Energy Drain in Healing Work: Why Practitioners Feel Exhausted (and How Kinesiology Helps)

Flourishing emotional healing emerges when nurturing energy therapy creates safe, vibrant spaces — a reminder for kinesiology students and healers to cultivate strength inside while honoring the energetic boundaries that support their work.

By Natalia Gavrilova, Kinesiologist

Emotional Hangovers in Energy Healing Work

“Do you get tired after working with people?”

Believe it or not, this is one of the questions I get most often — from both kinesiology students, clients in my Fremantle-based practice, and even people outside the healing professions who describe themselves as “sensitive.” From the outside, kinesiology might look gentle and effortless, but in reality, it’s a full-body, full-attention experience. It can be physically demanding, emotionally intense, and energetically absorbing.

If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve felt energy drain after some kind of healing, caring, or intense interaction. Fatigue, a sense of intrusion, headaches, low moods, emotional burnout, or even strange physical sensations can follow encounters that feel like… too much.

So what’s going on? And what can you do to protect your energy — and recover — when something throws you off balance?

Kinesiology might look gentle and effortless, but in reality, it’s a full-body, full-attention experience. It can be physically demanding, emotionally intense, and energetically absorbing.

There’s nothing alarming or mysterious about being tired. It’s part of being human. But in this article, I want to explore the kinds of experiences in energetic therapy that don’t feel ordinary — the ones that seem strangely intense, sudden, or out of proportion. The kind that makes you pause and wonder if something more is at play.

Let’s look at a few possible lenses through which to understand these moments. Feel free to scroll down to the sections that interest you most:

• Energetic lens — Energy lens of something else?. Negative energy encounters. This isn’t the explanation I personally favour, but it’s a popular one worth addressing.

• Psychological boundaries —  When Caring Becomes Over-Caring: Psychological Boundaries in Relationships. A widely recognised concept, helpful not just in therapeutic work but also in social and family settings.

• Therapeutic role confusion — Are You Stuck in a Pleaser Role? Role Confusion in Therapy. A closer look at how boundaries operate in energy healing work.

• Psychoanalytic approach — The Feelings You Feel That Aren’t Yours: Transference and Countertransference. A brief walk through the principles of transference and countertransference.

At the end, I share a list of practices that help me re-centre when things feel too intense. You’re welcome to skip ahead to the section What to Do When the Energy Lingers? After-Session Care to prevent energy drain in healing work.

If you are new to kinesiology and would like an overview what it is click here for a gentle introduction or if you are ready to dive deeper into principles of kinesiology you may enjoy my article The truth about energetic kinesiology.

Energy Drain — or Something Else?

Let’s begin with the most mysterious (and dramatic) explanation — what some call energetic invasion. This idea suggests that one person can “siphon” energy from another, consciously or not.

Practitioners sometimes describe feeling defeated after a session, wondering if they’ve been drained by their client. The phrase energy vampire occasionally gets thrown around.

Having worked as an energetic kinesiologist in Fremantle for a number of years, I try to stay open to what’s beyond the physical. There may well be phenomena that science hasn’t yet explained — experiences that defy easy categorisation. I haven’t personally encountered anything that felt like true energetic predation, but that’s not to say it doesn’t exist. If it does, I’d suggest such cases are rare. When something keeps happening, it’s usually more helpful to look inward and ask:

What in me is allowing this to continue?

Besides, seeing yourself as a helpless victim of invisible forces isn’t particularly empowering. And healing work is not meant to turn us into energetic sponges.

Instead, I invite you to take a practical and empowering stance: trust that you can protect your own energetic space. We don’t need to believe in energetic monsters to care for ourselves wisely. Our beliefs shape our reality — and choosing beliefs that support our confidence and boundaries is a form of self-care too.

To be blunt for a moment (with love!): being afraid of other people’s energy while choosing a profession in healing is a bit like wanting to be a surgical nurse but being squeamish about blood — or a massage therapist who’s uncomfortable with touch.

Our beliefs shape our reality — and choosing beliefs that support our confidence and boundaries is a form of self-care too.

If you’re lacking energetic resilience sometimes, these aren’t flaws or failings. They’re signs that there’s something important asking to be seen. Because when we enter therapeutic relationships, we inevitably come into contact with all kinds of human relating — some of which may sit right at the heart of what brought our clients to us in the first place. It’s not always comfortable. But it is part of the work. And with the right awareness and support, it doesn’t have to leave us drained.

