Endless Synchronicities - An Interview with Karl Dawson

Matrix Reimprinting has become a huge success in the Energy Psychology community, with practitioners around the world and your book Matrix Reimprinting with EFT (Hay House) becoming an instant best-seller – but where did your journey into Energy Healing begin?

My journey with EFT began in 2002, but the story would go back much further.

In my early 20s I had a profound spiritual experience, which became and to some extent is still a major guiding star in my life.

By spending much of my 20s chasing this guiding star, I learned and came to understand a lot about energy and spirituality.

Unable to regain this spiritual connection, I eventually gave up trying, I married and lived a more ‘conventional’ lifestyle.

However, as the years progressed I was never quite happy or content and eventually this led to pain and illness, culminating in 2002, by which time I was in constant pain, had a ruptured disc in my lower back, pain in my knees, shoulders. I was depressed, had a multitude of allergies and a complete lack of energy, motivation or confidence.

At this time I also split up with my wife; therefore, was forced to leave the family home and my two young children – not a great time!

I’d recently read the Celestine Prophecy and, with nothing to lose, I trusted my life completely to synchronicity. It was an interesting time: some apparent dead ends, some directions that seemed partially fruitful; other events were almost miraculous.

It was a series of synchronistic events which lead to my first encounter with EFT.

I’d visited a hypnotherapist and, whilst not surprisingly with my long list of ailments, never gained much resolution, I signed up for his newsletter.

Over the months I kept hearing about Emotional Freedom Techniques. Eventually it piqued my curiosity enough to look at Gary Craig’s EFT manual; I found it intriguing.I tried it out, on of all people, my mother in-law, had a one minute wonder success on a fear of heights and was hooked.

I ordered and devoured Gary’s DVD sets, and then started tapping on anyone that moved!Soon I realised I wanted to become a therapist and started seeing clients.

Unqualified, other that the DVD tuition, after a few years I thought I’d better get some formal qualifications and trained with the GOE, I visited the US to train with Gary Craig directly, then later also with another EFT organsiation.

Endless synchronicities...

One particular day in 2004 I’d had three new clients – all teachers – I realised it was time to teach EFT.

In 2006 Gary Craig was due to visit the UK, the first time he’d ventured out of the US. In all the places he could have gone worldwide he chose Bolton, my hometown I’d left in 1987, and at the hotel connected to the Reebok stadium, the home of my football team. I booked on that course and also enrolled in the EFT Masters program which preceded the event.

It was during an EFT session in 2006, whilst teaching EFT in Australia, that Matrix Reimprinting was born.

I can clearly see how many of the events of my life both positive and apparently negative have lead to the rise of Matrix Reimprinting.

 

When telling people what you do, how do you go about explaining 'Energy'?

I like to explain EFT and Matrix Reimprinting from a scientific point of view. With many people when we start talking about energy you can see a negative reaction as if they are thinking ‘Here we go – new age‘

I explain energy as ‘information’ that everything in the universe is information. At a subatomic level there is no solid matter. Due to this fact we are constantly being affected by the information surrounding us and the most important information is our thoughts.

 

For those unfamiliar, please could you summarise Matrix Reimprinting with EFT. And why do you believe it has become such a popular technique?

Matrix Reimprinting is a collection of new cutting-edge techniques. It combines EFT with understandings from the new biology, epigenetics and quantum science, enabling rapid trauma resolution. It is noted for its ability to quickly transform our relationship to our past, creating shifts in our emotional and physical well-being in the present.

In conventional EFT we take the emotional intensity out of a past memory. What you are left with is to be able to recall your most traumatic and stressful life memories without any emotional disruption or stress, which is obviously extremely useful as negative past memories keep the body in a state of stress and can contribute to disease.

However, with Matrix Reimprinting the memory is actually transformed. You can go into any past memory, say and do what you wished you’d said and done, bring in new resources, and create and transform the picture you have of that memory. The result is that not only do you resolve the trauma, you transform the negative beliefs connected with the memory.

