"picking up" stuff from client

[Ashille]

I've participated in many conversations where a therapist states they "pick up" stuff (energy/symptoms/whatever) from a client during a session. This has never happened to me. I may get a "vibe" from a client and feel very attuned to what is going on in their body, but that's about it.

One therapist suggested that I am "very grounded" and therefore (more-or-less) immune to such transferences. (That was the gist, anyway.) Another person suggested it is because I have not been trained in energy work. Anyway, I am curious about this phenomenon, its causes and remedies, and what makes one person more prone to it than another.

 

[drumm3r1]

I have never experienced that, either - and I also was not trained in energy work. I do not go through any specific grounding rituals, but do feel that I am well grounded. There were some in my class who felt very vulnerable to picking up bad energy from clients, while I had never given it a thought. I imagine it is a variety of reasons, including personality, training, personal history and maybe even attitude? It is interesting.

 

[Twilight fan!!!]

I imagine it is a variety of reasons, including personality, training, personal history and maybe even attitude? It is interesting.

Those are my thoughts too!

For me, both history & personality contribute to "picking up" vibes/energey from people, not just clients. I grew up in a very chaotic environment. I walked on egg shells my whole childhood. I had to pick up the "vibes" to survive childhood.

My personality is that of an INFJ Introvert, Inutuitive, Feeling, Judging. aka the Counselor. Here's part of the definition according to the Keirsey Temperament sorter.

"Counselors have strong empathic abilities and can become aware of another's emotions or intentions -- good or evil -- even before that person is conscious of them. This "mind-reading" can take the form of feeling the hidden distress or illnesses of others to an extent which is difficult for other types to comprehend. Even Counselors can seldom tell how they came to penetrate others' feelings so keenly. Furthermore, the Counselor is most likely of all the types to demonstrate an ability to understand psychic phenomena and to have visions of human events, past, present, or future. What is known as ESP may well be exceptional intuitive ability-in both its forms, projection and introjection. Such supernormal intuition is found frequently in the Counselor, and can extend to people, things, and often events, taking the form of visions, episodes of foreknowledge, premonitions, auditory and visual images of things to come, as well as uncanny communications with certain individuals at a distance."

So, now I am slowly learning to be more grounded and to protect my self from picking up stuff. It's a slow process, especially because it had served me well for the beginning of my life, but now that I am older instead of serving me it hinders me.

 

[sw3etpinay]

I have been trained in energy work (Reiki) and I don't pick up energy or vibes from clients. Like Jason, I think I am well in tune with the client. I can be very empathic and I can sometimes "feel" stuff that is going on for them that doesn't seem readily apparent from the outside. Still, I have never picked up bad stuff that stayed with me after the session.

I believe that you can choose whether to pick stuff up or not. (I realize I may be biased because so far I haven't picked up stuff, but this is still my opinion) When doing energy work, or even massage, I always believe and draw on energy that moves through me, coming from a higher source. I never feel I am drawing from my own energy (other than physical energy, which of course is my own, and I do get drained when I put forth a lot of that). In all modalities (energy or massage) I have been trained in, it was always emphasized to do this. The general idea is that if you believe you are "the healer" and you are "fixing them," then you are in fact doing that, and you will be left depleted or having taken their stuff on yourself.

While if you intend to "step out the way" and be a vehicle or a facilitator, then you can let something magical happen and not be putting forth so much of your own energy.

I always like to imagine it's like someone who plays amazing stuff on a musical instrument. Usually they are very highly trained, and know technically how to play, but when they get in the groove, they are just playing -- possessed by passion, letting something else take over. I have felt this way also when dancing at times, and when doing my best massage work.

Although I consider myself spiritual, I don't specifially subscribe to any views and I'm not religious.

I also know this may not be everyone's experience, and I'm not trying to say that people who pick up stuff are whack. I know there may be other stuff going on that I don't understand. This is just my current understanding of the phenomenon.

