Self-Sabotage or Psychological Reversal? A New Kinesiology Perspective on Healing Resistance

When healing becomes a tangle of protocols, wires, and switches—are we still treating a person, or a machine?

By Natalia Gavrilova, Kinesiologist

The concept of psychological reversal pops up everywhere in kinesiology. It’s extremely useful for treating self-sabotage and conflicting priorities. I’ve used it, taught it, and felt pretty confident I knew what it was all about. That is… until someone recently questioned my take on it. So I did what any curious practitioner might do: I went digging.

What I found completely flipped my understanding. And it’s led to a deeper, more grounded way of working with resistance in my practice here in Fremantle, Western Australia.

Here’s the story of what I discovered—and how it’s reshaped the way I think about this technique.

Lost in translation

I have to come clean. For years, I’ve been believing—and telling kinesiology students—the wrong thing. As has happened many times in my life, I fell victim to the English language.

For example, I used to sign my correspondence “Kind regards,” thinking that since it had the word “kind,” it must sound warm and friendly. The reality came crashing down when I learned that, without meaning to, I’d been sounding a bit… aloof.

In a similar way, I applied simple logic and assumed that the therapy technique called psychological reversal must involve working with the complex internal dynamics of self-sabotage. Isn’t it about psychology, as the title implies?

Nope!

Despite being developed by a practicing psychologist, the original method had a completely different foundation. My journey of discovery can only be described as… riveting. Let me explain everything step by step.

Psychological Reversal – Resistance, Self-sabotage and Conflict

First things first—what is psychological reversal (or PR for short)?

Psychological reversal is usually described as a conflict within. It “blocks the healing,” so to speak. You might conceptualise it as self-sabotage or as a subtler idea: that some unknown force within is stopping you from getting better.

Blocks to healing can feel like this—locked from the inside. But what if the key is insight, not just intervention?

The general idea—that the path toward healing isn’t a straight line—shows up in many therapeutic traditions. In psychodynamic psychology, resistance to therapy is the unconscious pull of defence mechanisms. In CBT and humanistic psychology, a client’s resistance to change is often attributed to maladaptive beliefs or entrenched habits. In spiritual traditions, it echoes the call to surrender ego-driven will in order to allow something deeper or higher to emerge.

Psychological Reversal in TFT

Kinesiology borrowed the idea of inner resistance to healing from the work of American psychologist Dr. Roger Callahan.

He was a classically trained psychologist with an unusual curiosity about acupuncture, energy meridians, and applied kinesiology. Callahan graduated from the University of Michigan, earned a PhD from Syracuse University, served as Associate Professor and Director of Psychological Services and Research at Eastern Michigan University, and later opened a private practice.

But Dr. Callahan is best known for creating Thought Field Therapy (TFT)—a modality that claimed to treat everything from phobias to heart conditions by tapping specific points on the body.

Sound familiar? It should. His student, Gary Craig, later popularised a simplified version called EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques), or “tapping.” Both approaches rely on the same basic principle: affecting the flow of chi through the body’s meridians. The difference? Craig’s method uses a standard sequence of tapping points for all issues, while Callahan’s TFT protocols were customised for each problem.

Also, unlike EFT, TFT didn’t encourage self-treatment. Training and therapy were delivered by certified practitioners—at prices with plenty of zeroes.

The 15-Minute Cure?

Would you sign up for a five-hour therapy session at $600 an hour?

That’s what Dr. Callahan reportedly charged, according to his former student and colleague Monica Pignotti. Shorter appointments? Not encouraged. (Presumably, the deeper your wallet, the deeper the healing.)

But here’s the twist: TFT also claims that many emotional problems could be resolved in just 15 minutes of tapping—often with no need for follow-up sessions.

It’s a bold promise. And an interesting pricing model. One can’t help but wonder—if the cure only takes 15 minutes, what exactly happens in the remaining four hours and forty-five?

Even more intriguingly, sometimes those five-hour sessions didn’t work (!!).

Rather than abandon the method, Dr. Callahan introduced the idea of psychological reversal to explain why TFT might not be working. As he writes in Tapping the Healer Within:

“If you are not getting maximum results from TFT, it could be caused by psychological reversal, or PR.”

And here’s the exact quote that made me realise how off-track I’d been in my own interpretation. Judge for yourself:

“What’s the cause of psychological reversal? It appears that PR is associated with a reversal of polarity in the meridian system. In other words, your internal energy flow has actually become reversed or, in some cases, blocked. If you have a negative, self-critical attitude or self-sabotage behaviour, this could be a sign that PR is present.”

