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C h e c k o u t A B M P 's l a t e s t n e w s a n d b l o g p o s t s . Av a i l a b l e a t w w w. a b m p . c o m . 105 patients told they would have sexual side effects following a drug treatment were three times more likely to experience these symptoms as those not informed about this reaction. 6 PRETTY WATER As an energy practitioner, I became aware of the two-sided, body-mind connection— placebo and nocebo—when a friend relayed a story. He was a medical doctor who frequently volunteered for Catholic medical mission trips. During one mission, the team ran out of medicine. A few of the nuns on the team grabbed bottled water, colored it, and passed it out as medicine. Nearly all of the villagers who drank the water reported transformative healing. (My friend wasn't informed of their activity until it was actually done.) Later, the real medicine, little white pills, was delivered and dispensed. The villagers insisted that the pills made them feel bad and that they wanted the "pretty water" again. My friend was amazed at the power of perception to harm and heal. My friend's experience intrigued me, and I decided to learn more about the nocebo side of the placebo effect. Over time, I arrived at the following conclusions: • My attitudes toward a client can influence the outcome, which means that my own negativity can potentially create negative results or side effects. • The more faith I hold in a client's progress, the more likely they are to progress. • The above two statements are also true about a client. Their own positivity or negativity can affect them. ENERGY IS SHAREABLE As a subtle energy practitioner, I believe the impact of negative and positive perceptions can be at least partially explained through an understanding of energy. Energy is information that moves. While physical or measurable energy is certainly powerful, it's the subtle energy, the invisible and inaudible stuff of the universe, that steers the physical world. Change the subtle energies—which are directed through beliefs, consciousness, emotion, and mood, among other factors— and you alter physical reality. If subtle energy is anything, it's incredibly shareable. In the snap of a finger, perceptions can fly from us to a client—and vice versa. Our negative impressions can pass from us into a client as easily as our positive valuations. Along the same line, our client's fears can transfer into us, stimulating negative perceptions about their condition. As practitioners, we hold the power to help determine how much negativity versus positivity spreads between us and a client. Of course, we're only human. It's pretty difficult to monitor and control our negative perceptions. Humans think around 60,000 thoughts a day. About 95 percent of these are repeated day after day. Of these, around 80 percent are negative. 7 Of course, this figure only constitutes our measurable thoughts. Who among us could ever count how many subtle thoughts we formulate per day? Bottom line, we must wonder how we can even hope to control our negativity or help a client do the same. The truth is, we can't. Neither do we have to. Another set of studies shed a clue on what we can do to protect our clients from our negative perceptions, stave off the harmful attitudes we might pick up from them, and help them shift their own negativity. These studies were performed by Ted Kaptchuk, MD, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, who relays that it's as important to analyze the nocebo effect as it is to understand the placebo effect. Kaptchuk's work revealed that both placebos and nocebos affect the brain areas that modulate pain reception. Nocebo effects, however, also activate the hippocampus, which is linked with anxiety. Rituals, such as healing rites, as well as overt care, impact the same pathways. In fact, the clients who had the best outcomes during his studies were those who participated in the most empathic interactions with a practitioner. According to Kaptchuk, healing interactions nudge patients toward altering the perceptions of their problems and symptoms. The more empathy, kindness, and overt care provided by the caregiver, the better the client did. In other words, either outcome—placebo or nocebo—can depend on the nature of the engagement between a client and a practitioner. 8 MAXIMIZING THE POWER OF POSITIVITY How can we promote these types of positive interactions, given how much hidden information flows between us and a client? Based on years of research and practical experience, I recommend establishing protocol in the following areas: 1. Carefully Disclose Information Certainly, we must let our clients know if our treatment could produce discomfort or side effects. I've had my fair share of bodywork that has left me tired or even sore. But we can carefully explain any uncomfortable side effects. For instance, how about tying a positive to the pain? If the client is experiencing pain while we work, we can say something like this: "I know that this is uncomfortable, but think of how much better you will feel when we're done." When dealing with anticipatory announcements, such as delayed side effects like soreness or achiness, we might make a statement like this: "It is possible you might feel some aftereffects. I also want you to pay attention to how much better you'll feel."