PSYCH-K: King of the Subconscious

From a story I wrote for The Driftwood

“Ever wonder,” says Johane Sinclaire, a registered massage therapist for 17 years, “why affirmations don’t really work; why you find yourself standing in front of the mirror repeating, ‘I am wealthy’ only to hear a little voice in your head saying, ‘Ya, right. Take a look around!’” At a time when collective human insight is at an all-time high, why is the gap between most individuals’ insight and their experience still so great?


Robert M. Williams, M.A., an American counsellor who developed a technique in 1988/89 called PSYCH-K® (pronounced sigh-kay) explains in his book, The Missing Piece Peace in Your Life!, that affirmations and talk therapy target our conscious mind while self-limiting beliefs and self-sabotaging behaviours are rooted in the subconscious. In an eight-part YouTube video, Williams explains the techniques of PSYCH-K where the “K” refers to kinesiology or muscle movement used for some time in chiropractic and nutritional practices but rarely as a psychological tool to access the subconscious as is done in PSYCH-K.

Sinclaire, a resident on Salt Spring for the past 8 years, complements her massage therapy practice by offering PSYCH-K treatments. She heard about PSYCH-K from a colleague and enrolled first in the two-day basic workshop followed by a four-day advanced course.

“Hold your arm up, look straight ahead, and chin aligned,” she says to me as she demonstrates the muscle testing. “Cast your eyes downward, keep them open. It’s easier to emotionally engage to your subconscious that way.” My right eyebrow rises ever so slightly. “Repeat after me,” she says. “My name is Gayle.” She muscle tests. My arm remains strong. Now say, “My name is Johane.” She muscle tests that statement and, because it is not true, my arm cannot resist the pressure she puts on it. The autonomic nervous system will always deliver a weak response to conflicting information. The statement is not true and my subconscious knows it. With this pre-test behind us, Sinclaire has a baseline to move on to “balances.” Typically, in the first session she’ll balance for 13 core beliefs using paired priority statements which will quickly pinpoint what isn’t true for you. The priority statements are affirmations, i.e., “I am free to be healthy and happy,” and can relate to anything you choose.

You might think you love yourself. Only your subconscious knows for sure. The muscle responses – weak or strong - act as a biofeedback communications loop. Acquiring permission from the super conscious (higher self) is important. “Is it safe and appropriate to balance for this goal at this time?” She muscle tests. “Is every part of the system ready, willing and able to balance for this goal now?” Sinclaire likens herself to a detective, the process as one of unravelling personal mysteries. Activating a whole-brain state – left and right hemispheres – is another key part of the process.

The PSYCH-K website lists the technique as appropriate for self-esteem issues, relationships, personal power, grief and loss, health and body, spirituality and phobias. For many of us, the most challenging aspect of the technique involves its ability to work on issues even if the subject(s) are physically remote (by using a surrogate). It can also be used with animals. Understanding these claims, not rejecting them outright, requires some non judgemental curiosity about how altering our beliefs at a subconscious level can quickly altar a relationship or resolve a phobia, especially where there is agreement from the subconscious of two or more parties to do so, and where a purity of intention, not manipulation, is at the core. Sinclaire says that it’s not necessary to believe in the techniques on a conscious level for them to work. “It doesn’t matter whether the negative beliefs have been part of your repertoire for 30 years or 30 minutes,” she says because the subconscious is literal and operates in the present. Outcomes, however, exist only in the form of anecdotal testimonials, not backed by any empirical research studies.

Salt Spring resident Laura Moore, a self-described cynic, tried Psych-K for a disturbing family problem. Her grandson had been mistreating the family dog with the dog attacking the 8-year-old on more than one occasion. As a result, the dog was relocated to the grandparents’ home on Salt Spring. When the boy visited, it wasn’t safe for the two to be together. Sinclair stepped in as “surrogate” (practising the techniques at a distance). Within a short time the dog and the boy had no further problems. Moore has also used Sinclaire as a surrogate related to anxiety issues and her son, who has experienced long-standing depression, has noticed a shift in his life since the treatment.

Certified PSYCH-K instructor Darryl Gurney in Victoria refers to a “paradigm shift” that has been building momentum ever since the release of the book, The Secret, with its premise that “your thoughts determine your destiny”.

“We’re brought up to think of ourselves as separate from each other, not as part of a whole,” says Gurney who also reminds us that a lot of things (radio waves) reside outside our perceptual range. He refers to cell biologist Bruce Lipton, Ph.D., and author of Biology of Belief. In his research, Lipton discovered, says Gurney, that one receptor site on our cells was different. He called that site the self receptor. “We exist within a field of energy and we each have a unique energy signature.” He refers to the super-conscious – our wise and higher self. We’re at a time in history that ancient civilisations - Mayans and Hopis – prophesied. “People hear 2012 and think death and destruction when in fact it’s about renewal,” says Gurney. “We’re moving from a place in which the underlying assumptions are fear-based and born from the illusion of separation into one that is Love-based and connected.”

“Thoughts create reality.” If you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.” Such beliefs have made a long line of well-known alternative healers famous. Louise Hay, Dr. Andrew Weil, Deepak Chopra to name just a few. Dr. Bernie Siegel’s 1986 book, Love Medicine and Miracles reinforces the strength of the mind-body connection as does The Placebo Effect’s power of suggestion. There’s the researched efficacy of the healing power of prayer and alternative insights that have cost some their profession in mainstream medicine. Dr. Ryke Geerd Hamer and his “German New Medicine” come to mind. Hamer believes all disease arises from a traumatic and unexpected shock that affects the psyche which corresponds to a part of the brain that connects biologically to the specific trauma.

Even our recent cultural references indicate a shift represented most exaggeratedly in the popularity of the 2004 movie, “What the BLEEP Do we Know!?” which, to much controversy and the chagrin of scientists such as Richard Dawkins, equates the principles of Quantum Physics, (greatly simplified) to the power of human belief/perception upon physical reality.

As we look ahead to 2012 wondering what the end of the Mayan Calendar really means for collective human consciousness Sinclaire has some good advice based on her experiences with PSYCH-K. “Just be curious”.

E-mail Johane Sinclaire at: johanesinclaire@gmail.com

Psych-K workshops are held internationally with one scheduled for Victoria, February 13-14. Visit the website: http://www.psych-k.com/