(For in depth discussion about how to decide what to treat first you may refer to my article Studying kinesiology. How do we decide what to bnalance in energretic kinesiology?)

In kinesiology and other healing therapies, energetic boundaries are essential for safeguarding practitioners from emotional burnout.

When Caring Becomes Over-Caring: Psychological Boundaries in Relationships

One of the most common reasons we feel drained around others is the way we manage — or don’t manage — our psychological boundaries.

Many of us — especially women — have been raised with the quiet expectation that our value lies in being endlessly available to others. That being helpful, agreeable, emotionally attuned, and self-sacrificing is not just nice, but necessary — a condition of being loved and accepted. Over time, this becomes so internalised that we don’t even see it as a choice. We just live on high alert: scanning the room, reading the mood, responding before we’ve even asked ourselves how we feel.

This kind of hyper-attunement often starts in childhood and becomes wired into our nervous system. It can make us brilliant carers, helpers, healers — people who naturally notice what others need.

Being attuned to feelings of others is a gift. But when this sensitivity comes at the expense of our own needs, it becomes unsustainable. Our superpower becomes our curse.

In the context of energy healing work or energetic kinesiology sessions, it’s a gift. But when this sensitivity comes at the expense of our own needs, it becomes unsustainable. The very thing that makes us good at what we do can quietly burn us out.

Over time, this imbalance can lead to emotional enmeshment, chronic fatigue, and a deep confusion about where we end and others begin. What started as empathy becomes entanglement. Our superpower becomes our struggle.

This is one of the key causes of emotional burnout in practitioners, and it’s something I see again and again in my work with clients and kinesiology students.

The antidote isn’t to become less caring. It’s to become more self-aware. To gently ask ourselves:

• When do I give too much because I feel I have to?

• When am I over-accommodating because I fear I’m not enough otherwise?

• Am I carrying someone else’s emotions out of habit — or choice?

  
  

These questions aren’t always easy, but they are powerful. And the more we learn to notice these patterns, the more we can shift from rescuing to relating — and from depletion to connection.

Want to understand more about how kinesiology works with emotions? Check out [Feel it to Heal it].”

Are You Stuck in a Pleaser Role? Role Confusion in Therapy

Are you just being “nice” or actually helping? Let’s talk about role confusion. Here’s something that took me a while to learn as a practitioner:

being nice isn’t the same as doing healing work.

Kinesiology sessions are usually warm, gentle, and deeply supportive. People walk away feeling calmer, clearer, and often more like themselves. So it’s easy to think: “If I just stay kind and encouraging, everything will go well!” And that’s mostly true… until it’s not.

Sometimes being nice becomes a trap.

Let’s say your client is emotionally fragile and requiring much reassurance. You want them to feel comfortable, so you stay soft, agreeable, and double up on validation and empathy. But at some point, you may notice this nagging feeling after the session — like you’ve worked hard, but nothing really shifted.

That’s often a sign that you’ve slipped into role confusion.

Instead of holding space for the client’s truth to surface, you may have ended up reinforcing the version of themselves they want to present. And this happens not because you’re doing something wrong — but because you are human, and did what was socially expected rather than wearing your therapist hat.

When we let go of the need to please and stay anchored in what’s real, the work becomes lighter, clearer, and more transformative — for everyone in the room.

Let me share an example that illustrates this dynamic. It’s a reflection of something many of us do, myself included. I once worked with a woman who was beautifully put-together. Her hair, makeup, clothes — everything immaculate. When we began scanning for emotions, she immediately started talking about how loved and respected she is by her family. There had been no suggestion otherwise, so I was curious: why the emphasis?

By highlighting it so strongly, she was showing me — without meaning to — how important that perception was to her. Her body told the rest of the story. The muscle tension was intense. It felt like she was holding herself in place — literally.

Had I responded to this client by simply affirming her words — aiming to be pleasing — I would have reinforced the very tension she came to release. That’s the trap of role confusion. Without realising it, I might have joined her in maintaining appearances instead of helping her soften into truth.

Why this matters?

We’ve all learned to shape how we’re seen — clients and practitioners alike. The woman in this example was doing what we all do in different ways: putting energy into looking okay on the outside, even when something inside feels off.