Reversed polarity? Switched circuitry? Some explanations of resistance feel more like hardware manuals than human experience.

In this explanation, there’s nothing about psychology. No digging into the why. No exploration of meaning or emotion. No conflict to understand—just an energy current to fix.

Meanwhile, across the neuro-energetic spectrum, Charles Krebs was giving psychological reversal a makeover. In his Brain Integration manuals, Krebs describes the same phenomenon under the name Survival Switching. (To read more about brain integration click here). He doesn’t name Callahan directly, but see the similarities for yourself:

“The original concept of Switching came from Applied Kinesiology or AK. In the AK model, switching was perceived as neurological confusion, usually related to cranial imbalance. In later Kinesiologies, Switching was perceived as a polarity problem so that when Switching was ‘on-line’, there was a reversal of the body’s polarity, and this reversal lof polarity led to a reversal of signals sent out to the body, and a reversal of mental orientation.”

Same language. Same type of explanation. Slightly different emphasis.

It seems to me that while Callahan was busy fine-tuning tapping sequences for phobias, grief, and jet leg, Krebs was more interested in how these disruptions showed up in the brain and nervous system—particularly when the system felt overwhelmed or under threat.

One chased protocols. The other was focused on pathways.

I hope you’ll have some mercy for me. I was completely fooled—and maybe even a little enchanted—by the word psychological in the description of this method. I thought it called for exploration of the soul’s inner dilemma. Turns out, it was all about electrical wiring.

We often carry contradictions within us—longing for change, and fearing it at the same time.

Reversed Polarity vs Inner Conflict

However, being misguided (and a bit ignorant) about the original meaning of the PR method, I had already begun developing my own understanding of resistance to healing. I never knew — and still don’t really understand — what “reversed polarity” actually means. But by observing my own inner world and the healing journeys of my clients, I’ve come to appreciate that humans are complex creatures. Sometimes we appear to want opposite things.

And there’s no great mystery in that. Every choice we make has its gains and losses. Living with your parents might provide safety and support but limits personal freedom and learning. Stepping into the world is risky and uncomfortable, but it invites growth, independence, and self-trust.

Decisions are rarely black and white. In fact, to “decide” literally means to cut off other options. That can be painful. It severs the safety nets. It asks us to take responsibility for an outcome we can’t predict — success or failure, triumph or humiliation.

Self-sabotage or an Inner Protector

Sometimes, what we call "resistance" is actually a loyal protector within.

I once worked with a woman who struggled with being overweight. In her past, a traumatic experience had left a mark — she had been spared a sexual assault when others around her had not. The weight, it turned out, was more than just physical; it brought up questions of safety, identity, self-worth, assertiveness, and the right to take up space.

What some might label “self-sabotage,” I learned to see as self-protection. And that protective part deserves a voice, not to be silenced by tapping, dinging, or repeating affirmations. Before trying to "fix" it, it’s worth asking: What is this part protecting me from?

Knowing is not the same as experiencing

It also seems to me that we all carry many layers of awareness. When we’re alert and mentally checking off tasks, we see things differently than when we’re in deep reflection or a meditative state. That’s why simply saying an affirmation isn’t the same as experiencing its truth.

Knowing something and truly experiencing it are two different things. Kinesiology helps bring them together.

Kinesiology techniques help us create a meeting point between these two inner worlds. But that can’t happen if we bypass the client’s experience. We need dialogue. We need time. We need to let both “sides” of the issue be seen and felt — so they can be integrated.

I recently worked with a client managing a severe chronic condition. She was highly informed — she could explain in detail every treatment protocol, supplement, and trigger. Her daily routine was strict, careful, and impressive. She also said she wanted to be cured.

But our conversation led to an important realisation: if the condition disappeared, so might the very structure that helped her feel safe and defined. Over time, managing her health had become more than just a necessity — it had become a way to maintain order, to feel secure, to be someone. Letting go of that intense vigilance didn’t just raise practical questions — it touched a deeper uncertainty:

Who would she be without this role? Without this level of control?

In the session, we used kinesiology techniques to create an experience of trust — not just talk about it. Her energy slowed. Her breathing deepened. Her whole system softened. By allowing her to explore what it felt like to not be in charge, we created space for a conversation between the part of her that wants to heal… and the part that relies on the illness for structure, identity, and safety.

Client Involvement

This brings me to a principle I care about deeply.