I believe it has gained so much popularity as it ties EFT in with understandings from many other existing therapies. In Matrix Reimprinting we work with ECHOs (Energetic Consciousness Holograms which are held in our local fields, subconsciously holding all the information of past traumatic events). This concept ties in with the idea of the inner child, parts work, subroutines, etc, which are understood in many disciplines: from conventional psychology to Shamanic work, from hypnotherapy to homeopathy .  The name Matrix Reimprinting with EFT suggests that EFT is an integral part of the technique. Does Matrix Reimprinting work with other Energy therapies, or is it EFT exclusive?

EFT is certainly an important part of Matrix Reimprinting. We use many of the techniques found in EFT, either as originally devised by Gary Craig or adapted to suit MR. In Matrix Reimprinting we see the ECHO as the real client in a session as they are the one holding the trauma. As we are working with the ECHO, who are often very young, we need to keep our interactions with them very simple.

Tapping on an ECHO is very easy and we don’t need to explain anything (we just tell them we have a great way to make them feel better and start tapping on them)

Conversely …

Whilst I find the 9 Gamut Procedure very useful in classic EFT, whilst using MR as it would be difficult to teach a young ECHO how to do this.

The importance of EFT in MR is to clear the ECHO of the negative information they are holding onto, so any energy psychology technique that allows this in an easy to implement way would work.

I feel Emotrance would work well as you can instruct the ECHO to let the energy move and leave the body. On the other hand, TAT would be difficult as the ECHO would have to be taught the hand positions.

 

What are the benefits practitioners can expect when using Matrix Reimprinting?

In Matrix Reimprinting we work directly with the ECHO  - the younger self trapped in space and time holding the traumatic event subconsciously in our local fields and in a different dimension.We are literally going back in time to de-traumatise the ECHO, but by doing so we also see exactly what beliefs and decisions were made about themselves and the world at the time (aspects that are often forgot or distorted over time)

This allows us to not only resolve the trauma very quickly, it also facilitates a huge amount of understanding around the original event.  This leads to many benefits including:

Rewriting the past

One of the major benefits of Matrix Reimprinting is that it resources the client and enables them to rewrite their past. This is very different to denying that the past happened. Changing the images and 'memories' in the field in this way not only creates resolution, but changes the function of the cells in the present.

Resolving core issues

With Matrix Reimprinting you can also quickly find and resolve core issues. In traditional EFT when someone expresses a belief such as "I must be perfect to be loved" your work as a practitioner is to find the early memories relating to this belief and resolve them with EFT. With Matrix Reimprinting you not only resolve the memories which contributed to the core issues, you can also instil new supporting beliefs and experiences. This in turn affects and transforms your current belief system in the present moment.

Preconscious trauma

Matrix Reimprinting also locates preconscious trauma, even trauma that has occurred before the first six years. Very few therapies or practices have tools for working with preconscious memories, yet the research of cell biologist Bruce Lipton indicates that this is when most of the damage is done to our perceptions of self. With the Matrix Reimprinting your client can interact with themselves as far back as in the womb, and can access and resolve preconscious traumas.

Reframes and cognitive shifts

Another benefit of the Matrix Reimprinting is that it commonly produces client-driven reframes and cognitive shifts. One of the great benefits of the technique is that most of the work comes from the client (although if they get stuck at any point guidance is needed from the practitioner). As the client leads the process, they decide what is best for them in order to resolve the energetic disruption around the trauma. As the power is with the client, they are much more likely to reframe the situation themselves or emphasize their cognitive shifts. As practitioners we are well aware that these shifts indicate that resolution and, therefore, healing has taken place.

Forgiveness

Similarly, Matrix Reimprinting often leads clients to a place of forgiveness, particularly to the perpetrator of their traumatic experience. There are a number of schools of thought which believe that the purpose of any therapeutic intervention is to reach the point of forgiveness. This is not something to be forced on or feigned by the client, and there is often a sticking point in traditional therapeutic practices where a client will say they have forgiven their perpetrator consciously, but will not have forgiven their perpetrator on a subconscious level. Matrix Reimprinting leads the client naturally to a place of forgiveness.

Psychological reversal and secondary gains

Matrix Reimprinting also elegantly locates psychological reversal and secondary gains. By interacting with the ECHO we can begin to understand exactly why it is holding onto a problem or an issue for us which is keeping us stuck in an old pattern of thinking or behaving. The ECHO is most often trying to protect us, or filtering its understanding through the perceptions of a child, and we, as adults continue to respond to our own worlds through those same childlike perceptions, until the energy around the memory is resolved. This creates more self-understanding from the client who can pinpoint their current self-destructive behaviours to early memories, and replace them with more supporting beliefs and behaviours.

