While natural [and human-made] disasters capture headlines and national attention short-term, the work of recovery and rebuilding is long-term.

–Sylvia Mathews Burwell
Former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services

Energy healing methods have a tremendous contribution to make for this long-term recovery and rebuilding. But it is a major undertaking, often underestimated while the shock of a recent disaster overwhelms our ability to even fully absorb what occurred, no less sink into what it means for the long-term.

Last month, in a top psychology journal, David published a paper titled "Uses of Energy Psychology Following Catastrophic Events." How much more relevant could it be than this Memorial Day weekend when we not only honor our fallen war heroes but cannot keep from our minds the victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting, those gunned down in Buffalo and, if we are paying attention, the 27 school shootings and 212 mass shootings that have occurred in the U.S. this year! How a teenager can legally purchase a weapon that discharges 10 bullets a second is a question of failed political will that baffles us, but how to bring about compassionate and effective comfort and healing in the aftermath is within our scope of expertise.

Since David’s first professional article on using energy psychology following disasters, in 2008, energy psychology has been utilized in more than 30 countries, and it is proving itself to be one of the most potent tools available for helping people heal and move forward after unbearable natural and human-made tragedies. However, it is still far from mainstream. The major disaster relief response agencies do not yet have it on their radar.

Nonetheless, the efforts of energy psychology advocates are having an impact. For instance, Aga Kehinde is a native of Poland who is now a highly proficient EFT practitioner living in the U.K. She recently returned to her native country to assist with the emotional devastation visited upon Ukrainian refugees, including children from three Ukrainian orphanages who have fled to the tiny Polish town of Slupsk. In her first month, she has provided a series of 3-hour trainings on acupoint tapping protocols attended by 140 educational psychologists, social service professionals, and preschool teachers.

The response from the care providers who have taken her training has been overwhelmingly positive, reporting a 50% or greater reduction in subjective distress in the refugees they have worked with, using the tools they learned in just the 3-hour training. Their enthusiasm to learn these methods in greater depth and take them to their social service teams, classrooms, and refugee clients is high.

This is exactly the approach that is needed. The number of tapping practitioners who can be deployed when hundreds or thousands or tens of thousands of individuals are affected will never be adequate if they are working independently. But if they bring training to locals who are already working in the institutions that provide support, that is a game-changer for a community’s long-term recovery!

We learned some of the details of Aga’s initial impact when she asked if she could have David’s new paper on disaster relief translated into Polish. She wrote, "Your paper was paramount in pitching the project to [the local mental health community], and elements of the paper are continuously used in our training and the conversations I have with individual teams."

Aga came to Poland as a volunteer because the need cried out to her. She took the leap before she knew what support might be there. Her vision is to provide more extensive training to 1,000 care providers who will be working with Ukrainian refugees (and she’s made a great start), but her ability to more fully address the enormous and often overlooked need now depends on the generosity of others who care about what is happening to the Ukrainian people but can’t help in-person. If you are moved to make a contribution to support bringing energy psychology to those working with the refugees who have flooded into Poland, here is the GoFundMe page.

Meanwhile, the disaster relief paper is making a mark in other locations as well. Requests to translate it into additional languages have been coming in this week. You can download the original paper from the U.S. journal here. If you know of anyone touched by one of the many tragedies in recent months—Uvalde, Buffalo, Houston, Milwaukee, Sacramento, Brooklyn, too many others—please ask them to bring the paper to the attention of local authorities and health care providers. A brief but deeply touching vignette from the paper, which occurred after the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, follows.

Love,
Donna & David

Eden Psychology in Action

Photo credit: Ron Frank

This widely reported heart-breaking tragedy occurred on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut. A 20-year-old former student of the elementary school shot and killed 28 people, including 20 children between 6 and 7 years old, 6 adult staff members, the shooter himself, and his mother. Nick Ortner, the founder of The Tapping Solution, is a long-time resident of Newtown. He immediately brought Dr. Lori Leyden, a colleague and internationally known trauma expert, to Newtown.

They attracted 35 experienced acupoint tapping practitioners (of hundreds of applications from Nick’s mailing list of 500,000) to volunteer their services in Newtown. After substantial training in working with parents whose children had been murdered, with children who witnessed their classmates being killed, with teachers who survived, with first responders, and with others in the community who had been deeply impacted, the practitioners brought acupoint tapping to many in emotional turmoil. The reports of the relief and healing they facilitated are profoundly touching. We’ll describe just one of them.

A poignant "full-circle" story involved a 12-year-old boy whose 6-year-old brother was killed during the shooting. While the boy’s mother had quickly embraced tapping, the boy was highly skeptical. He was understandably extremely angry about losing his brother and hadn’t attended school since the tragedy 2 months earlier. Dr. Leyden had previously worked with orphaned genocide survivors in Rwanda, first for healing, but then teaching them to become "heart-centered" leaders. The program was later formalized as "Project LIGHT: Rwanda." Graduates of the program are referred to as "Ambassadors," and a goal of the initiative is to connect traumatized young people around the world to support one another.

