Psych-k - Has Anyone Tried It?

[barefoot]

Wondering whether anyone has any experiences with Psych-K? Either in relation to trauma/PTSD but also in any more general ways e.g. working with self-limiting beliefs?

A Psych-K practitioner has asked if I want to partner up work-wise on some training/workshop stuff.
I will probably take her up on her offer of a session so I can receive it for myself and understand more of what it's about. But my gut is telling me it's a load of nonsense and to steer clear! It seems to offer a very quick fix to changing subconscious beliefs and I feel very dubious about that.

So, just curious to see whether anyone here has any experiences, positive or negative?

 

[Neverthesame]

After looking into it a bit just now. Yeah....nope. Sounds like total bollocks.

From what I could find, you are supposed to purchase a book, which apparently is just spouting a bunch or pseudoscience, while bashing modern science.

The book does not have any actual information about this Psych-K, what it is or how it works.
To get this information, you will need to enroll in a class which costs around $350.

The K stands for Kinesiology.

Looks like snake oil to me.

 

[Friday]

What @Neverthesame & your gut said.

 

[barefoot]

Ha! Ok, thanks....I didn't know if I was being a closed minded cynic, so thanks for confirming that it sounds like a crock of shit!

Now I just need to confirm that I don't want to partner up... it's awkward because we're both members of the same business networking group and part of that is about supporting each other and trying to refer business to each other. But I just don't think anything about it seems credible - even though she claims that it helped her massively. Perhaps I'll just tell her a vague "not for me right now..." Which feels wimpy. But I think it will be so awkward if I tell her I don't believe in it.

Thanks!

 

[Friday]

Here's my other piece, though...

The wisdom of the ages is free in a library. (And tens -hundreds? they keep adding more, everything written over 70 years ago- of thousands of titles downloadable for free at project Gutenberg).

The 11 principles of nature? I suspect there are rather more, but those 11 either resonated with this bloke, or are especially salable. Shrug. Open your front door. There? Nature. Go outside and learn them yourself. Or if the weather is filthy, National Geographic Society is amaaaaazing.

So you could take that $350 and devote it to your personal studies; field trips, explorations, late book fees, several pots of coffee or hot chocolate, etc. & use the power of your own mind to seek out all that is amazing and transformative and awe inspiring... Or you could give it to some bloke to spoon feed you what he thinks you should learn. I like spoon feeding & directed learning, sometimes. It definitely has it's place. But I think I'll take mine from the published courses available for free online (course syllabi including papers, projects, lecture slides, & notes) from Oxford, Cambridge, Stanford, & other top shelf universities... And from the infinite living experts in their respective fields. Whether Neil DeGrasse Tyson or The Lourve.

 

[barefoot]

Yes, I agree with you re Nature and that being available to all of us for free, @Friday.

This person I know has taken the course so is now trained to work as a psych-k practitioner. Clients typically see her for 3 or 4 sessions to work on an area they are stuck on - where their self-limiting beliefs get in their way. Having identified the self-limiting belief, they then work on "installing" a more helpful belief at subconscious level using kinesiology and a few other tools. And after 3 sessions, most clients are "fixed".

I just don't buy it. Sounds way too simple, too pseudo-sciences, too salesy and too good to be true.

 

[joeylittle]

This person I know has taken the course so is now trained to work as a psych-k practitioner.

Pyramid scheme. Run, run like the wind...

 

[Seasounds]

I have not had a Psych-K treatment. Reading about it does remind me of some alternative, holistic, non-force chiropractic styles. For me, these chiropractic treatments that used kinesiology and muscle testing where surprising accurate at identifying and temporarily clearing 'superficial thought and ruminating emotional ruts, AND

they did NOT 'do the internal work'-that each individual must do, for transformation of PTSD. And they did NOT support emotional release or processing; they saw emotional expressions as being 'out of balance'. The treatments were a bandaid at best; at worst it implied that 'if you just tried harder-to think good thought,' you could be free of PTSD.

What did it do for me? It showed me how the negative thoughts I think, do have a weakening effect on my mind and body. I can identify those and change them with CBT exercises.

I agree with everyone above; it doesn't sound good to me.

 

[barefoot]

Pyramid scheme. Run, run like the wind...

No, it's not a pyramid scheme. She has got trained up in how to use Psych-K and now uses it working with individual clients. It's the same as how someone could set themselves up as a coach, counsellor, holistic therapist etc. It's just that I don't believe in the whole premise of the effectiveness of Psych-K.

And the workshop she was proposing we do together wasn't about Psych-K specifically - but she wanted each delegate to then have some follow up Psych-K sessions with her as part of the course offering. So, while I'm confident that we could come up with a good workshop together, if I don't feel that Psych-K is credible, I don't feel comfortable being part of a training offering that includes it as a component.

 

[barefoot]

these chiropractic treatments that used kinesiology and muscle testing where surprising accurate at identifying and temporarily clearing 'superficial thought and ruminating emotional ruts,

That's really interesting and part of why I was curious to ask about people's experiences here. Kinesiology and muscle testing sounds totally bizarre to me and I can't even begin to imagine how it could "work" - but I do know a couple of people who have had good/accurate experiences with it.

She doesn't specifically work with trauma or PTSD - but that is also a red flag on my radar...that although she doesn't market herself as working with trauma, that doesn't mean her clients don't have trauma in their backgrounds and I worry a bit about what that would mean for them doing this work with her - three sessions and we can fix your thinking and reinstall your unhelpful subconscious beliefs. Even if they don't have trauma, I think the psyche/our subconscious is rather more complex than that!

Anyway...yes...I think I now know where I am with this. I just need to work out how to tell her I'm not interested!

 

[Seasounds]

Here is a link from Dr. Weil that may be helpful, to describe the applied kinesiology 'paradigm'. it can be useful for some things; it didn't help my PTSD (as I described above).

http://www.drweil.com/health-wellness/balanced-living/wellness-therapies/applied-kinesiology/

 

[Seasounds]

...how to tell her I'm not interested!

I support your clarity and instinct, and to care more about you, more than her.

Today I dealt with a similar issue. As in my situation, there were feelings and even future possibilities of running into the person, involved, So, I 'made it about me' (through my tone of voice), stating my response: "Thank you, I'm not interested." Knowing I don't owe anyone an explanation, I did not elaborate. If they feel hurt or dismissed that is their business, not mine.

Gut instincts are great! Articulating them is a creative act. Good luck!