As practitioners, we’re vulnerable to the same thing. Wanting to be liked. Wanting our clients to feel good about us. But when that becomes our focus, we drift from our real role — and that’s when energy starts leaking. Pouring our efforts into feeding this dynamic is like spinning your wheels - wasting energy, getting no traction and moving nowhere.

How to come back to your centre

Next time you feel drained after giving an energy healing session, ask yourself:

• What just happened here?

• What did my client say they wanted — and what are they really showing me?

• Am I supporting their healing… or their performance?

• Where is my energy going — and is it aligned with my purpose in this session?

When we let go of the need to please and stay anchored in what’s real, the work becomes lighter, clearer, and more transformative — for everyone in the room.

Energetic healers stand at the threshold between the physical and spiritual worlds, navigating complex emotions and subtle energy storms.

The feelings you feel that aren’t yours: transference and countertransference

While managing roles and boundaries helps us stay clear and focused in our work, there’s another deeper layer that often goes unnoticed — the unspoken feelings that clients carry but can’t express, and that we as practitioners sometimes pick up on.

This emotional undercurrent is known in therapy as transference and countertransference, and understanding it can be a powerful tool for deepening healing without losing ourselves in the process.

Sometimes what a client can’t say turns out to be more important than what they can.

In therapy and energy healing work, clients often carry feelings they can’t fully express or name.

These unspoken emotions can unconsciously enter the shared space between client and practitioner — a phenomenon known as transference. As practitioners, especially those working in energetic kinesiology sessions, we sometimes feel these unspoken feelings ourselves. This intuitive sensitivity is called countertransference. The challenge is learning to distinguish what feelings belong to us, and which may be coming from our client.

Sometimes what a client can’t say turns out to be more important than what they can.

Transference happens when clients project feelings, expectations, or patterns from past relationships onto the therapist or therapeutic relationship. It’s like their emotional “baggage” showing up in the room, sometimes without clear words or conscious awareness. (If you’ve ever felt an unexplained tension or mood during a session, this might be why.)

On a neurobiological level, this exchange relates to something called neuroception — a term coined by Dr. Stephen Porges. Neuroception describes how our nervous system subconsciously scans for safety, threat, or connection in others. Through neuroception, client and practitioner’s bodies and nervous systems communicate silently, sharing emotional information beneath the level of conscious thought.

Neuroception — the abilty of our nervous system subconsciously scans for safety, threat, or connection in others.

Here’s an example from my practice during a kinesiology session: I once felt an unusual wave of anxiety before seeing a new client. She arrived confident and composed, but as we worked, I noticed subtle physical signs of tension and overwhelm that she never named aloud — sweating, restlessness, a distracted gaze. Although she didn’t say she felt anxious, my nervous system picked up on it. That feeling was a form of countertransference — my body sensing what hers couldn’t express.

This is how unspoken feelings often surface in kinesiology and other healing modalities.

If we stay attuned to these bodily sensations and subtle cues, we can better understand what needs attention — both for our client’s benefit and to protect ourselves from emotional confusion or overload, which can contribute to emotional burnout in practitioners.

It’s easy to mistake countertransference for our own stress or mood. But when you notice a sudden emotional reaction that feels “out of place,” it’s worth pausing to ask:

• Is this feeling mine?

• Or is it something I’m picking up from my client?

• What might they be trying to communicate without words?

The more we practice this gentle awareness, the more grounded and effective our energetic kinesiology sessions become. And importantly, this helps prevent emotional burnout by keeping us clear about where our energy truly belongs.

The holographic nature of energy healing is like a living tree — every branch, root, and leaf interconnected, echoing the subtle interplay of emotions, transference, and countertransference.

My personal experience. Holographic nature of energy healing

When people ask me what I do to “clean” my energy after working with clients, I often hesitate — not because I don’t know, but because the question is based on a common misunderstanding. Before I dive in, let me gently challenge the premise about what energy healing in kinesiology really involves. From the outside, it might look like I “remove” something from my clients — pain, stress, tension, confusion, even disease. But that’s not quite right.

There is no need to remove anything.

All experiences — even the difficult ones — carry meaning and value.

In kinesiology, our methods are grounded in the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which sees energy not as good or bad, but simply as something that can flow harmoniously… or get stuck.