A Skype meeting was arranged between the 12-year-old boy in Newtown and two of the Rwanda Ambassadors, young people like himself who had been through the worst of human tragedies. During the long call, they shared deeply, tapped together, and genuinely bonded. The boy in Newtown was so inspired that he returned to school the next day to make a speech to his classmates about why it is important to care about people who have experienced even worse tragedies. Completing the full circle, he went on to create a non-profit organization that raised money for two of the Rwanda Ambassadors to attend university. Several years later, he traveled to Rwanda for an emotional reunion with the Ambassadors who had helped him so much while he was deep in grief about his brother’s death.

SERIES: ENERGY MEDICINE AND THE POLITICS (POLITEIA) OF HEALTH

"Politics" is derived from the juicer Greek word, "politeia," which implies an active engagement in which people empower each other to enhance their communities. – Jean Houston

Facilitating Constructive Discussions of Sensitive Topics During Divisive Times

David Gruder, Ph.D., DCEP

In these polarized times, people are looking for ways to discuss sensitive topics with loved ones, friends, and business associates, without damaging those relationships. We are also needing to discern when such discussions don’t have a chance of leading to a constructive outcome. This article provides you with a practical framework for having fruitful discussions about challenging issues, all in the spirit of enhancing goodwill, reducing divisiveness, and generating effective solutions.

Exciting Announcement - SAVE THE DATE!
A Festival Celebrating The Power of Energy Medicine

It hasn't happened in 8 years, but it's finally happening again! Energy Fest is one of our most popular in-person gatherings where you'll get the chance to connect with people who are ready to live their best life using gentle, natural, energy-based tools and techniques.

This year's event includes presentations from some of the most respected luminaries in the world of energy, including Master of Bioenergetic Medicine and Quantum Field visionary Dr. Sue Morter, bestselling author, teacher, and founder of the Four Winds Society, which offers the world's most respected training in Shamanic Energy Medicine Dr. Alberto Villoldo, to name a few …and of course our own Donna 🙂

Registration for this exciting learning experience begins in mid-June, and we have special surprises in store for early birds… so don't forget to mark your calendar!

Enjoy a Healing Weekend Retreat at Omega

Your Chance to Meet & Learn Directly from Donna & David

Donna and David on Stage at Omega

If you’ve ever wanted to learn directly from Donna herself (or if you’ve been waiting for a chance to do it again), you’re not going to want to miss this upcoming opportunity 🙂

Donna, along with her husband, David Feinstein, Ph.D., will be leading a hands-on energy medicine retreat at the beautiful Omega Center in Rhinebeck, New York, this September! It will be an immersive, exciting, and fun weekend experience where you’ll learn how to apply energy medicine tools and techniques to reclaim your body’s natural health and bring more joy into your life.

Donna’s class will be followed by a special 5-day energy psychology workshop led by David He will help you develop skills in using energy psychology tools -- like acupoint tapping -- to address emotional and physical issues and enhance your overall health and happiness.

You can learn more and sign up here >>

Are The Numbers on Your Scale Driving You Nuts?

Discover The Natural, Simple, and Fun Way to Achieve Your Desired Weight

Watch this video to learn about The Weight Class

For most of us, the journey to achieving our ideal weight feels stressful and burdensome, and as Dondi says in her video (just click to watch), the numbers on the bathroom scale can drive us a little nuts! But here’s a thought -- what if you could easily and joyfully release unwanted weight?

The Weight Class: Using Energy Medicine to Fall in Love with Your Body & Achieve Your Desired Weight is a brand new program where you can learn to successfully work with energy-based tools to release excess weight (and keep it off!) in a way that feels easy, natural, and even fun!

For a limited time, you can get full access to this transformational, one-of-a-kind, LIVE, online class at a very special price.

Learn more here >>

Your Energy Minute

Give Yourself Some Love with The Triple Warmer/Spleen Hug

In today’s video, Donna shows you how to give yourself some body love with the Triple Warmer/Spleen hug 🙂 It’s a simple and effective technique you can use anytime you need a little boost of calming energy, and it’s also a great tool to aid digestion, boost your metabolic rate, and encourage healthy weight loss.

Click here to watch Donna and follow along >>

Want to Know More? Try Our 1-Hour Free Classes

Did you know that in addition to David and Donna's events, we also spread the word about other exciting talks, courses, and book releases occurring in the healing community? This includes events sponsored by such luminaries as Hay House and Mindvalley as well as exciting new movers and shakers in the industry! You can now select the emails you receive from us, including offers from our partners.

Click here to select your email lists.

Please note: If you unsubscribe, you will no longer receive ANY emails from us, including our monthly e-Letter, class notices, product announcements, certification notifications, etc. Rather than unsubscribe and miss it all, we encourage you to select the emails you want to receive.