Neuro Emotional Technique (NET) is a specialized Chiropractic technique that seeks to identify and address the core issues causing a physical or behavioral stress. The majority of our issues as human beings, both in body and mind, have an emotional component. The ability to address that component (Neuro Emotional Complex or NEC) in quick manner that incorporates the conscious and subconscious mind, the Nervous and Chinese Meridian systems is the genius of NET.
Using NET’s Home Run Formula offers an expedient way to address a wide range of body-mind imbalances. In a typical NET session we call this running the bases and they are briefly explained below.
- Identify stress related factors triggering or perpetuating a body/mind imbalance
- Congruency; Being “ok” with, Patterned behavioral responses
- Relationships with self, self sabotage
- All according to the patient’s emotional reality
- Target nutritional deficiencies or imbalances
- Recommend appropriate nutritional changes or supplementation
- Using homeopathy formulations to address toxicity and promote deep healing.
- Spinal or vertebral subluxations
- Extremity misalignments
- Visceral (organ) manipulations
- Meridian blockages
Origins of Neuro Emotional Technique
In the 1980s Dr. Scott Walker began to develop the NET protocols for patients whose spinal corrections were short lasting. He observed that an emotional or stress related component was often involved. Once appropriately isolated and addressed, not only did the adjustments hold longer, but his patients reported improvements in life stresses as well. Dr. Scott continued to develop his observations and protocols with his wife Dr. Deb Walker and together the two Chiropractors offered the first NET professional seminar by the end of the decade.
How does NET work?
Neuro Emotional Technique addresses the physiology of stress that has negative impact on a patient’s health, both body and mind. Its purpose is to uncover the core imbalances (physiology of stress) and in the Pavlovian term help the body to extinguish them. NET does not treat emotions and it does not treat any clinical disorders. That statement may seem strange at first, but… This is much like the principles of Chiropractic. Chiropractic treats the vertebral subluxation, the site of local nerve interference preventing the body from functioning normally. NET treats what is called the Neuro Emotional Complex or NEC. This refers to a vertebral, meridian and biochemical imbalance, as complex, involved in the physiology of the stress response. Patients after an NET session express positive changes in pain symptoms, energy, digestion, stress levels, mental outlook, quality of sleep, anxiety and more.
The purpose of NET is to uncover core imbalances causing a recurrent mind or body stress response, and in Pavlovian terms help the body extinguish it.
Emotions and Emotional Reality
Emotions are healthy and normal, failure for the body to resolve an emotional state within a period of time and return to balance is not healthy or normal. As research has shown over the years, a stress response can alter neurochemistry, muscle tone, body temperature and other physiological factors. Think of how watching a scary movie often causes an increase in body tension, heart rate and changes your normal breathing patterns. If present over the long term, proper body and mind problems develop and perpetuate.
The NET correction uses the Home Run Formula together with functional neurology Manual Muscle Testing and word-concept or other stimuli to identify and correct core imbalances behind a stress response or NEC. This often integrates aspects of the conscious and subconscious mind (emotional reality), the nervous system-spine, the Chinese Meridian system, nutrition and Homeopathy. The most common patient first time feedback after an NET session is “I feel easier and lighter, like a weight was lifted off my shoulders.”
Current research about NET
NET has come a very long way since the 1980s. One Research Foundation is a dedicated organization to studying how NET can benefit various conditions and population subsets. More current studies are focusing on fMRI measured changes in brain activity in participants dealing with cancer traumas and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The results of the study were really quite dramatic. In just four to five brief sessions, patients who received NET reported much less distress, their overall emotional state improved significantly and the way their brains reacted to stress cues normalized.
