This thesis is an exploration of the phenomenon of energy healing told from the inner world of a healer. Briefly, this complementary and alternate medicine (CAM) modality involves the manipulation of subtle energy fields to affect health, something that I have known for over 15 years. Because energy healing is experienced differently by different people I chose to use autoethnography to capture and share my own personal understanding of this phenomenon. This methodology allowed me to delve into my intimate stories and experiences and through the writing process, I learnt more about energy healing than I had initially expected. In finding my personal voice and investigating the silence that has accompanied my relationship with this much maligned healing practice, I was able to explore the stories that had remained in the shadows: tales that had been influencing my relationship with this phenomenon for many years. This thesis also includes conversations that I had with my teachers and fellow healers. As I reflected on our discussions, I followed themes that appeared when we spoke and I discovered not only a deeper personal understanding of the phenomenon of energy healing, but a new profound awareness of myself. In the final presentation of this thesis, I have shared my discoveries as stories and anecdotes and I have surrounded these tales with my artwork. It is my hope that the colour and movement of my paint brush will help translate the emotions and sensations that I have known in places where words have trouble traversing. The experiential sense of knowing that speaks from my intimate perspective of this alternate healing modality comes from a private journey that is imbued with awe and wonder, stumbling and doubt, and an inspiring sense of connection - a perspective that is absent in the academic literature on energy healing. In sharing this inner world with my readers, I hope that my writing and my artwork have captured a small fragment of the elusive and esoteric nature of this phenomenon, something that for me exists in a place where there are no words.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Psychology at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2014 / This study involved an evaluation of an energy healing programme using participatory action research. The main research question related to the effectiveness of an energy healing programme in a group of psoriasis sufferers. The other research questions examined the participants‘ lived experiences of the programme; the extent to which awareness and intention to heal, as forms of energy, raised levels of consciousness and finally the extent to which new awareness led to corresponding bodily changes related to psoriasis. The study was based on the experiences of three participants living with psoriasis who participated in a five week energy healing programme. The sample was based on individuals living with psoriasis and with a shared interest in energy healing. Participants ranged between the ages of 24 and 54.Thegroup comprised one male and two females from a Hindu background, living in the greater Durban area. The programme involved the practice of various energy healing modalities that included the different forms of meditation, pranayama and yoga. The programme required weekly attendance at experiential group session with a duration of 90 minutes. An integrated methodological approach was used to capture the essence of energy healing through four ways of being and knowing. These included interior, exterior, individual and collective perspectives. A positivist research approach provided objective findings of heart rhythm coherence and quality of life measures on effectiveness of the energy healing programme. These findings showed a corresponding relationship with subjective data based on personal experiences of energy healing. First person perspectives included themes of self-discovery, self-acceptance, detached observing and improved relationships as it relates to higher states in consciousness. This study should be replicated on a larger scale using more controlled research methods to validate the use of energy healing as an adjunct treatment for people living with psoriasis.

Healing from conflict allows us to bring the best we can be to each relationship and situation, however current healing techniques focus on the involvement of other people. A self-healing road map could be beneficial. The goal of this research was to examine Locate, Describe and Transform (LDT™) and its potential to provide just such a guide. This qualitative case study examined a single, self-applied LDT™ energy session in order to explore what might be revealed about its underlying conflict healing theoretical framework. Using Moustakas’ heuristic methodology, the LDT™ process was formulated and linked to research in embodiment, metaphor, and energy healing. The concept of universal energy was then compared to four conflict theories of connection, including Maslow’s Self-Actualization, Redekop’s Mimetic Structures of Blessing, LeBaron’s Connected Ways of Knowing, and Gopin’s Eight Steps. LDT™ was found to be theoretically grounded and worthy of further exploration.