoing and the esteem I got from all I did. I had to completely redefine how hard I could work; what downtime actually looked like and what exercises I could do. Then came the really hard part — as I slowed down, up came my feelings and emotions — most powerfully being the fear of who I would be if I wasn't being my version of superwoman!

Real healing comes from the powerful combination of:

1. Actually feeling your feelings.

2. Taking significant but baby steps towards a better way of being.