 

[ce_fowler]

"Picking up" meaning what exactly?

I feel that I "pick up" stuff from clients meaning that I sometimes know what is going on in their lives. What kind of emotional or mental experiences they are going through (or will be going through), or what is held up in their tissues. I don't always bring it up to the client.

Other times I have taken on (meaning been afflicted with) particular experience that I have picked up from a client but I find that I take the experience on because I have the same type of issue to work through. In that case I try to recognize my own issue and resolve it and I acknowledge that I do not need energy from my client...I cut the cords, an energetic ritual, and take responsibility for my own energy.

When I am holding space with clients through bodywork or energy work I am sometimes being a facilitator and I am sometimes sharing an energetic experience, both of which never leave me feeling depleted or ill. I make a point never to give energy to a client....only share.

But I also agree with shivashiva, that this is my current understanding, so I can't speak to others' experiences.

 

[Bee]

This happens to me a lot and I have to be careful about it. Usually, it's in the form of the pain that the client is feeling - somehow I find myself carrying it for them while they are relieved of it. Once it lasted for several days and even intense energy work could not purge me of it.

It helps in way, though, to identify a person's exact mode of discomfort and I'm learning to let it go during the sessions. Working it out with the client also allows me to let it go because if it does not exist in them, it cannot exist in me.

 

[tori w]

Good one

Good on ya, Jason. These are some interesting thoughts here above. I am really sensitive to energy and I had to really find an environment to suit me or I would have spent too much of my working life wanting to sleep.

I was working for a gym and some of the people who came in were so tired and lacking in energy the vibe in the room was almost inescapable. They were the type who wanted silence, dark, warm, candles, flute music and water lapping over rocks... YAWN!!!

I had to get out. Now I'm in a much better place and I love my work so much more now.

Energy is incredible.

 

[Never Shout Tammii]

Some people are more sensitive, or more vulnerable to "picking things up" and I don't think that being a generally grounded person has much to do with it. No offense intended! It's a matter of awareness first and foremost.

I'm an empath, and a Reiki Master, and I too have to be aware and careful about what comes into my field. I do routine shielding, clearing and protective measures but even so - there are times I am particularly sensitive (lunar cycle, hormones, cosmic energies).

I too, see myself as a conduit - which some people would believe makes me more vulnerable - though I see it as protective.

Intention is really the beginning point, and there are various methods to prevent the latching on of soul-sucking energies. Gemstones, essences, sound, personal energies, shielding, clearing, smoke...they all work, it just depends on what works best for the individual and what they are most comfortable with.

 

[robind]

Wow

That was great, Amy. My focus has recently been aware of energy in a new sense for me and so I'm listening now, where up until a while ago I wouldn't have been so. I've tried Craniosacral a couple of times and nothing... I couldn't see what the big deal was until two weekends ago i had a treatment that gave me the worlds biggest headache and I felt sick.

Next day, I felt so well.

Similar experience with Reiki, I'm sorry to say (never had a good one) but I've become more open to the idea, especially after the craniosacral treatment. Maybe I was closed to it before?

I'm sorry to say, it seems to me I've been living under a rock. But I'm enjoying the new questions and thoughts I have towards energy.

Energy in terms of attraction is also interesting like what we think most about will be... It seems I have been thinking like this a while though because I noticed my eforum.xxx line below which has been there for some time.

 

[Ihtiyorhon M]

Love your eforum.xxx line Old Dog.

IME, energy work is effective with a skilled practitioner AND a receptive client. If either is off, it doesn't have the "punch" so to speak. I'm sure we've all had mediocre massage at one time or another, the same is true for energy work.

As for like attracting like - this is certainly true! Have you read "The Secret" yet? If not, you might find it interesting. 8)

Although, the reverse is also true in that opposites attract. There are people out there who are surrounded by negative energy and are thus highly pulled toward others who are oozing positive vibes. Those are the "soul suckers" that I speak of, also known as "energy vamps". A lot of times these people don't even realize or know consciously what they're doing - but they are the ones you feel drained by after spending time with. Some of my extended family members are like this. :

Anyway, shielding and clearing are vital for the very reasons stated above. Even the "ritual" of washing one's hands with intention can be very effective for releasing the cords of negativity that latch on.

