releasing negative energy and fostering relaxation
through meditation, exercise, yoga, chanting,
dance, breathwork, bodywork, and other tech-
niques. The goal is to develop a healing conscious-
ness through positive energy.
neural therapy The injection of anesthetics into a
site of the autonomic nervous system (which regu-
lates breathing, heartbeat, digestion, and all body
processes), acupuncture points (acupoints), scars,
glands, and other bodily tissues in order to unblock
energy flow, restore dysfunctional neural balance,
increase the flow of lymphatic fluids, detoxify tis-
sues, and reverse the cumulative effects of trauma.
Particularly popular in Europe, including its native
Germany, neural therapy is reported to be benefi-
cial to individuals who have asthma, allergies,
arthritis, kidney disease, gallbladder disease,
headaches, depression, chronic pain, emphysema,
hormonal imbalance, glaucoma, liver disease,
prostate disease, thyroid disorders, muscle and
sports injuries, multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue
syndrome, and other ailments.
Neural therapy was developed in 1952 by two
German physicians, Ferdinand Huneke and Walter
Huneke, who based their successful treatment of
their patients on the idea they called Sterfelder,
meaning “fields of interference.” The procedure
corresponds with the concept of the “ground sys-
tem,” a theory that states that disturbances in the
connective tissues between cells are the cause of
disease. In the United States, Dietrich Klinghardt,
M.D., Ph.D., has established the American Acad-
emy of Neural Therapy, which offers training to
aspiring neural therapy practitioners. Neural ther-
apy is also applicable to dentistry. More informa-
tion is available at http://www.neuraltherapy.com.
neurolinguistics A system of studying certain
functions of the brain in order to promote physical
and emotional healing effects. Neuro-Linguistic Pro-
gramming (NLP) was developed in 1975 and pro-
vides a powerful technology for creating healthier
interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships. NLP
helps one aim to nonjudgmentally identify the ways
in which he or she has been “programmed” to think,
act, and feel. It is designed as a tool forlearning how
to release unwanted limiting habits and beliefs.
The study of this science began with the model-
ing of experts in the field of interpersonal and
intrapersonal communication and change includ-
ing Virginia Satir, a renowned family therapist,
Fritz Perls, the developer of Gestalt therapy, and
Milton Erickson, developer of Ericksonian hypno-
sis. Ericksonian hypnosis helps individuals develop
deep trance states used for relaxation and stress-
reduction, problem-solving, and accessing the
inner resources necessary for coping with life’s
ongoing challenges. Milton Erickson’s hypnotic
language patterns can be used in everyday com-
munication as well as in formal trance inductions.
NLP includes many of these hypnotic language pat-
terns and underlying presuppositions of
Erickson’s work, although it is in itself a distinct
field of study. The two fields are complementary,
working with both the conscious and the uncon-
scious mind. More information is available at
http://www.nlptraining.com.
Neurolinguistic programming may also help
treat learning disabilities. According to an article
by Lise Menn, of the University of Colorado:
“Where in your brain is a word that you’ve
learned? If you know two languages, are they
stored in two different parts of your brain? Is the
left side of your brain really the language side? If
you lose the ability to talk because of a stroke, can
you learn to talk again? Do people who read lan-
guages written from left to right (like English)
think differently from people who read languages
written from right to left (like Hebrew and Ara-
bic)? What about if you read a language that is
written using some other kind of symbols, like
Chinese or Japanese? If you’re dyslexic, is your
brain different from the brain of someone who has
no trouble reading?
“All of these questions and more are what neu-
rolinguistics is about. Techniques like Functional
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI) and event-
related potential (ERP) are used to study language
in the brain, and they are constantly being
improved. We can see finer and finer details of the
brain’s constantly changing blood flow—where the
blood flows fastest, the brain is most active. We can
see more and more accurate traces of our electrical
brain waves and understand more about how they
reflect our responses to statements that are true or102 neural therapy