Coming Out of the Energy Closet - An Interview with Silvia Hartmann

Silvia Hartmann is a name associated with many exciting and innovative techniques and therapies, from EFT to EMO, from Project Sanctuary to Events Psychology, but can you tell us how you first got involved in Energy Therapies and Healing?

I was an animal behaviour specialist back in the 1980s and a part of a research team investigating high end behaviour problems and their causes. We made progress with research into nutritional factors influencing behaviour, but there was something missing, something didn't quite add up. One day, I had a revelation - the missing X factor had to be something invisible that is massively important to the behaviour and functioning of social mammals. The missing X factor were actual energy exchanges between social mammals and that includes people. I tested my assumptions and published my research paper on the topic, The Harmony Program.

At the 2011 EFT & Energy Psychology Conference you will be presenting the keynote presentation The Third Field, as well as the introduction presentation on World Energy Awareness. Could you tell us a little more about these presentations?

Yes, gladly. When I published the Harmony Program in 1993, energy work was just not on the agenda and it was deemed to be highly unscientific. Luckily, in 1996 EFT came along and brought many more people into the energy paradigm, and now, 20 years later, it is about time that we come out of that energy closet and say to the world, “Energy is real. It really is the missing X factor in all these human problems that can't be solved without taking energy in consideration.

It's time for the Third Field in the Mind, Body, Spirit triad to make a stand and declare its presence.

Just with EFT alone, there is a tool that can stop children from crying, adults from beating up on their spouses, and old people from sinking into hopelessness and depression.

This is proven beyond a reasonable doubt through the personal experience of hundreds of thousands of people and can no longer be ignored.

The energy practitioners themselves are often afraid to come out of the energy closet because they fear they will be laughed at, dismissed, and burned at the stake of scientific respectability.

Every field has to start somewhere. There was a time before modern medicine, and a time before modern psychology. Our Third Field starts right here and now, with us, and it is of the essence that we make our presence known and what we have to offer, if we want a different future for humanity than what has gone on before.

EMO, a therapy developed by yourself and practised across the world, recently became a part of The GoE family, but for those who don't know, what is EMO?

EMO is the most advanced energy modality available in the world today. It is pure, logical, structural energy work which is also a superb tool for Third Field reserach. Energy work is inherently different from physiology and psychology; it has its own methodology, its own instruments, its own codes of conduct and practice. EMO helps people understand energy in a new way and thus opens up new avenues for research and the practice of modern energy work.

What are the benefits GoE Practitioners can expect from using EMO?

First of all, personal mastery over energy states. That's the core of EMO, to be able to walk the talk as far as energy is concerned. Secondly, EMO brings together energy work across the board. EMO can support the practice of EFT, Reiki, Qui Gong, and all real energy modalities and bring them up to a whole new level.

You are hosting the brand new GoE certified EFT Master Practitioner Training and the EFT Master Trainer Training before and after the Conference this year. What can attendees expect to learn from these courses, and what makes them unique?

When EFT first came on the scene, it was thought of as some kind of psychology tool, probably because it originated with a psychologist in the first place.

EFT is not psychology, it's an energy modality. Once you know that, you can set EFT free to work with more focus, more power, with less confusion and importantly, with Heart & Soul, the hallmarks of real energy work and something that is not found in the other two fields.

Over the last 15 years, we have learned a lot about working with EFT to unblock and recharge the energy system, and these new advances are brought together for the first time under the energy paradigm in this new training.

Where would you like to see yourself in 6 months and 5 years time?

For both, I'd like to be engaged in some form of exciting exploration, pushing forward the boundaries of human knowledge and understanding of how we work, and how we can all have more fun and a whole lot less misery in our lifetime on beautiful Planet Earth.

Is there anyone in the Energy Therapies field or wider world that has greatly influenced you and the work you do?

Of course, I like to think that I'm not influenced by anything other than my work and my research. However, many people have inspired me over the years and I'm very grateful for their contributions.

These obviously include Dr Callaghan and Gary Craig, who have done a wonderful job in bringing an energy approach to the world which has caught the imagination of so many; something that I have supported wholeheartedly and to the best of my ability ever since I first came across EFT.

What has been most useful and inspiring on many levels was and is NLP Neurolinguistic Programming by Dr Richard Bandler and John Grinder; I would also include Count Alfred Korzybski and Virginia Satir, the latter being a particular inspiration for practical energy work which I re-modeled in 1995. I'd also like to mention Charles Faulkner and David Grove in the context of metaphor energy work which really is my home town and my “thing” above all else. Energy mind studies, as we call them now, the creative genius part of each one of us which is more fun than you ever thought you could have with your clothes on.

My final inspiration is Krishnamurti, who expresses my personal opinion in his quote, “The truth is a pathless land.” Bringing back my research to true, personal experience of actual living human beings, time and time again, and finding the common denominators to help discover the structure of how people really work has been the guiding light throughout all my work and I can't ever see that changing any time soon.

And finally, when you come home from a busy day how do you like to unwind? Are there any particular relaxation techniques you love?

I am never happier than when I get to play with my energy mind. Writing music, creative writing, art solutions, Project Sanctuary games - that's the fun part of reserach, that's where the original ideas come from, the awesome experiences in the world that is so much more than just a collection of random, mechanical atoms.

A big thank you to Silvia for taking the time to answer our questions!

More information:

• Find out more about the next annual EFT & Energy Psychology Conference
• See video of Silvia Hartmann delivering keynote presentation at AMT2011 conference