Complementary therapies often pride themselves on being person-centred and body-led. But when we tell clients they have hidden “energetic blocks” that must be “removed” using specific rituals — without exploring whether they personally relate to that explanation — we risk doing exactly what we criticise in conventional medicine. We objectify the client. We take the healing out of their hands. We suggest that we, the practitioners, hold the key.

Where is the client’s voice in that?

Healing should not be a mystery ritual delivered to someone. It should be a meaningful process that unfolds with them.

(I know I sound a bit fired up here — and yes, I suppose I am. But my aim isn’t to attack, it’s to protect what I see as sacred in therapeutic work: the client’s own authority, experience, and meaning-making.)

The subconscious mind is a rich storehouse of memory, emotion, and inner wisdom. Muscle monitoring gives it a voice. It needs the client conscious involvement, otherwise the dialogue falls flat. ( In this article you will find out more thoughts about the partnership between consious and subconsious mind and the role of therapautic context. )

Each client’s story is a unique puzzle. Ask the questions that let the pieces find their place.

When to Use PR in Kinesiology?

Psychological Reversal can be a helpful tool — especially when inner conflict lies at the heart of the issue. It tends to be most effective when the challenge is psychological or behavioural in nature, rather than something like a congenital or clearly structural condition.

That said, even physical conditions can have a psychological layer. The key is knowing when and how to approach that layer in your work. Is the client ready? Have you established enough trust to explore what the issue means to them?

Some healing questions take time to ask. They require safety, rapport, and a genuine willingness to listen without jumping into “fix it” mode.

Here are some questions I often ask when working with resistance to healing:

• What are the benefits of changing — and what are the advantages of keeping things as they are?

• How has the issue helped your client in the past?

• When did the problem first appear, and what else was happening in their life at the time?

• What would they gain if the issue were resolved? And what might they lose?

• What thoughts or feelings come up when they say each of the affirmations (e.g. “I want to heal this issue” vs “I want to keep this issue”)?

  
  

Pay attention — sometimes the real insight comes when you follow the trail of “why that felt true.”Kinesiology gives us tools for accessing deep information — but it’s how we hold space for the client’s own discovery that creates real change.

So I leave you with this question:

What do you think PR represents in your own practice? And how might your understanding of it evolve?

In a nutshell

The original concept of psychological reversal, as developed by Dr. Callahan, does not involve exploring the meaning behind a client’s resistance to healing. Instead, it explains the resistance in terms of “perturbations” in thought fields and reversed energy flow in meridians.

This one-size-fits-all explanation may work for some, but it doesn’t align with my understanding of therapy — or the role I think kinesiology can play in helping people understand themselves more deeply.

In my clinic, I still use the PR protocol — but I use it as a starting point for a dialogue, not as a shortcut. If the body shows a stress response when a client says, “I want to resolve this issue,” I don’t assume the answer is a reversal of polarity. I assume we’ve just opened a door. And the real healing begins when we walk through it — together.

References

Interview with Roger Callahan, founder of Thought Field Therapy (TFT)

Dr. Callahan passed away in 2013, quite recently in historical terms. There are plenty of resources about his method easily accessible online, including this recorded video interview.

Pignotti, M. (2007). Thought Field Therapy: A Former Insider’s Experience. Research on Social Work Practice, 17(3), 392–407. Monica Pignotti was a student and passionate proponent of TFT for seven years. This article offers an honest, in-depth reflection on her personal journey of studying and working with the method.

Callahan, R., with Trubo, R. (2001). Tapping the Healer Within. Contemporary Books.

Roger Callahan’s book on his healing method is an easy and engaging read. It includes detailed tapping sequences for a range of issues such as anxiety, phobia, depression, obsession, guilt, trauma, jet lag, pain, and addiction. This book is easily accessible through Internet Archive.

Hint for creative kinesiologists: Using the tapping instructions in this book, you can design your own protocols by combining acupressure sequences with kinesiology techniques.

Melbourne Applied Kinesiology (2001). Brain Integration 1 Manual. Revised 2015.This manual is not publicly available and is distributed only to Brain Integration students. In it, Charles Krebs introduces his theory about the neurological basis of resistance to healing, known as Switching.

For more on how Brain Integration kinesiology supports a range of issues—from anxiety to learning difficulties—see my introductory articles:

• Curious how Brain Integration differs from general kinesiology? This article explains the key differences in approach, depth, and therapeutic focus- Brain Integration Kinesiology Explained

• Wondering what a Brain Integration session feels like, how many you might need, or what it can help with? This post covers the practical side of the experience - Stressed, Foggy or Burned out? Brain Integration in Fremantle Can Help

  
  

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 or browse most often asked questions 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.