Wake Up

The Legal and Ethical Framework for Energy Healers

• Douglas James Cottrell PhD • Season 1 • Episode 79

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The spiritual healing and energy work communities have long operated with passion and good intentions, but without solid grounding in the legal and ethical frameworks necessary for professional practice. Dr. Midge Murphy is changing that landscape through her groundbreaking work bridging these worlds.

As an attorney turned energy healer who earned the first PhD in Energy Medicine by someone with a legal background, Dr. Murphy shares her extraordinary journey from practicing law to discovering her gifts in Therapeutic Touch, Reiki, Matrix Energetics, and shamanic practices. Rather than abandoning her legal training, she recognized a critical gap in practitioner education and stepped into her calling as a guide for ethical energy healing practices.

Throughout our conversation, Dr. Murphy reveals the risks energy healers face when operating without proper legal and ethical frameworks. She details how seemingly innocent website language can trigger investigations for practicing medicine without a license, and how proper disclaimers and careful word choices can protect practitioners. Her book "Practice Energy Healing in Integrity" and companion certification program offer practitioners concrete tools to operate with confidence rather than fear.

What makes Dr. Murphy's approach revolutionary is her positive, empowering perspective. Rather than presenting legal compliance as a burden, she positions it as an opportunity for practitioners to elevate their work, demonstrate professionalism, and potentially access new opportunities in clinical settings. As states begin considering licensing requirements for energy healers, those who proactively embrace these standards will be well-positioned for the evolution of the field.

Beyond her work in ethics, Dr. Murphy also shares her personal healing practice as a forest therapy guide on her 50-acre property in Oregon, demonstrating how multiple modalities can work together within an ethical framework. Her ability to sense energy, work with helping spirits, and access information from what she calls "the field of the heart" brings a profound spiritual dimension to her practical advice.

If you're an energy healer, spiritual practitioner, or someone considering entering these fields, this episode provides essential guidance for practicing with integrity while protecting yourself legally. Visit mitchmurphy.com to explore her book, certification program, and consulting services.

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Welcome to Wake Up with Dr Douglas James Cottrell, your source for helpful information, advice and tips to live your life in a mindful way in this increasingly chaotic world. For over four decades, Dr Douglas has been teaching people how to develop their intuition and live their lives in a conscious way. His news and views of the world tomorrow, today, are always informative and revealing. To learn more about Dr Douglas, be sure to visit his website, douglasjamescottrell. com, where you can download self-help exercises you can do right in the comfort of your own home. And now here's your host, dr Douglas James Cottrell.

Douglas James Cottrell

Welcome everyone. I have a wonderful guest today on a topic that I'm somewhat experienced in, but this guest is knowledgeable in many, many different ways and I'm very curious to find out how Dr Midge Murphy got involved in her new book, in her life, in her practice of what we would call spiritual healing or healing with ethics. So welcome to the show, midge, and it's great to have you here today. Field of spiritual healing as an attorney, and a little bit about this wonderful book on ethics and all the wonderful things that people need to know who practice or do this kind of work.

Midge Murphy

Well, thank you for having me, doug, it's a pleasure to be here today.

Midge Murphy

My journey into being and I call it energy healing that's the phrase that I use and some people call them biofield therapies but as I was first introduced to an energy healing method because I was a hospice volunteer at our local hospital and I was introduced to therapeutic touch, I was given the opportunity to learn it as part of the services I could offer as a hospice volunteer, working with the patient's families.

Midge Murphy

And what was interesting to me because, as you say, I am an attorney, so I'm very left brain in terms of being logical and linear and business oriented and legal oriented was that as soon as I learned this modality it kind of awakened in me this ability in my hands to feel and see energy, and so that was really the first step in being introduced and sort of realizing that this was really a part of who I was which I wasn't aware of back then.

Midge Murphy

And this was in the early 90s that I learned therapeutic touch and then from there I went on to learn, became initiated as a Reiki master. I'm certified in matrix energetics and for the last almost 25 years I've been a student of shamanism. I've studied with a number of different teachers. So, as an energy healing practitioner myself, I incorporate all of those, but a lot of shamanic processes as well, and again, I'm kind of this interesting combination and I really consider myself a bridge between the world of energy healing and the world of business, regulatory agencies, all these things that we have to deal with if we're going to offer our healing services to the public.

Douglas James Cottrell

Well, you've certainly paid your dues. Therapeutic touch I remember reading about that and meeting nurses who practiced it a lot in years past through Reiki Master, through shamanic experiences. I kind of think this would be like a spiritual awakening going on inside and your spiritual journey has led you to where you are today to write this wonderful book. I think it's really needed because, as we know, there's people out there who say things but they say one thing and they do something different. But for people who are ethical and who are on this spiritual path, tell me about this book because I think it's necessary.

Douglas James Cottrell

I always have a disclaimer that I put in front of my clients every time I consult with them my term for this, energy healing, which I used to talk all the time. I now change the name a little bit to virtual uh virtue, spiritual healing same same energy, you know comes out of your hands. I want to ask you a little bit about how you feel when you do that. But uh, we'll get into that in a moment. But tell me about what uh you? You alluded to the idea of having this book and I think it's extremely necessary and everybody should read your book. It's the title of having this book and I think it's extremely necessary and everybody should read your book. It's the title of the book and how can people get a hold of it.