Namaste!

 

[GrimLykReaper]

Energy

Thanks for the words of wisdom, Amy.

Seems I was sensitive to the energy of others but not my own. I have the DVD of the secret which is where the eforum.xxx line comes from. I thought the film was so great except the cheap, cheesie beginning about how she discovered, (gasp) "the secret". Oh well. But the content was fantastic.

See ya

 

[StoicCrying]

I used to pick up a lot from others but didn't realize it. I justr thought I was moody. After training in energy, I became aware of picking up everything around me and I shielded myself like crazy with no results. Now, however, I never shield, and I am almost never affected by the negativity around. I think it has to do with opening a heart chakra and clearing your own aura. The bigger and brighter your aura, the more it transmutes the energies that come around. I am a Reiki master and I always feel protected anyway. Yet, after treating others, especially few people a day, I would have a very vivid, chaotic dreams. I think in this way i am processing for people I treated. My mentor, a great healer, would get a blurr vision for a while after treating others. His liver precesses their energies. We all are connected, non of us is a totally separated entity.

 

[angiebear]

hey yelena

Hey yelena, I just found this forum and was going to recommend it to you, but you beat me to it ! Hope all's well happy new year

Rob from SBI

 

[Ruby]

I've been interested in energy work for a while now, have dabbled in it ever so slightly but I feel I only know enough to be dangerous at this point, so I do almost no energetic work beyond setting/sending intentions at the open and close of each client session. This is an area I could expand into if I had the right mentor/training.

I feel like my energy field is overall quite strong and healthy and have not (so far) had a client's negative energy cross over into mine and bring me down. We were taught to be aware of energetic states but guard against taking unhealthy ones on. That said, I often feel as if I can offer some healthy energy to the client, perhaps by being a conduit as mentioned by others (I've never felt as if I've depleted my own good energy in a session). Not that I've never had another person's negative energy affect me in my *life*, but I've come out of more difficult periods in my past (mostly where I wasn't following my bliss, instead trying to do what others thought I should) and am a much happier person now. I feel well grounded and others have independently commented that they find me so. I do wonder if my return to *my* path over the last 8 years has not only brought me my current peace and joy but made me able to offer others something positive.

Conversely a good friend did a lot of shielding as a child in a chaotic home, went on to become a social worker working with kids in bad situations and proceeded to develop major liver problems. She lost half her liver to tumor, among other consequences. She also is the most physically sensitive client I've ever had on the table.

It seems to me all factors can contribute to energetic sensitivity (for better or for worse):
* Groundedness
* Choice
* Native sensitivity (innate)
* Learned sensitivity (whether from life experience or energetic training)
* etc.

I do feel fairly sensitive to the unspoken attitude and/or "place" a person is in (sometimes strikingly so), yet I do believe I could learn to be more intelligently energetically sensitive so as to have a more informed affect on my clients.

 

[gateman]

I believe I won't pick it up..... therefore I don't. The power of suggestion. I am trained in energy work and feel I am quite emphathetic and "in-tune". Besides....how can we possibly do any massage without energy being a part of it?! So much of what we are calling "energy" is tissue reactive to emotions and beliefs. If you believe... it is. At a minimum you'll look for conformation within your beliefs just to validate them. Why would we spend energy invalidating the very thing we are trying to learn/practice? I feel for folks that have been taught they will "pick-up" energy from others like some virus in an attempt to teach being open and receptive.
Ever considered this? What if the student that can't feel energy works with a jack hammer all day? His/her hands will be numb from vibration and desensitised. Or maybe they have really big thick hands and nerve endings are not a clustered as small hands? Or they are taking a scrip that dulls the nerves system? There are a ton of reasons a student might not feel what the well meaning teacher insist is there. They walk away believing the can't feel energy and are flawed somehow.
I bet the same people that are easily hypnotised can adopt the belief "they can pick up others energy whether they want to or not" if taught the belief from someone they respect. They call it Seforum.xxxe Saging.....beware the Seforum.xxxe Sage.
Ever hang out at a "Mary" sighting with a healthy dose of sketicism? Bet people round you will see the virgin Mary while you see clouds. Which is real for the observer? People want/need to believe. Energy work can be taught with the caveat you will and can pick it up. Why would they teach you "might" when they want your money and approval? Teachers are flesh too.
Like soooo many of these conversations it comes down to languaging and communication.

