Figure Out
Forward
Tapping, a practice derived from traditional Chinese medicine, holds that energy travels through the body in certain lines or meridians. Blockages of this internal energy at certain points causes distress, and tapping on these points while talking through what’s bothering you can release negative energy trapped along key meridians; then, if you reframe as you tap, you rewrite the story you tell yourself, replacing self-sabotage with self-acceptance and confidence.
Tapping
RELEASE THEN REPLACE
More Than Words
TRULY THERAPEUTIC
Tapping is unique because it can help release the negative energy (held in the body as tension) connected to negatively formative experiences. In that way, tapping differs from traditional talk therapy, which can be retraumatizing as simply repeating the events can lead to reliving the associated feelings. Instead, with tapping, you literally tap on points on your head, face and torso in sequence while repeating a script of statements I craft in which you first acknowledge and then lean into the thoughts and feelings you may have been trying to avoid. While these thoughts and feelings are often distressing and painful, voicing them is necessary to release the negative energy those thoughts and feelings carry (“feel it to heal it”). The script then pivots to reframing and reaffirming you, replacing the negative thoughts and feelings with positive and hopeful ones.
Hacking Reality
A FASTER WAY TO UNDO
As part of tapping, you may choose to engage in Hacking Reality, a practice developed by Rob Nelson. Hacking Reality involves tapping on a younger self who is in distress. I use the present tense deliberately as Hacking Reality requires accepting the propositions that all things are happening at once, that what you perceive as past experiences are still present experiences happening to your younger self, that your younger self has an effect on the present you and that by tapping on your younger self, you can have an effect on your younger self--and therefore your present self--for the better. By engaging with your younger self, you can undo untrue and unhelpful beliefs, leaving that younger self (and you now) in a better place.
Figure Out Forward is, at its core, a coaching practice. To be clear, interventions such as tapping and Hacking Reality are considered psychotherapy by the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine, and the International Coaching Federation does not endorse (though does not prohibit) coaches also treating people in psychotherapy. The client determines whether to engage in conventional leadership coaching alone or to combine it with the afore-referenced psychotherapeutic interventions (something I have termed enhanced coaching).
Enhanced coaching clients should consider me a therapist. In our work together, I will carry all the responsibilities of a therapist. I am required to take specific action (including sending someone to an emergency department against their will) if I think someone is a danger to themselves or others or is unable to provide for their own protection in the community. I am also mandated to report suspected child or elder abuse. As a therapist licensed only in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, currently I can only work as a therapist with people physically present in Massachusetts.