Midge Murphy

Well, the title of the book is Practice Energy Healing in Integrity the Joy of Offering your Gifts Legally and Ethically. And yes, this is my spiritual path, this is my path of service, and as I started to get involved in the energy healing community, one of the things I noticed that was lacking was any training in ethics, legal issues, risk management. It just didn't exist, and I thought this is where I could be of service, because I have these skills, where I am an attorney, professional liability, risk management consultant. I'm an energy healing practitioner myself. So the book is all about creating an opportunity for energy healing practitioners to learn and be educated and be empowered instead of scared of the legal issues they face as they offer their services to the public, because what we have to remember is that we all have to work within the current legal and regulatory framework that governs people, healthcare professionals who offer their services to the public and I'm really addressing those practitioners that have a business, that are advertising their services to the public. So they are offering healthcare services to the public right now, and what's happened is, unfortunately, the practitioners don't necessarily intend to be unethical or be in violation of the law, they just don't know any better. They have not had the opportunity to learn and be educated.

Midge Murphy

So the book is a resource for those practitioners, and the related exam is for them to earn a professional credential, because you can read a book, but that doesn't really mean anything.

Midge Murphy

But if you have a certificate of completion, what that indicates is you've successfully passed the exam and that you have a level of understanding and somewhat level of competency in ethics, legal issues and risk management strategies and the practice of energy healing methods.

Midge Murphy

I also offer this program to various training organizations that certify practitioners, because almost all of them lack this training as part of their certification programs and this is a huge void in terms of their education and training, and so it actually protects the training organization if they can have their students pass the exam, read the book and get the certificate, and this also allows them to feel less angst or less fear around the legal issues, instead of being afraid of them and going, oh, that's too scary. That's been kind of the mode of Avarende for the last 15, 20 years I've been doing this to. Oh, I need to learn about this, because guess what States are moving forward and really considering licensing energy healing practitioners, so that's stirring up a lot of fear and unknown consequences in terms of how you can actually have a legally sound and ethical practice.

Douglas James Cottrell

Well, I could see lots of red flags going up when you say that Separation of state and church, you know that should be, that's permanently entrenched in the psyche of spiritual people and have some sort of central what could we call it association or affiliation where people, when somebody coming in for a session, spiritual healing, they know when there's a certificate on the wall this person has some ethical background and or there's recourse should there be something inappropriately done, as my all my mind's full of questions like you ever had to defend somebody in court has been a setup. Have you know the, the uh people who I would call them? I won't, I won't want to use nerves terms, but let's say that the people with negative attitudes come in trying to set somebody up or go after them or their own personal agendas or spiritual beliefs I kind of subscribe to an inclusionary spiritual world where the world's great religions have great truths and they're all saying the same thing, which we boil it down as the golden rule.

Legal Framework for Energy Healing

Douglas James Cottrell

I kind of get it, but what you're doing is like you're in the trenches, you're right there and you're making this forward movement I think is necessary for the practitioners but also for the general public. Necessary for the practitioners but also for the general public, and so that when somebody goes there for something, there would be certain rules or expectations either met or at least discussed. I mean, people go for spiritual healing and they expect a miracle, do they not? They expect instant complete healing and we know that that happens in about 1% of the time, at least in my work. And although incrementally there are benefits, and then some people it takes a longer time and more sessions. So somewhere in there, you know, there is temptation for a practitioner to kind of stretch out the treatments, if you will. Sure you know all these little things that I mentioned are some of the red flags that go up when I hear you say you're there for integrity. God bless you for doing that. I don't know anyone else that's done this, mitch.

Midge Murphy

No, I'm it yeah.

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God has here's your path.

Midge Murphy

That's my path? Yes, and so I think. First of all, I'm a risk management consultant. I'm all about let's. It's risky to be out there offering energy healing services to the public and you're risky. We can talk about the risks that licensed practitioners face, which is different than the risks that non-licensed practitioners face. So I'm all about let's put into place risk management tools that can reduce your potential legal liability in offering your services to the public. So I don't defend anybody. I'm not practicing as a lawyer anymore, I'm just a risk management consultant, and so if someone gets to that point, then they need to hire a lawyer to defend them.

Midge Murphy

But what really has happened is what happens. If a licensing board thinks you're practicing medicine or psychotherapy without a license as an energy healing practitioner, then you don't get thrown in jail. There's no big court case. What you get normally is a cease and desist letter and what they're wanting to do they're not like after you. There's kind of this concept of oh, if I get a letter from a licensing board, they're after me. They just want you to be in compliance with the law, and so many times they'll work with the practitioner to bring them into compliance, like you don't want to use words on your website like anxiety or PTSD anything that's considered a psychological disorder because, as a general rule, only licensed mental health care professionals can work with people with those kinds of psychological disorders. If you're a non-licensed practitioner, that immediately puts you under the risk of being charged with practicing medicine without a license.

Midge Murphy

So I'm all about strategies.

Midge Murphy

One of the strategies is to make sure you have an audit of your website and that's one of the services I do offer and that is to go through the contents of your website and tweak the wording.

