Traditional Therapy vs. The Law of Attraction
Hint: It’s all about your beliefs.
By Robin Arnett, LCSW
If you are like many of my clients, you are a person who is pursuing self-improvement, healing, and growth through a variety of pathways. While on this journey, many people find themselves wondering if they have to choose between spirituality and therapy. The truth is that you don’t have to choose. Spiritual connection and development can go hand-in-hand with more (or less) traditional therapy. In fact, the more that I dive into all of these channels, the more I see common threads. Three approaches that I see as being fundamentally connected but different in their approach are CBT, EMDR, and the Law of Attraction.
What is the Law of Attraction?
The Law of Attraction refers to a metaphyical theory that suggests that we attract people and experiences that correspond to our level of energetic vibration. Have you ever met someone that seems to attract chaos wherever they go? Or, in contrast, a person who walks through the world with confidence and always seems to land sunny side up? This is the Law of Attraction in action.
The Law of Attraction is often misunderstood as being all about thinking positive thoughts, and practicing the Law of Attraction can often become a form of spiritual bypassing if it is misunderstood. This approach can feel like we’re essentially trying to trick outselves into feeling a way that we don’t feel so that we can attract the thing that we want. The real root of the Law of Attraction is not about deluding ourselves, but is really about the way that our subconscious beliefs inform our entire lives.
When people first learn about the Law of Attraction, it is common to do things like creating a vision board, focusing your thoughts on your desires, and doing everything you can to avoid negative thoughts. Unfortunately, this can all end up being an exhausting dead end, and lead to frustration and self-flagellation when we don’t get what we were hoping to attract.
The way that I see it, the Law of Attraction is linked to some much deeper stuff that has to be explored before anything real can change. This is where therapy can come in. The Law of Attraction goes deeper than what I can explore here, but connecting to energetics and spirituality is a powerful practice. There are many different approaches to connecting to Spirit, but whatever form that takes, it can be an important support and motivator for the work that you need to do to enact real change.
What is CBT?
CBT stands for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. CBT is based on the premise is that our thoughts influence our emotions, which in turn, influence our behavior. The behaviors that we take part in that are rooted in inaccurate or unhelpful thoughts often lead us to behaviors that keep us stuck or sometimes make things worse. CBT is highly evidence-based and is a common approach for psychotherapists across the globe. I think of CBT as a “top-down” approach, meaning we start cognitively in the executive functioning parts of the brain.
The CBT approach asks you to monitor your thoughts and replace them with thoughts that are more accurate and/or more helpful. Monitoring your thoughts actually involves a great deal of mindfulness. For change to happen, it is essential to uncover the thoughts that have been running through your head, and it can often be surprising to bring this background noise into the light. Once you’ve identified the thoughts that are influencing you, CBT suggests replacing and repeating new thoughts that are more accurate, help you to feel better, and lead to more positive behaviors.
CBT can get a bad reputation for bypassing emotion and essentially becoming a way to simply talk yourself into thinking differently, and I can absolutely understand those concerns. This is why I see CBT as only part of a comprehensive therapy practice that also takes time to connect with the internal parts that are generating those thoughts. I also advocate for approaches like EMDR and ketamine-assisted psychotherapy that can get to the root of where these thought patterns began in the first place. There are many reasons why we adopt the thoughts that we do, and some of those reasons are protective.
All of that being said, repetition is essential in the formation of new neural pathways and novel habits. Using CBT techniques to check in with yourself to affirm beliefs that feel true and in alignment with your highest self can be very helpful as part of a mindfulness practice, and as a way to get grounded in your truth. Sometimes it can be important to be the inner adult in your mind and take control of the narrative.
What is EMDR?
Eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing, or EMDR, is an evidence-based therapeutic modality that uses bilateral stimulation of the two sides of the brain to help rewire neural networks that are associated with maladaptive thought patterns. EMDR is based in the theory of Adaptive Information Processing (AIP). The AIP model theorizes that our brains and bodies orient toward health, but sometimes trauma can interrupt the natural process of healthy integration of our experiences. When our natural healing process gets stuck, we begin to form maladaptive memory networks or belief systems that become like tinted glasses for how we view the world.
EMDR therapy most often works by identifying core childhood memories that serve as a touchstone for where a memory network started to develop. Memory networks are associated with beliefs, and can be adaptive or maladaptive. Examples of a beliefs that inform maladaptive memory networks could be “I’m not safe,” or “I’m not good enough,” which could be built around childhood experiences that inform those beliefs. On the other hand, examples of beliefs feeding adaptive memory networks could be “I am resilient,” or “I am loved.” Everyone has both adaptive and maladaptive memory networks. EMDR uses bilateral stimulation to essentially reorganize our memories so that they take on a different tone and begin to be associated with our adaptive memory networks instead of the beliefs that bring us pain.
EMDR can be thought of more as a “bottom-up” approach to healing. With EMDR, we dig into the subconsious and connect to the body. Learn more detail about EMDR in this blog post.
What do CBT, EMDR, and the Law of Attraction Have in Common?
You may have noticed a common thread in all of these approaches - they are all rooted in your core beliefs. Each approach takes a different route to get at those beliefs, but the general theory is the same. The idea behind all of these approaches is that our core beliefs influence the way we think, which influences the ways that our lives take shape. Our beliefs become like a blueprint for our lives.
How Can I Change My Beliefs?
There are many ways to approach changing your beliefs, but the most important component to successful change is intention. Changing beliefs requires commitment, time, and often a combination of approaches. The key is repetition and emotional intensity. Our brains pay more attention to registering input that is accompanied by strong emotion. A comprehensive and effective approach will bring in both “top-down” and “bottom-up” methods.
As discussed above, EMDR and CBT are both evidence-based approaches to targeting changes in your belief systems. Hypnosis and energy work another effective approach that targets the subconscious. Supplementing therapy with ketamine and other psychadelics can also help to increase neuroplasticity, leading to easier access to changing your brain.
Contrary to what you may have heard in the past, it is possible to change your brain chemistry and your neural pathways well into adulthood.
What’s Next?
If you’re looking for a way to dive into changing your beliefs, your brain, and your vibration, we can help. Reach out to schedule a free consultation call where we can discuss the best approach for you. Change and healing are absolutely possible, and we are here to support your journey.
