Energy Psychology Pioneers: Meet Asha Clinton, Founder of AIT
Asha Clinton with her 2019 ACEP Award
Advanced Integrative Therapy (AIT) is a part of the energy psychology family of therapies. It is a trauma-informed approach that focuses on chakras rather than meridians. AIT was founded by Asha Clinton, a frequent presenter at ACEP conferences and an invited presenter of the 2022 conference. In 2019, ACEP gave her an award for Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Energy Psychology. Her story is here.
Meet our hero: Asha Clinton
Asha spent her career as a psychotherapist in Princeton, New Jersey, where she and her late husband were faculty members at the famed university. As a new mom, psychotherapist in full-time practice, humanitarian aid worker and wife, her calendar was quite full. She says that when her daughter was young, Asha’s only quiet time was on Sundays in the tub.
It was during one of these baths that the structure and first protocol for AIT came to her. During a nap, Asha learned exactly how to execute this powerful healing protocol. Excited, and not wanting to lose what she had received, Asha jumped out of the tub and ran to her computer. Thus, AIT came to be.
Conventional talk therapy has its place, but often therapists seek different tools to help clients heal faster. Asha had an interest Eastern thought and had investigated other energy psychology modalities. She was always looking for ways to help her clients heal from the wounds of the past and create lives they can be excited about. Within that framework, Asha was primed to receive the gift of AIT.
What’s different about AIT
AIT is a chakra- and language-based energy psychology method. Since its inception in the late 1990s, the technique has helped thousands of people overcome many human difficulties, from dealing with illness to the aftermath of trauma.
The goal of AIT is to treat as many underlying causes of suffering as possible, so that healing can happen. Because of this, it is a trauma-focused approach. It focuses directly on any experience that triggers difficult feelings, elicits negative thoughts, and blocks us from our spiritual development. AIT is holistic in that it works with our physical, mental/emotional, and spiritual nature.
Humanitarian work
Asha and her team have dedicated time and effort to humanitarian work, bringing AIT to communities that have experienced human-made or natural disasters. This work includes working a group of Mayan women in Guatemala who had been profoundly wounded in the recent Guatemalan Civil War. These women had endured horrific trauma, such as watching their entire families murdered in front of their eyes. The women suffered yet persevered, seeking to restore both hope and meaning to their lives. Asha shared AIT with these women, helping them to heal and move forward.
Today, the AIT practice continues in Guatemala, this time helping people recover from the trauma of the eruption of Volcán de Fuego Chi gag in 2018. Bringing treatment to those in need, a dedicated team of AIT practitioners visited the affected communities weekly until their help was no longer needed.
Looking forward
Two studies are underway in the US investigating the usefulness of AIT in the treatment of cancer. Other case studies, such as one involving intergenerational trauma, point to the variety of conditions AIT can address. These studies will add to the growing research base exploring and explaining energy psychology.
If you would like to learn more about Asha and AIT, you can see her at the 2022 ACEP conference, where she is an invited presenter.
Photo by David Clode on unsplash