 

[Pompal 09.]

I am conflicted about this topic. I really believe in the transfer of energy and that sometimes it is positive- sometimes not. When I first started this work, I did ALOT of clearing, cleansing, white light invoking etc. I've streamlined my approach a little... I still try to say a little prayer and have a clear intention. And, every so often I do a clearing of my room by burning some sage or incense. Ok, I like my crystals, too. Something changed for me, though, at a demonstration done by a health care professional I see. He was asked how he protected himself while doing his work. He replied that he never liked to think of his patients as "contaminated" and himself as pristine. It struck a chord with me. I think that when we get overprotective and raise ourselves to a "more pure" level than our clients, WE actually can contaminate that field of healing- that place where we meet when we work. I hope I've expressed myself properly... I'm not naive to the reality of an energy transfer-- but, I agree with nolamt...

I believe I won't pick it up..... therefore I don't.

 

[Chili]

He replied that he never liked to think of his patients as "contaminated" and himself as pristine. It struck a chord with me.

Interesting angle. I know I kinda resented fellow teachers feeling the need to clear my class space. We bumped heads over it a little. My main administative complaint being the smells left behind....forcing a belief system on a whole body of students as well. But really.... I was not percieving this terrible energy they were and my classes were always known for being cool and relaxed. It felt like an invasion of privacy and I took it seriously. The turmoil in thier classes was being manifested by them I felt. Cleansing in those circumstances felt to me to be a displacement of responsibility.
To be clearer on my stance though, I believe in what we are calling energy and I do believe we exchange it every day and it can be altered or manipulated by another. I just stress the system can be controlled well by ones belief system too IMHO. Most of us would agree the belief you can heal from cancer helps the immune system to do just that. Or the other side.... a desire to die or a belief one doesn't deserve to live might increase the spread?
Peoples personalities and beliefs play a huge roll in how this body system manisfest for giver and reciever. Performing cleansing or protective rituals works because you believe it does. Nothin wrong with that in my book.

 

[dickatool]

I just reread my post. I didn't mean to say that nolamt was naive to transfer of energy. That's just my bad writing. I meant that as two completely different thoughts... sorry nola

 

[Henry]

Not the way I took it at all. I really liked your comments. It gives me food for thought. You can rest assured I will use that quote in the near future.

I am genuinly trying to discuss energy work in the open. So often Orthopedic workers get the "left brain only" eforum.xxx and energy workers get the "airy fairy" eforum.xxx. Its the same system in my mind. Why we insist on pointing out differences instead of similarities intrigues me. There are some very solid studies out now validating this system. We as a profession just need to learn how to communicate better about it. IMHO YMMV

Oh... and I'm new here and for some reason feel the need to make myself understood. Pontificating on and on to establish my MassagePlanetL personallity. :roll:

 

[canizzy_123]

This really is a great discussion. I think both the "right-brains" and the "left-brains" benefit. The more scientific thinkers can help to demystify this topic a little. And the "righties" can maybe pull people a little further away from religious reliance on empirical data/ evidence-based thinking.

Just to clarify, nola... Are you saying that you believe the reality of- whatever this energy we're talking about- is less a tangible thing and mostly about one's belief system? More internal than external?