Midge Murphy

The nuances of the language is very, very fine, because it's a slippery slope, and so we want to reduce the potential risk of putting a red flag over your head just based on your website. So there's lots of things to consider around client testimonials, how you're describing your services, what kind of title you are using, making sure you're in compliance with Federal Trade Commission rules and regulations about how you advertise your services. And then the second tool that's very important and essential for a website is a website disclaimer, and that's the legal document that governs the relationship between you and visitors to your website, and if you have a legally sound one that's based on the contents of your website. It's customized to you and your unique practice. Then it lists different disclosures and things that need to be said that really bring down the potential risk of having a licensing board or regulatory agency taking a look at your website and then opening an investigation.

Midge Murphy

So that's one of the key strategies.

Douglas James Cottrell

I think that's. I was going to ask you about the disclaimer. That sounds to me like every single person who does this energy healing work, from all the various names that are behind it. They ought to listen to you. This is. You know, I started my stuff, my, my stuff, back in the seventies and it was always looking over your shoulder. You know, my, my mentor was Ross Peterson, and before Ross Peterson was Edgar Cayce. We've, we've all suffered kind of a little. Tell us what you're doing, you know, and you don't have to always be prepared. So I'm just, I'm just so I have a million questions. We're going to take a short break in a moment, but I have a million questions about this. But you're doing very well as far as being on this path. I really think that's needed for everybody's sake, but especially those people who are usually meek, wild, wonderful people trying to do service and unfortunately it's like lambs, you know being surrounded by wolves.

Douglas James Cottrell

Let's take a short break and we'll be right back, okay.

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Douglas James Cottrell

Well, just before the break we were talking about the integrity, the necessity of having integrity to have an open format on your website, have a disclaimer and a lot of other really great tips for anybody who's in spiritual healing work, energy healing work. If you will Practice energy healing and integrity, the joy of offering your gifts legally and ethically by Midge Murphy, JD PhD. Legally and ethically by Midge Murphy, jd, phd. I'm just enthralled with Midge, your tenacity or direction. Obviously you're being guided from above to do this. I can't think of anyone else in the field I know that has actually brought the creative, spiritual energy, if you will, down to the finite world of how to operate within the legal realm. And so, as you were saying earlier about your book, people can be like where can they get this book? By the way, I think this is a real must-have kind of a book.

Midge Murphy

Oh, thank you. I appreciate that the print book is available on Amazon and the Kindle version is available on Amazon as well. On my website the PDF version of the book is available and on my website the exam is also available only on my website, so you can get the book on Amazon. A lot of people like print books because it's a great resource book. It's a book you're going to want to keep and refer back to if you're a practitioner, to take a look at some of the topics that are covered, because something will come up you'll want some information about. So you know, for me, because I'm kind of an older generation, I like print books, but a lot of kids, you know they people like the kindle version or the pdf as well. So those are definitely available on my website and your website is mitchmurphycom.

Douglas James Cottrell

Yeah, mitchmurphycom.

Midge Murphy

Yeah, mitchmurphycom.

Douglas James Cottrell

And would you just let it slip out there take the exam on your website. What's that all about?

Midge Murphy

Well, I think it's important with this opportunity to get this training is this is a professional, credential certificate of completion. It indicates to, first of all, regulatory agencies and licensing boards that you are a high-level professional, that you take your work seriously and that you're wanting to bring forth the highest level of integrity in how you work with your clients. And to have the ethical background is essential, and it's also something that you can show to your clients, your potential clients. They're coming to look to say what is your training? How long have you been trained? How long have you been doing this work? Have you had any training in ethics and legal issues? Because what's happening is more mainstream.

Ethics and Risk Management

Midge Murphy

People are wanting to access spiritual healing, energy healing, and so as it moves forward and gains traction, then of course it gets more highlighted in terms of what the public is looking for. Also, here's another thing that I like to share with energy healing practitioners is that if there's a chance at some point to be part of a clinical setting or an integrative healthcare setting and you're going to be interviewed for that position, that particular clinic or organization or integrative healthcare center is going to want to look. Are you certified in the energy modalities that you want to offer to our clients or patients that come here? Have you had any training in ethics and legal issues? And if you can check those boxes, you're going to have a much higher level of opportunity to expand your business and create more opportunities for jobs and different kinds of places. You might be in service as well.

Midge Murphy

But if you're sitting there saying, well, no, I'm not certified, I watched a workshop over the internet and you know, because anybody can call themselves an energy healing practitioner and so that's why the perception is it's the wild, wild west, it's like, and there's people out there that have good intentions. They just do not have the background in training to really be in an ethical and legally sound practice. So the certificate of completion increases your chances of expanding your client base, other job opportunities and as the states begin to move forward licensing, this will be absolutely required in order to practice if they move towards licensing energy healing practitioners. So it has a lot of benefits and it gives you this chance to really go through the material. It's an open book exam and I grade it, and it's a 50 question fill in format and multiple choice and to me it's a way to really again create a tool for you to have in terms of moving your practice forward in a more professional way.

Douglas James Cottrell

I know you're based in the US. We have our audiences worldwide as we broadcast the world Just off the top of my head. May anyone from anywhere in the world you know take your certification.