Each of us has a finite amount of vital energy (Qi) moving through the body. The key to well-being is balance. Each energy channel is designed to carry a certain volume and type of energy. When the flow slows down, backs up, or becomes blocked, the resulting excess or deficiency creates symptoms — physical pain, emotional unrest, mental fog. Kinesiology techniques help restore flow. Once balance returns, symptoms often ease, and a sense of strength and clarity re-emerges.

Healing work doesn’t deplete me;  quite the opposite - it energises me. When I’m in the flow, I feel aligned with greater interconnected wholeness.

This is also how I feel after a good session: lighter, settled, and quietly satisfied. Not because something has been “taken away,” but because something has been restored. A small pocket of suffering has softened, and the system — mine and my client’s — feels more at ease.

To me, therapeutic work is a bit like tending a household:

• Cooking — offering emotional nourishment

• Cleaning — helping release what no longer serves

• Mending — patching up old wounds and reshaping identity

• Gardening — planting seeds of insight and growth

When I’m in this flow, I feel aligned with something greater — a kind of interconnected wholeness. Helping someone else doesn’t deplete me;  quite the opposite - it energises and reconnects me. I become a quiet beneficiary of the healing process. I believe healing is holographic in nature. Just as the whole universe can be reflected in every part, when healing happens to one person, it reverberates through the entire web of creation. We are all connected, and the restoration of balance in one place sends waves of harmony throughout the whole system. This sense of connection keeps me grounded and nourished in my energy healing work and helps me avoid emotional burnout.

What to Do When the Energy Lingers? After-Session Care to prevent energy drain in healing work

Of course, not every session leaves me feeling satisfied and at ease. Sometimes, it feels like the client has left the room — but their energy hasn’t. When something lingers or I notice an unusual heaviness or disorientation, here’s how I reset after energetic kinesiology sessions:

Check In With Myself

First, I slow down and ask:

What exactly am I feeling?

I connect with my body and listen to what it reveals to me. Suspending judgement and embracing the discomfort woks well to let insights to surface. I believe that opening my clinic door is like sending out an energetic invitation. Clients often bring what needs to be seen or released — sometimes not in words, but as sensations or energetic residue. Once that message is received, there’s no need for the energy to stick around. But if I don’t recognise it right away, it might linger like a very patient, invisible postman.

Review the Session

I usually take time to write notes and reflect on:

• What was the session’s focus?

• Which beliefs or emotions surfaced?

• Were there any strong physical or emotional sensations — in my client or in me?

  
  

  I also check if any themes overlap with my own unfinished business. Healing often unfolds from the unknown. Sometimes, the real work begins not with what we did, but with what we noticed. This is a core principle of kinesiology energy healing — the process starts when unconscious material rises to awareness.

  
  

Zoom Out: Therapeutic Priorities

Periodically, i need to see the bigger picture. Stepping back, I ask:

• Am I clear about what this client truly needs?

• Are we aligned with their deeper healing goals?

• Am I chasing symptoms, or keeping my attention on what really matters?

  
  

  It’s easy to get tangled in details — recurring pains, mental puzzles, or procedural steps. But true healing happens in the space between. I remind myself to stay attuned to the person, not just their problems.

  
  

Reconnect to Core Therapeutic Values

When in doubt, I return to the basics:

Unconditional positive regard. Authenticity. Accurate empathy.

If these are missing, the therapeutic connection falters, communication gets confused, and the work can feel heavy or stuck. So I ask:

• Am I holding this person with respect and care?

• Am I being genuine?

• Am I truly listening?

Realigning myself with my purpose and my role re-centers me mentally and energetically.

Seek Support

Whether my work is smooth sailing or rough seas, I enjoy and value regular supervision sessions. Having a trusted professional reflect back what’s happening helps to stay clear, grounded, and connected to my practice. Supervision isn’t only for crisis moments — it’s a regular part of my energy healing work, like therapeutic hygiene.  It can be a rescue remedy, but it’s even more powerful as routine maintenance.

The greatest benefit in having regular clinical supervision and healing sessions for yourself is deepening understanding of your own inner world. This is essential in dealing with tricky energetic entanglements that require discerning - what emotional baggage is yours and what is your clients.

An Invitation to Reflect

We’ve explored many reasons why healing professionals and kinesiology students may feel energy drain in healing work — from energetic imbalances to blurred boundaries, role confusion, and the subtle language of transference. Whether you connected most with the energetic framework, psychoanalytic insights, or practical reminders about therapeutic presence, I hope this article helped you to see your energy depletion not as a failure, but as a meaningful message.

