Polarity
Therapy with Rick Barrett
80 East 11th St. Room
401
Greenwich Village, NYC
(212) 979-2460
(The following is excerpted from
the American Polarity Therapy Association website.)
Polarity Therapy is a comprehensive
health system involving energy-based bodywork, diet,
exercise and self-awareness. It works with the Human
Energy Field, electromagnetic patterns expressed in
mental, emotional and physical experience. In Polarity
Therapy, health is viewed as a reflection of the conditiion
of the energy field, and therapeutic methods are designed
to balance the field for health benefit.
Polarity Therapy was developed by Randolph Stone, DO,
DC, ND (1890-1981), who conducted a thorough investigation
of energy in the healing arts over the course of
his 60 year medical career. Drawing information from
a wide range of sources, he found that the Human
Energy Field is affected by touch, diet, movement,
sound, attitudes, relationships, life experience,
trauma and environmental factors. Since Polarity
Therapy lends an energy-based perspective to all
these subjects, the scope of Polarity practice is
often very broad, with implications for health professionals
in many therapeutic disciplines. As a result, Polarity
has strong, mutually supportive connections to many
other holistic health systems.
Basic characteristics of the Human
Energy Field are described in many sources, both ancient
and modern. For example, the term "Polarity" refers
to the universal pulsation of expansion/contraction
or repulsion/attraction known as Yang and Yin in Oriental
therapies. Similarly, Polarity integrates the "Three
Principles and Five Chakras" of Aryuvedic tradition,
and has been called the modern manifestation of ancient
Hermetic Philosophy. At the same time Polarity Therapy
also enjoys rich ties to modern science, which has
confirmed its essential theme of energetic relationship
as the basis of all phenomena.
The Application of Polarity
Therapy
In the Polarity model, health is experienced when energy
systems function in their natural state; energy flows
smoothly without significant blockage or fixation.
When energy is unbalanced, blocked or fixed due to
stress or other factors, pain and disease arise.
Blockages generally manifest in sequence from the
subtle to the dense levels of the field. Polarity
Therapy seeks to find the blockages and release energy
to normal flow patterns, and to maintain the Energy
Field in an open, flexible condition.
In a typical Polarity Therapy
session, the practitioner assesses energetic attributes
using palpation, observation and interview methods.
Sessions usually take 60-90 minutes, do not require
disrobing, and involve both touch and verbal interaction.
Touch contact may be light, medium or firm. In the
session, the practitioner supports the client in increasing
self-awareness of subtle energetic sensations, which
are often experienced as tingling, warmth, expansion
or wavelike movement. The results of Polarity Therapy
sessions vary, and may include profound relaxation,
new insight into energetic patterns and their implications,
and relief from numerous specific problematic situations.
In the healing arts, Polarity
Therapy is special in its comprehensive exploration
of multiple dimensions of the human condition, and
in its effective bridging of the full spectrum of experience,
including body, mind and spirit. Applying the Polarity
Therapy system can take diverse forms, always based
on the underlying intention to support the client's
inherent self-healing intelligence as expressed in
its energetic patterns.
The History of Polarity
Therapy
Randolph Stone published his first work in 1947, and
by 1954 had completed the seven books which contain
his published findings. In his medical practice in
Chicago, he applied the energy approach in a wide
range of conditions and experienced remarkable success
with patients. He began to teach in the 1960's and
finally retired in 1974, at the age of 84.
Following his retirement, many
of Stone's students continued to research and apply
his teachings. By 1984, a core group of advanced practitioners
gathered to launch a national organization, the American
Polarity Therapy Association, to support the continuation
and expansion of the work. The annual conference of
the new association immediately became a key forum
for the exchange and dissemination of new understanding,
a role which continues today greater than ever.
In 1989, APTA published the Polarity
Therapy Standards for Practice, creating a consensus
statement of the scope and content of Polarity Therapy,
and setting the foundation for the registration of
practitioners and Approved Trainings. Shortly thereafter,
APTA also produced its Code of Ethics (pdf) and created
administrative functions to support the growth of Polarity
Therapy. In 2003, APTA published the Standards for
Practice and Education (pdf), 4th edition, which establish
the minimum requirements for Approved Trainings relevant
to Program Administration.
Polarity Therapy today enjoys
a steadily increasing usage worldwide. The concept
of energy in the healing arts has been validated repeatedly,
numerous books and new resources have made study easier
and more efficient, and the practice of Polarity Therapy
has become ever more diverse and sophisticated.
Copyright © 2003, American
Polarity Therapy Association
hq@polaritytherapy.org
Below are links to
interesting articles on Polarity Therapy.
Select articles by clicking the appropriate icons
for file type. |
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What Just Happened?
(A session with Rick Barrett, RPP) |
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Polarity Therapy
and Chronic Disorders
James L. Oschman, Ph.D. - Nature’s Own Research
Association
Dover, NH, USA |