Midge Murphy

Yeah, it's not a certification. It's actually a certificate of completion. But yes, it's definitely geared towards the legal side, is geared towards US and Canada. Canada is very similar to the US in terms of how they handle licensing of healthcare professionals, the ethical parts of the book and how you can choose the practical considerations and choosing someone who's a good candidate for energy healing work. Not everybody is. All of that part of the book and the sacred contracts aspect that they teach about with archetypes all of that is applicable no matter where you practice in the world.

Douglas James Cottrell

Well, listen, you're just wowing me here today with this information. I'm really pleased. I've been in the spiritual work or worlds since I was about 24, way back in the middle 70s, and there definitely is a need for what you're providing. You know there's a huge interest in spirituality now. The world is going through this time of extremes and it's not going to quit. I'm afraid that we're going to go through even more difficult times in the upcoming years. Somewhere, maybe 10 years from now, there'll be a reprieve and we'll bounce back to some sort of normalcy. Ever since COVID, the world changed. Like the Mayan calendar said, in one day or one year. The world is never, ever going to be the same as it was before COVID. So now there's a spiritual awakening taking place. Do you think that beyond spiritual healing energy healing that there would be embracing other spiritual gifts, some sort of certification or acknowledgement of these other gifts?

Midge Murphy

Yeah, that's a great question. I'm not really sure there's so many different modalities out there and kind of what I like to think about is where do we fit into the current legal and regulatory paradigm that governs the healthcare professions? And I really like to. That's a big picture and I think it's helpful for practitioners to understand that we would fit in under the definition of complementary and alternative medicine, and I like Michael Cohen's book Future Medicine and his definition of complementary and alternative medicine, or CAM, is that it's a consensus term, meaning anything modalities, approaches, techniques, treatments that are outside of bio-Western medicine.

Midge Murphy

So, that's a huge. I mean it's our vague medicine outside of bio-western medicine. So that's a huge. I mean it's our vague medicine. Naturopathic medicine, herbal medicine, hands-on healing techniques there's a huge list of all of those. That's where we fit and so we're in that little, that section of called energy healing methods or spiritual methods. So that's where we fit in terms of how we're perceived in the structure that we all have to operate in.

Midge Murphy

So in that structure there are only, as far as I know right now, there's chiropractors would be considered out CAM practitioners.

Midge Murphy

They're licensed in all 50 states and there's some CAM practitioners are licensed in some states but not in others. So that would be acupuncturists, naturopathic physicians, massage therapists, and then there's this huge group of modalities that are completely unregulated except and that would be the energy healing world, and that's also psychosensory methods such as havening. A lot of people are working with emotional freedom techniques or tapping, and those modalities are completely unregulated right now, except for there are a few states that require you to be a licensed massage therapist if you offer any kind of hands-on healing work. Nebraska is one of them. So, as an energy healing practitioner, it's really important to know and understand and be aware of the Massage Practice Act in your state if you have one. Not all states license massage therapists, so I think you know there's this movement to bring all of this more into the mainstream healthcare so people can access these great modalities and because they do help and they do make a difference in people's lives?

Douglas James Cottrell

Yeah, absolutely, people who go, and they have. You either have a benefit or you don't, and if you feel the benefit, you go back. People are not silly. They say it's just cause and effect. And this is the invisible made visible. So to speak.

Douglas James Cottrell

We all talk about a spiritual consciousness, a God Almighty, if you will, and divine influences, as well as the inherent intuition and spiritual gifts we have inside of us, each and every one of us, whether people believe it or not. Those that don't believe well, there's no sense discussing it. Those that believe come on down. We've got a ton of stuff to talk about and, as I'm talking to you, it's kind of like it's just like my gosh. There's an enormous what can I call it enormous void here to be filled with your stepping in there. I guess you're about the only one that's doing this.

Midge Murphy

Yeah, as far as I know, there's another attorney now that is doing some webinars and I was so grateful to have someone else that's addressing these issues. I'm really the only one that has this book in exam and I think it's important that just to let people know that it exists and it's available. And so, in terms of the energy healing and what I'm empower, I'm wanting to empower my clients to feel more comfortable about offering their, their gifts to the, to the world and to be in service in this way, and I think, with the energy healing community, there is a sense of of connecting to your higher self and connect with consciousness in terms of how you bring this energy into your system. And I think what I like to explain is like energy healing methods. Spirituality is all based on quantum physics, where everything is energy when you distill it down, and our bio Western medical system is based on Newtonian physics, which is about a reductionist model of looking and viewing the world. You have and we need it.

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Oh my god.

Midge Murphy

If I broke my arm, I certainly want to go in and have, you know, a castor surgery if I need it or whatever. But the blending when I've had that happen, my recovery is exponential because I also bring in my energy healing skills with when I recover. So I think it's interesting how it's all starting to fold together and instead of stepping back and being afraid, it's like okay, how can we lean into this and be in service in this way, because we know that these practices really do help people and alleviate suffering and pain and all kinds of other issues that people are dealing with, and I think it really helps center them and make them more conscious of their spiritual awareness and how they're connecting to the consciousness and to the spiritual realms as well.

Douglas James Cottrell

Well, you're making this interview go very well because you're answering questions telepathically. I have notes over here and I was just going to ask you to explain what you just did. There we go. So let's deal a little bit with the skeptics and the people that are out there, because you know as a journalist, we have to look on both sides of the question. How do you deal, or how would people deal in your guidance, with skeptics?

