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IAAP Newsletter: The Unified Field

A Newcomer’s Experience

We all seem to find Attunement in our own ways. In my case, Attunement found me. Shortly after I returned from giving a presentation on the healing power of music at the University of Arkansas Medical Center, Andrew Shier sent me a short note and a flyer regarding the 2007 Attunement Practitioners Gathering in Portsmouth, NH. He wrote that a friend of his, who had been at my presentation, had told him that I was in New Hampshire using sound, therapeutically, and that he thought I might be interested in Attunement. Taking this as one of those coincidences that are too odd to miss, I attended the conference and felt as if I'd come home. I no longer felt the need to explain myself or justify the work I was doing. I was in a group that "got it" when it came to resonance, vibration, transformation, and health.

When the opportunity to participate in the South Portland class came around, I was in a time and money crunch and doubted I could participate. Attunement reminded me that I'd been "found," and a grant from IAAP and some creative scheduling made it possible for me to be there. I felt as if I'd found my "tribe" when I came to the first class and was delighted to find several of the people from the Portsmouth Gathering in the group. Over the course of the five months, my relationships with them grew firmer as we worked together, sharing Attunements and experiences. The fifth class session brought the training to a close with some sadness for me over the thought of disbanding.

I'm a licensed clinical mental health counselor, well-trained in traditional theories and techniques. Shortly after beginning the South Portland training, I had the sudden insight that Attunement needed to be an integral part of my work as a therapist. I had been lurking in the shadows with unconventional techniques, feeling unsure of myself and afraid of declaring my work as more comprehensive than an "ordinary" practice. I already used music for healing, but surreptitiously, afraid of being found out and hauled up as a witch or fraud.

Around the same time, I happened to need a resupply of promotional materials. I used this conjunction as an opportunity to come fully out of the closet as a provider of "integral psychotherapy" in which I blend the best of tradition and what works to facilitate mental health from the field of complementary medicine, including Attunement, vibroacoustic and harp therapy, and flower essences. My colleagues in rural north-central New Hampshire thought this move a dangerous one. Who would appreciate my approach in an old, blue-collar, conservative mill town? The answer came, as many more people than ever before responded to my ad. "You say a lot between the lines," one of them said, "and I want more than just the lines."

I am now using Attunement in my work with clients on a regular basis. I consider it another tool in my tool box, a modality for accessing information and for healing psychemotional and spiritual "dis-ease." Using Attunement with conventional "talk therapy" facilitates the opening up, clearing out, and reweaving of therapy. One of my clients suffers from chronic pain and has become both physically dependent and psychologically addicted to opioids. Attunement has helped ease her physical pain, but it has also relieved some of the drug craving that is unrelated to pain. She tells me that she feels more comfortable with herself. She says she is more able to cope with stress, and to defer her next dose to a later time. Another client suffers from anxiety. Attunement with his heart, lungs, and adrenals has enabled him to breathe more easily, to "catch the attack," and to calm himself down when he feels anxiety approaching. We could have spent hours talking through his anxiety and implementing a repertoire of cognitive-behavioral strategies; but, in only three sessions, Attunement helped him accomplish what, I believe, would have taken at least six to accomplish without it.

I'm very happy that Attunement found me and that I said “yes.” The training and practice of Attunement has changed my worldview, my lifestyle, my work, and me in important ways. The most remarkable experience has been the sense of lightness and joy that I felt keenly and erratically at first, and feel more subtly and steadily now. As Attunement teaches, “What doesn't fit falls away.”

— AB