 Polarity Therapy is a comprehensive health system involving energy-based bodywork, diet, exercise and self-awareness. It works with the Human Energy Field, electromagnetic patterns expressed in mental, emotional and physical experience. In Polarity Therapy, health is viewed as a reflection of the conditiion of the energy field, and therapeutic methods are designed to balance the field for health benefit.
Polarity Therapy was developed by Randolph Stone, DO, DC, ND (1890-1981), who conducted a thorough investigation of energy in the healing arts over the course of his 60 year medical career. Drawing information from a wide range of sources, he found that the Human Energy Field is affected by touch, diet, movement, sound, attitudes, relationships, life experience, trauma and environmental factors. Since Polarity Therapy lends an energy-based perspective to all these subjects, the scope of Polarity practice is often very broad, with implications for health professionals in many therapeutic disciplines. As a result, Polarity has strong, mutually supportive connections to many other holistic health systems.
Basic characteristics of the Human Energy Field are described in many sources, both ancient and modern. For example, the term "Polarity" refers to the universal pulsation of expansion/contraction or repulsion/attraction known as Yang and Yin in Oriental therapies. Similarly, Polarity integrates the "Three Principles and Five Chakras" of Aryuvedic tradition, and has been called the modern manifestation of ancient Hermetic Philosophy. At the same time Polarity Therapy also enjoys rich ties to modern science, which has confirmed its essential theme of energetic relationship as the basis of all phenomena.
The Application of Polarity Therapy
In the Polarity model, health is experienced when energy systems function in their natural state; energy flows smoothly without significant blockage or fixation. When energy is unbalanced, blocked or fixed due to stress or other factors, pain and disease arise. Blockages generally manifest in sequence from the subtle to the dense levels of the field. Polarity Therapy seeks to find the blockages and release energy to normal flow patterns, and to maintain the Energy Field in an open, flexible condition.
In a typical Polarity Therapy session, the practitioner assesses energetic attributes using palpation, observation and interview methods. Sessions usually take 60-90 minutes, do not require disrobing, and involve both touch and verbal interaction. Touch contact may be light, medium or firm. In the session, the practitioner supports the client in increasing self-awareness of subtle energetic sensations, which are often experienced as tingling, warmth, expansion or wavelike movement. The results of Polarity Therapy sessions vary, and may include profound relaxation, new insight into energetic patterns and their implications, and relief from numerous specific problematic situations.
In the healing arts, Polarity Therapy is special in its comprehensive exploration of multiple dimensions of the human condition, and in its effective bridging of the full spectrum of experience, including body, mind and spirit. Applying the Polarity Therapy system can take diverse forms, always based on the underlying intention to support the client's inherent self-healing intelligence as expressed in its energetic patterns.
The History of Polarity Therapy
Randolph Stone published his first work in 1947, and by 1954 had completed the seven books which contain his published findings. In his medical practice in Chicago, he applied the energy approach in a wide range of conditions and experienced remarkable success with patients. He began to teach in the 1960's and finally retired in 1974, at the age of 84.
Following his retirement, many of Stone's students continued to research and apply his teachings. By 1984, a core group of advanced practitioners gathered to launch a national organization, the American Polarity Therapy Association, to support the continuation and expansion of the work. The annual conference of the new association immediately became a key forum for the exchange and dissemination of new understanding, a role which continues today greater than ever.
In 1989, APTA published the Polarity Therapy Standards for Practice, creating a consensus statement of the scope and content of Polarity Therapy, and setting the foundation for the registration of practitioners and Approved Trainings. Shortly thereafter, APTA also produced its Code of Ethics and created administrative functions to support the growth of Polarity Therapy. In 2003, APTA published the Standards for Practice and Education, 4th edition, which establish the minimum requirements for Approved Trainings relevant to Program Administration.
Polarity Therapy today enjoys a steadily increasing usage worldwide. The concept of energy in the healing arts has been validated repeatedly, numerous books and new resources have made study easier and more efficient, and the practice of Polarity Therapy has become ever more diverse and sophisticated.
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