Midge Murphy

Well, you're talking about a client that's skeptic about working with someone. They say Midge.

Douglas James Cottrell

Your book is just, you know, off the wall. I mean, there's always somebody out there.

Midge Murphy

Yeah so just briefly.

Douglas James Cottrell

I don't want to get into it too much because but for people who are you know, looking for the other side of the question. Certainly you're going to be challenged, so how would you deal with people who are challenged? What you're trying to do, I guess, is the better question.

Midge Murphy

Yeah, well, that hasn't happened. But what I would kind of go to would be the fact is, this is a healthcare service and let's start right there. And so if you're going to see your MD, you want to make sure that they're licensed. Obviously they have to be. And what does that mean? That means that they've gone to school, they've done their boards, they've done the residency, they've done all their hours, they've passed their boards and their license. The license is an indication that they have a level of competency and skill level that they can offer as a doctor Same thing with all the other licensed healthcare professions.

Spiritual Journey in Energy Medicine

Midge Murphy

So what do they need? They also have to be trained in ethics and legal issues. So, as an energy healing practitioner, I'm offering my services as a healthcare professional, and so all of the things that would be needed to be legitimate as a licensed professional. We need to fold that in to what we're doing as energy healing practitioners. Now, at this point we can't be licensed, but we certainly can become certified if it's an opportunity from a legitimate organization that offers a professional type of certification program.

Midge Murphy

Not all of them do, but there are a number of out there that are very well done, highly professional, bring out very well-trained practitioners and that are legally sound and also can be ethical in how they work with people. So I think if you look at it from that standpoint and just put us in the category we're here to be in service just like a doctor or a nurse or a PT or a psychologist then we want to build our credentials so that we have some legitimacy and we can come to the table and say, yes, I have some training, I'm an ethical practitioner, I've had that training, I understand the legal issues, and so this is what this information and knowledge is all about is educating those practitioners about. I don't think you can argue that that's not an important piece of being a healthcare professional.

Douglas James Cottrell

Well, I was as you were talking. I was thinking you're establishing a defined area of transparency. This is what we are, this is what we do, and here's our certification or certificate or agreement with other people to do the same thing, and anything outside of that is not to be included, although other things may happen, but this is primarily the path, if you will.

Midge Murphy

Right.

Douglas James Cottrell

I just think this is exactly what's necessary. I mean, people get involved in energy healing and then, all of a sudden, they get involved in other things. Their spiritual forces take over and they get involved in other things. Uh, their spiritual forces take over and they take, they're interested in other things. But uh, if, if someone has a business and they're focused, that's how they're successful. I think people that are creative and spiritual tend to be distracted, if you will, so they get to get back here's your, here's your bracket, here's your boundaries.

Douglas James Cottrell

Stay with it, you'll do well. Yeah, I know I've been there myself. Zoom over here. Oh yeah, what about this? Oh my gosh that you know so. But anyway, you know, I've got a list of questions and you've answered many of them just without me even asking, you know. So how did you get started again? I mean, how did you? You went through a process of your own spiritual journey learning, energy healing, and then, of course, being an attorney. The logical step was to do what you're doing now. But could you remember how you got from that analytical mind into the contemplative mind?

Midge Murphy

Yeah, I think the key component was that first opportunity to learn therapeutic touch. And then I had the opportunity to also met Carolyn Mace and Norm Shealy and Norm Shealy, he's one of the leading experts on intuition medicine and that kind of thing and spirituality and with Carolyn, who wrote Sacred Contracts and a number of other books, and they were offering a PhD program in energy medicine and I was really intrigued by that. Don't know really why, but I just kind of went with my intuition and what my heart sense was telling me.

Douglas James Cottrell

You were kind of moved too, yeah.

Midge Murphy

And so I had this opportunity. So I went through the program and earned a PhD I'm the first attorney to earn a PhD in energy medicine and, to be honest with you, when I graduated I really didn't know what I was going to do. I was looking for guidance and I had an opportunity to create a course for Francesca McCartney's program out of Sausalito, california, in intuition medicine and we went through our PhD programs together and she said you know, you've got this background in law and business. Now you have a PhD in energy medicine. You're an energy healing practitioner yourself. Can you come and teach a course on ethics and legal issues for my academy? And I went oh yeah, I think I can do that.

Midge Murphy

And that kind of started it and then it kind of snowballed and then realized that this was an area, as we've talked about already, not being addressed in the field itself. And I think what's also happening is there's more and more research that's going on around energy healing methods and the safety and the efficacy of those if they're done properly. And so I think some of the skeptics there is scientific validation, especially for EFT tapping. They've done a lot of studies therapeutic touch, healing touch have a lot of studies behind them so you can bring in the research, but also the fact that I was kind of brought into this phase of being in service. It just kind of all flowed.