Positive beliefs

On the same note, Matrix Reimprinting can instil new positive beliefs into any past memory. One of the issues that many of us face with the traditional EFT protocol is because we always focus on the negative, there is often a void left when an issue is resolved. With the Matrix Reimprinting this void can be filled by allowing your ECHO to have experiences which create supportive beliefs and behaviours.

Disassociated clients

Another great benefit is that Matrix Reimprinting works on disassociated clients who have no SUDS levels. As EFT practitioners this client group is one of the most challenging to work with. Matrix Reimprinting works perfectly with this client group, because when the client works with the ECHO the technique works more effectively when the client is disassociated.

Trauma resolution

Matrix Reimprinting is very valuable in its ability to send a message to the body that the trauma is over. It ends the trauma cycle where the trauma is constantly being replayed over and over in the matrix. This enables the body and the cells to respond in healthier ways, and begin to heal.

Resolving the irresolvable

With Matrix Reimprinting you can also help your clients to resolve issues which have previously been irresolvable. This is particularly beneficial when clients have lost family members or loved ones and not had a chance to say goodbye or resolve their differences. Using Matrix Reimprinting the client can release the emotions around unresolved relationships and let go of the ties which hold them in the past.

Law of attraction

A further benefit of Matrix Reimprinting is that it utilises the law of attraction. As mentioned earlier when we have traumatic experiences and hold them in the matrix, we continue to attract similar experiences. With this technique once we resolve the trauma, we change the point of attraction and begin to create, look for and draw more fulfilling and life-sustaining experiences.

 

At the 2011 European EFT & Energy Psychology Conference you will be presenting Matrix Reimprinting as well as hosting a post-Conference Matrix Reimprinting Practitioner Training. What can delegates expect to learn by attending?

During the conference presentation, I’ll be talking about the basic understanding behind Matrix Reimprinting, The science, how we become traumatised, how ECHOs are created, how we work with ECHOs to get resolution and how we can transform negative traumatic memories into new empowering positive beliefs, whilst also gaining insights and understanding into our life purpose.

The two day Matrix Reimprinting Practitioner course is a certified course which will enable practitioners to use MR with their clients. We will cover all the basic MR techniques, the science behind MR, how to work with ECHOs in a variety of situations, using MR with different client issues such as traumatic memories, accessing and resolving very early memories, working with client’s phobias, pain, disease, negative beliefs, etc; also how to work surrogately and even with future selves, plus lots more.

 

Where would you like to see yourself and Matrix Reimprinting in the next 6 months and 5 years time?

In the next 6 months I’d like to see Matrix Reimprinting continue to spread across the world. We now have nearly 30 MR trainers worldwide in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and even 2 EFT Masters in the US.

The Hay House book rights have been sold in 8 countries and soon will be coming out in a variety of languages, including Japanese, German, France, and Spanish.

We also have research undergoing at a UK University into the use of MR with PTSD.

In 5-10 years time I would like to see MR routinely used in the NHS as a NICE recommended therapy. It would be wonderful for the awareness of Matrix Reimprinting to be similar to that of hypnotherapy, homeopathy and Reiki.

 

Is there anyone, in the healthcare industry or wider world, that has greatly influenced you and the work you do?

Dr Bruce Lipton has been a huge influence on MR; his scientific understanding around cellular behaviour, epigenetics and the role of beliefs on our psychological and physical wellbeing.

Dr Robert Scaer’s  work on the impact and resolution of trauma. The understanding I gained from Dr Scaer of the effects and release of the freeze response is a big part of MR.

Dr Rupert Sheldrake’s work on morphogenetic fields and the vital effect repeated patterns of behaviour have on our lives.

Gregg Braden on the effects of our beliefs and the science of how we connect with the Matrix

And, obviously, Gary Craig for creating EFT. 

Finally, when you come home from a busy day, how do you like to unwind?

I’m a big fan of Holosync technology and take a little time out each day to listen to one of the meditative soundtracks.

 

A big thanks to Karl for taking the time to answer our questions.

Find out more information on his presentation at the 2011 EFT & Energy Psychology Conference here

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