Fatigue and energy drain after healing sessions aren't flaws or failings. They’re signs that there’s something important asking to be seen.

If you’ve felt unusually tired, ungrounded, or overwhelmed after working with others — especially in therapeutic or energy healing settings — don’t ignore these signals. They carry wisdom about how you work, where your boundaries might need strengthening, or what unconscious dynamics are unfolding.

I invite you to get curious about what your body and energy are telling you. And if you’d like support in restoring your centre, reconnecting with your therapeutic clarity, or processing what’s been stirred within — kinesiology sessions can be a gentle, holistic ally. They help unravel tangled energy and bring you back to balance.

Feel free to reach out if you want to explore how an energetic kinesiology session could support your wellbeing. Or take this as your nudge to pause, reflect, and ask: What do I need to keep helping others without losing myself?

FAQ: Feeling Drained After Healing Work

Why do I feel drained after a healing session as a practitioner?

There isn’t just one reason — it’s usually a mix of body, mind, and energy.

• Physiological: Holding emotional tension in your posture and muscles can be surprisingly exhausting. Add to that the natural stress of “performing well,” perfectionism, or a generally guarded stance toward life, and your body works overtime to maintain that rigidity.

• Psychological: As a practitioner, you tune in closely to another person. That intense focus and emotional attunement takes energy, much like holding a deep conversation for hours.

• Energetic: Sometimes you and your client’s energies simply don’t “mix” well. Different temperaments, emotional states, or character structures can leave you feeling depleted rather than nourished.

Why do I feel drained after a healing session as a client?

When you receive healing, your energetic system is being gently reorganized — and that reordering takes time to settle. Think of it like muscle soreness after exercise: the body needs a short recovery period to integrate the changes, and then it emerges stronger.

Some people bounce back within hours, others need up to two days, and occasionally longer.

The aftereffects may not only be physical — strong emotions, new insights, or even uncomfortable feelings can rise to the surface before everything finds its new balance.

Is it normal to feel tired after energy work?

Yes, it’s not unusual to feel tired afterwards. Many people do. But if fatigue shows up every single time, it’s worth paying attention.

Keeping a simple diary of when you feel drained, how long it lasts, and what else was going on in your life can help you notice patterns.

Sometimes the tiredness points to deeper stress or emotional layers that are asking to be worked with.

How can practitioners protect their energy?

For me, the most important tool is awareness — noticing the quality of my interactions.

If I finish a session feeling unusually depleted, I ask myself: Were we working in harmony, or pulling in opposite directions? A hidden mismatch of agendas can feel like swimming upstream.

I try to approach each session as if I am building a bridge to another person, not a fortress wall. Defensiveness and over-protection often block connection rather than support it.

Of course, boundaries matter. But real “protection” comes less from armor and more from a healthy sense of self and purpose. When these are shaky, we risk sliding into enmeshment — saying yes when we mean no, or obsessing about a client instead of returning to our own life.

When is fatigue after healing a sign of something deeper?

Occasional tiredness is normal, but it’s worth exploring further if:

• The fatigue appears suddenly and feels unusual for you.

• Your emotions or thoughts spiral with surprising intensity, out of proportion to the situation.

• Similar draining experiences repeat with very different people, in unrelated settings.

These patterns may point to deeper psychological or energetic themes waiting to be addressed.

Natalia Gavrilova – your local kinesiologist in Fremantle (Perth, WA)

This article was written by Natalia Gavrilova, a kinesiologist based in Fremantle and working with clients from across Perth, Western Australia. I specialise in the emotional and energetic aspects of kinesiology and write to help people understand how this gentle, holistic therapy can support real change.

💬 You’re welcome to get in touch here.

🌱 If you’re new to kinesiology and curious about how it works, visit my introductory page.

👩‍⚕️ Want to know more about me and my background? Here’s my story.

Кинезиология — это мягкий, целостный метод, который помогает восстановить внутренний баланс, освободиться от стресса и глубже понять свои потребности.

Меня зовут Наталья Гаврилова, я кинезиолог из Фримантла (Перт, Западная Австралия). На этой странице я рассказываю, как проходят мои сеансы, с чем я могу помочь и почему кинезиология становится всё более популярной в работе с эмоциональными, физическими и энергетическими трудностями.