Midge Murphy

And so my PhD being an energy healing practitioner myself and then and having this background is like this is where I can be of service and realize no one was addressing these issues at all. In fact, they were afraid of a lot of fear. So I'm trying to empower people to not be afraid but to realize that well, maybe if I learned about the legal and ethical issues that I need to be aware of as I practice, then instead of being afraid of that and thinking it's too scary, how about? Maybe it's being empowered and maybe like, let's be curious about these issues because they're not going to go away? You can't stick your head in the sand and pretend they don't exist and if you really want to have a viable practice, these are essential and critical components of your knowledge and expertise that you need to bring to the clients that you serve.

Douglas James Cottrell

Well, you're obviously a pathfinder. You know the way I'm listening to you and I could see you know the influences and the cosmos kind of nudging you a little bit here and here and the connections you make. It's happened in my life as well and as I've interviewed people and I've asked them that similar question, there always seems to be this mysterious way people end up right where they're supposed to be. You know, mysterious way people end up right where they're supposed to be. You know. So you know, it's wonderful to talk to you. People can find and the name of your book again, and where they can find it.

Midge Murphy

It's Practice, energy, healing and Integrity, the Joy of Offering your Gifts Legally and Ethically. Again, the print book and Kindle book on Amazon and the PDF version of the book and the exam based on the book on my website, which is mitchmurphycom mitchmurphycom, a place you have to go, my friends.

Forest Therapy and Nature Connection

Douglas James Cottrell

This is a wonderful person, a person on a path, I think, a calling, if I can use that. Mitch, I know that you know, if you listen to this interview, you're probably intrigued, as I am, as if this is a person who's going to help you fit within the parameters, ethically, legally, give you some sort of protection or assurance on how to act and how to deal with your customers and clients. Mitchmurphycom, we're going to take a short break and we're right back after the break with more with Dr Murphy. We're right back after this.

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Dr Midge Murphy has a deep understanding of both the law and alternative healing arts. As an energy healing practitioner and the first attorney to receive a PhD in energy medicine, her unique perspective sent her on a quest for the knowledge that ultimately led her to create a guide for her fellow professionals. However, she also realized that the knowledge in the book was only the first step. The second step is for practitioners to take the exam based on the book and earn a certificate of completion in ethics, legal issues and risk management strategies for practitioners of energy healing methods. By earning this certificate, practitioners receive a professional credential that demonstrates that they understand and have competency in ethics and legal issues using the practice of energy healing methods. Having a certificate of completion not only raises the standards of the industry, but also provides an extra layer of protection for practitioners because of the legal vulnerabilities that are inherent in offering energy healing services to the public. Midge also has an affiliate program for energy healing training organizations. It offers a revenue opportunity for organizations that incorporate her book and exam as part of the required ethics legal training for its students and practitioners. The book by Dr Midge Murphy is Practice Energy Healing in Integrity the joy of offering your gifts, legally and ethically, can be found on Amazon. Now, back to the show with Dr Douglas James Cottrell.

Douglas James Cottrell

We're having a wonderful interview with uh midge, who is, uh, basically outlining something that you, my friends, as an energy healer or a spiritual healing person, you ought to have this book in your library, you ought to keep it really close on your desk, and I would encourage anyone to explore what Dr Murphy's talking about today. I've never come across anyone like this who has been able to delineate, you know, the meat and potatoes of how to be in the spiritual world, so to speak, or maybe I should say peas and carrots for our vegetarian friends. We'll kind of go with that. So listen as you move forward from here. What's next for you?

Midge Murphy

What's next in your, I guess, agenda or life? Well, I'm really wanting to get the word out about the book and the exam and that's to me a critical part why I'm doing this interview exam. And that's to me a critical part why I'm doing this interview because I think this is information now that the industry and practitioners and training organizations are really starting to pay attention to. Wasn't the case in the years past. But I think now I'm feeling this, this, this pull and this interest in this topic, because it is critical in terms of moving the field forward and I'm all about having where I see the future going is that the more legitimized the energy healing community is, the spiritual community is, in terms of offering healthcare services to the public, that that's going to be a ripple effect where more people can be helped, and we know that right now, in terms of what our society is going through, the world in general, as we talked about a little bit earlier you mentioned, douglas is that there is this sense of isolation from our core spiritual paths, sometimes in terms of feeling like we're not really working with our soul's mission and how we can connect to those higher levels of consciousness, and so I think this allows that whole field, or the Bible field, which I consider the heart sense, to expand and grow and be in service in so many different ways that we're not even aware of at this point in time. But if we can raise the level of consciousness in the general public as just working in this field, which we know can raise the level of consciousness then I think that's going to be even in better service in terms of how we can sort of work through this, the divisiveness and the anger and the hatred that we're facing in our society right now. So I think this is a way to work with that energy to help shift and transform it. And so it's about transmission as well and how we show up in the world and what kind of energy sort of frequency do we have? Are we centered, are we living by the golden rule, that kind of stuff.

Midge Murphy

So I think in a broad sense that's an important piece and for me personally, I'm also a certified forest therapy guide and I live on 50 acres outside of Eugene Oregon and I offer guided forest immersion walks on my land. And this, this is a way, for the land has always told me it wanted to do energy healing work on the land. And so this is a way to bring people, slow them down, immerse themselves in nature, which gives them the opportunity to experience the healing powers of nature. And it's through your senses, it's not through your mind, it's not a meditation, it's not a hike, it's not a natural walk. It's about slowing down, connecting with nature and creating relationships with nature. And when you have that relationship, then you also build this morphic field of people caring more about the planet and that we are nature. We're not above it or anything like that. We are nature. And how do we reconnect?