Monti, D.A., Tobia, A., Stoner, M. et al. “Neuro-emotional technique effects on brain physiology in cancer patients with traumatic stress symptoms: preliminary findings.” J Cancer Surviv
A preliminary 2017 study demonstrated changes in brain function and autonomic nervous system regulation in cancer patients treated for traumatic stress symptoms. The participants all received functional brain MRI (fMRI) to measure brain activation responses in memory and stress brain regions when exposed to neutral stimuli and stimuli specific to their traumatic event. Participants receiving NET demonstrated significantly lower “reactivation” in the parahippocampus, brainstem, anterior cingulate and insula brain regions when trauma specific stimuli were retested. A follow up study published 2018 in the Journal of Cancer Survivorship demonstrated similar findings as well as a reduced heart rate response to traumatic memory stimuli. The studies concluded that NET treatment has the ability to substantially reduce the impact of traumatic memories and reduce emotional distress in a cancer related event.
Other smaller studies have been performed to demonstrate NET’s efficacy in treating anxiety and depression as well as arachnophobia, chronic body pain and other issues all described on the One Research Foundation website.
Neuro Emotional Technique FAQ
Neuro Emotional Technique or NET is a natural healthcare mind-body protocol developed by Chiropractor Dr. Scott Walker to treat the physiology of stress involved in both structural and mental emotional imbalances.
A typical NET session may focus on a physical or immune issue; an unresolved feeling; patterned behavioral response; congruency statement like “I am ok with…”; or a nutritional issue. Your NET doctor will use manual muscle testing, semantic concepts together with Chinese meridian access points to locate physiological stress sites (Neuro Emotional Complex). As you go through the NET process, your strong and weak muscle test responses indicate whether or not an issue has subconscious negative charge. Once the core issue is identified you will be asked to focus your breaths on its feeling while contacting specific Chinese meridian points. Several core issues may be addressed in a single session. Most sessions can be performed within 15 minutes.
No, emotions are healthy and natural. Failure for the body-mind to resolve certain emotions across a period of time however, is not healthy. Often emotions such as unresolved sadness, grief, anger, humiliation or fear affect our health longer after their original cause is forgotten. NET address the physiology of stress or core issues through its Home Run Formula to help patients.
The Home Run Formula is a protocol utilized in NET that addresses mental emotional, nutritional, biochemical, toxicity, and homeopathy related core issues behind an unresolved problem.
NET treats core stress related issues that are caused by imbalances in the spine and nervous system, Chinese meridian system or by nutritional or toxicity related factors. This connection of factors is called the Neuro Emotional Complex (NEC). Patient’s often benefit from NET for both body-pain, digestive imbalances, sleep disturbances, patterned behavioral responses, phobias, emotional outbursts and more.
A 2018 study on cancer patients dealing with lasting emotional trauma and PTSD showed overall reduced emotional distress together with positively altered brain activity in response to their traumatic cancer memory. Individuals often benefit significantly from NET when addressing the core imbalances behind their issue, rather than focusing on the issue itself. Common health imbalances include stress, anxiety and depression, phobias, self-sabotage behaviors, self confidence and other related deficiencies, patterned behavioral responses, sleep issues, unresolved anger, immune imbalances, chronic pain and more.
Anyone who is old enough to communicate clearly with words and is able to perform a manual muscle test receive NET treatment as a patient.
So long as NET is being used for reducing the impact of stress on the body there are no contraindications. It is often helpful for patients undergoing significant life changes, dealing with trauma or confronting cancer and other great difficulty. NET is not a talk therapy, nor is it psychotherapy. Its purpose is not to give answers to life’s questions.
Yes, provided your child is old enough to communicate with words, engage in simple sentence building or word association and respond positively to “Simon says” like body instructions. Kids love doing NET and we find they respond quickly in stress, confidence related, behavioral and other issues.
No, NET is not counseling nor is it a talk it out kind of therapy. It is a direct approach to balance the physiology of stress or Neuro Emotional Complex (NEC) surrounding an issue.
Want to learn more about Neuro Emotional Technique? Come in and experience your first session with us. You can also read more about it from the source, Dr. Walker himself by clicking here.