Midge Murphy

And these are all very ancient concepts and this started forest bathing in Japan in the 80s and they found there's so many health benefits lowers blood pressure, stress hormones, builds the immune system, helps with depression, and that's all evidence-based. There's been a ton of studies. So you can't say, oh, that's poo-hoo, no, it's not, it's evidence-based. So I'm personally, for me, I love being in nature, I love taking people on these guided walks and, again, that's my way of being in service, as well as doing this other work.

Douglas James Cottrell

Well, I would concur with that. When I was a young man working in the newspaper business downtown Toronto, there was the hustle and the bustle, there was noise in the building from the presses. There was just 24 hour well, not 24 hour, but most of the day was noise. And then once a year I would go up north and have a little vacation and I was so enthralled with the quiet. The first three days I was shaking, waiting for noise. I was so, you know. And then by the third day I got into the flow of nature. I said I could hear a leaf floating down and I realized I was about 22 or 23 at the time just how different my world was in the workaday city.

Douglas James Cottrell

Hustle and bustle call it. And that was before internet and before cell phones and before Twitter and social media. Again, being a little older, I can dismiss it as social media. But my granddaughter, could Papa have a nap? Hey, get a nap this, do a nap that and I go, thank you, did you say nap or app? No problem.

Midge Murphy

I'm with you.

Douglas James Cottrell

Everybody is so bombarded with Wi-Fi stuff me. Let me generically say that. So going out to a place that you're offering for people, for peace and quiet and just to walk on the soil, how many of us don't go outside?

Douglas James Cottrell

you're in a house, you're in a car, you're in an office to the car to the house again and uh, and you're in front of, you're in a car, you're in an office, to the car, to the house again, and you're in front of a screen all the time.

Douglas James Cottrell

Unfortunately, I have friends who retired lawyers for instance they're on the computer 24-7, all their waking hours. I mean, it's such an amazing thing of stimulating, putting intellectual input in, but that's where people should discipline themselves and say you know, take time for eating, resting, uh, you know, exercise, but also spiritual peace, spiritual work, which is where I think your, uh, your, your property would be a certain welcome oasis, if you will, from the hustle and bustle. Sorry, I'm getting off on a tangent, but I'm just remembering the difference between the hustle and bustle and the spiritual world, which is not quiet. Vegetation, meditation and spiritual contemplation are nurturing and energizing. So, as people do this, as you kind of go back to nature, tell us a little bit about your, the spiritual energy, how that works in you, or or or how you would define it, just for people that might be curious about what you're putting forward here.

Energetic Experiences and Practices

Midge Murphy

Yeah, well, in terms of my energy healing practice, I have I call them my tool belt, and so I have these things I've been trained in and my main focus is, you know, I do this consulting work, but every once in a while I'll do some energy healing work. Someone will contact me and it just depends on what shows up. I'm very open, I create a sacred space and I can feel energy in my hands, in my mind's eye. I can see where, if I'm kind of doing like in therapeutic touch, we do an assessment of the field and I can see if there's something that's attached to someone that doesn't belong to them and where their energy may be. I can feel like a cold spot where it's like there's a void there, the energy is not flowing well or there's an imbalance in the energy. I can feel prickling in my hands sometimes, imbalance in the energy. I can feel prickling in my hands sometimes.

Midge Murphy

And then, of course, with therapeutic touch and the training I've had in that modality, a really important part is we ground people to the earth and that's a really important part of the process of doing a therapeutic touch session with someone, and sometimes I will encounter because of my background in shamanic work. Helping spirits will show up Sometimes they're animals, sometimes they're beings that will have information that they want to share in a session or to be there of help. If we're going to do some kind of extraction, to okay, what are we going to do with this energy once we remove it? So it really, really varies and sometimes it's strictly. I'm doing therapeutic touch and I can feel their energy.

Midge Murphy

Sometimes there's shamanic processes that come into the work, or matrix energetics. We work a lot with parallel universes and different techniques to access consciousness and information, because I really think that this energy healing work is really about light and information. And how do you access that? So, again, we're talking about quantum physics, which I'm not a quantum physics expert, but what I understand is when you get down to the zero point field, which I call the field of the heart, then all possibilities exist in time and space, and so that's why, energy healing, you can have those miraculous results, because you can access energies in that place where all possibilities exist, and then, depending on the circumstances, it can be then imbued and transmitted into the person that you're working with and then they have noticed a change or a betterment in their condition or the issue that brought them to do the work.

Douglas James Cottrell

Well, you're obviously a hands-on person who I found. There's people who talk academically and then there's people who talk with experience, and the ones I like to listen to are the people who are academically trained and have experience in what they are talking about, or academic, and that's wisdom you know. And this to listen to you about interdimensional beings showing up, angels or saints, people might say having a work with heavenly spiritual beings assisting. In my practice, we always like ask for God Almighty to intervene or to help, to give a blessing for general terms I'm using here, but to help people remove their illness or to give them an opportunity to get out of the situation they're in.

Douglas James Cottrell

Along that way, as you said or alluded to before your experiences, our group has started hopeconferencesorg website to do this, to go out into the world in a similar way to what you were saying, is needed Hopeconferencesorg for everybody who would like to check that out more. That's based in the US and Texas. There's a nonprofit company therezona. So as we move forward, uh, trying to uh take the message your, your, your path is on the same. I think a lot of people are now feeling this uh motivation, this urgency to get the word out to help people to do spiritual healing or energy healing for themselves and for the world. So in a few minutes before we sign off here, can you give me any references to making how you've had experiences with people trying to, you know, heal the planet or bring peace into the world? Just as an off the wall kind of question?

Midge Murphy

I don't. Yeah, I'm going to think about that for a second. I'm not. What sort of comes to mind is that? You know, there are organizations that are sincerely out there wanting to lift the consciousness of the planet, and there's little ones, and energy healing is one way. Spiritual healing, climate change I think there's a lot of ways that we can move that consciousness and lift it through different pathways, and so I'm just doing my little bit of being in service, and that's important. And I think also, these organizations just have to be mindful that when we offer our services to the public, we really do need to make sure that we are operating within our scope of practice, legally and what that means, as well as within the regulatory system, the licensing system that we all have to pay attention to, and so I'm there to help that, so that everyone can move forward and be empowered and provide the services that they're looking for, to give to people, to raise the consciousness of the planet, one person at a time.

Douglas James Cottrell

Well, it's amazing what we've had this talk today. We're going to take one more commercial break, I believe, before we get to the summary of the show. So stay tuned, everybody, we'll be right back after this.

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Every so often an individual appears who can demonstrate the ability to access the dimension known as the Akashic field. Dr Douglas James Cottrell is one such individual. The field is like a celestial library of all our thoughts and actions Since the dawn of time. Science is demonstrating that through this energetic field, our minds are connected to one another, despite our perception that we're all separate. This is why the great religions of the world teach respect, compassion and tolerance. They depict the field as the book of life, the source of inventions, inspiration and insight. In the book Conversations with the Akashic Field, dr Cottrell offers you practical advice from the Akashic Field so you may live a life of peace and prosperity. Go to DouglasJamesCottrellcom and click on Shop. There you'll find books, meditation and other spiritual advancement materials.

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And now back to the show with Douglas, james Cottrell and Midge Murphy.

Final Thoughts and Resources

Douglas James Cottrell

You know, dr Murphy, this has been an amazing interview. You know, I've said a couple of times already in the show that I've not met anybody like you who is attempting to put forward this concept of integrity and spiritual healing. And again, your website is mitchmurphycom and you have several aspects on that website. Anybody who's engaged as a spiritual energy healing person or worker, they should contemplate it. Even people who are just interested, novice, if you will, they should contemplate it. Even people who are just interested, novice, if you will. How would you, in a closing, how would you encourage a novice or somebody who's a little curious? Or maybe, if you just had a little bit of awakening, how would you encourage them?

Midge Murphy

Well, I think that if you're an established practitioner, then continue your training and I think the certificate of completion with the exam is really critical and to read the book and have an understanding.

Midge Murphy

If you're a novice and really thinking about entering into the energy healing field and having a professional practice, then it's important to kind of feel what kind of modality you're really drawn to, because everybody's different in terms of where they resonate with.

Midge Murphy

A certain kind of energy healing or spiritual healing modality Could be theta healing, angelic healing, eft, tapping healing tap there's so many out there. So to really kind of hone in on where your interest line, where you're feeling drawn, and then to make sure that you really do the research to make sure that you find a training organization that has a legitimate professional program that's critical and they're not all the same, and I do talk about in the book a little bit about what are the criteria or essential components of a legitimate professional certification or training program. So I would really ask the novice to really do the research, talk to people, maybe go to an introductory workshop on certain kinds of modalities that you're interested in, listen to your heart and your intuition where they're guiding you, but then make sure you really commit to being professionally trained If you're going to want to offer your services to the public and have a business. That's really critical.

Douglas James Cottrell

If you're going to want to offer your services to the public and have a business. That's really critical. Well said, dr Murphy. I'd like to express my sincere gratitude for taking the time to discuss your insightful and pioneering work in the field of energy healing and integrity. The joy of offering your gifts legally and ethically certainly offers a valuable resource for practitioners looking to uphold high standards of legal and ethical conduct in their practice. I hope our listeners today can take away some key insights on how to move forward in their respective practices with integrity and ethical responsibility. Remember, whether you're a novice or an experienced practitioner in energy healing, there's always room to learn, to evolve and improve.

Douglas James Cottrell

If you'd like to find out more about Dr Murphy's work, to connect with her, we will include her contact information in the show notes or as we have put a commercial up for Dr Murphy. Thank you, dr Murphy, for shedding light on this important topic and thank you to all our listeners from around the world for tuning in. We'll be back soon with more insightful interviews. Until then, remember to practice kindness, be open-minded and never stop learning. Thank you, midgemurphycom. This is douglas james cotrell signing off with a gratitude to the producers, co-producers jack and paul, who are standing by, working behind the scenes to make this podcast radio show possible to everyone around the world. Until next time, my friends, may god bless you with health, wealth and peace of mind of mind. I'm your host, douglas James Cottrell.

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