Current systems of professional education were examined to identify existing models of thinking that would validate an intuitive-rational model. Therapy and education have been described as both arts and sciences. However, most educational programs have supported only the scientific component. The "art of therapy" has been superficially acknowledged, but little has been provided to assist the development of skill and accuracy in this area. Professionals are usually educated and trained in a fact-based approach. The assumption is made that clinical and educational decisions are made at a rational level, and specific approaches and techniques should be supported by scientific theory and research. The therapist or educator is expected to observe each aspect of the client's abilities and disabilities, and move step by step toward the logical conclusion. Only information that "makes sense" and can be verified objectively is included in the panning of a therapy or educational program.

The term "clinical intuition" might be substituted for the "art of therapy." An intuitive approach to assessment and treatment includes hunches and spatial-timing components. Intuition is defined as knowing something without knowing how we know it.

In accessing intuitive information, professionals open both physical and nonphysical senses to obtain a global impression of the child and family. Questions are asked of the intuitive self, and answers are incorporated in the assessment, treatment, or education program. The intuitive data is generally refined, with specific points checked out by additional questions and observations. Responses to subtle nonverbal messages and intuitive knowledge promote further investigation or lead directly to a conclusion. Changes in space and time occur so easily and appropriately that therapy/education exhibits an aliveness and a flow from one event to the next. Information does not initially have to make sense. It usually cannot be validated objectively at the time it is perceived to be accurate. An intuitive approach leads to quantum leaps in understanding, and is an essential component of creativity. It allows therapists and educators to become more sensitive to their own needs and to the needs of their students and clients. It improves the effectiveness of clinical problem solving.

Research on right-left hemisphere processing supports multiple ways of dealing with information. The styles represented by the right hemisphere (i.e. intuitive, spontaneous, holistic, visual, artistic, spatial, nonverbal, symbolic, diffuse, playful) are equal to the processing styles of the left hemisphere (analytical, linear, sequential, verbal, concrete, rational, goal-oriented). Integration of the two hemispheres and subcortical processing provide full access to human capability. With skill and efficiency in all ways of understanding a situation or concept, the individual may be described as using the whole brain. The whole-brain concept becomes a metaphor for rehabilitation and education. use of a single processing style reduces the information-processing capability of the individual. For complete function, the total capacity of the individual must be recognized and nourished.

Work with individuals with special needs is enhanced when therapists and educators integrate rational and intuitive styles of thinking - a skill that honors both the science and art of therapy. To do this, educational programs must support the development of skill and confidence in both ways of processing information. Yet, professional education, with its rational-linear mode of teaching, implies that intuitive thinking is inappropriate in therapy and education. Most professionals engage in intuitive thinking as they deal with the daily issues that confront them. Although they automatically bring intuition into therapy or the classroom, few have developed their intuitive skills to as great a degree as their rational skills.

The creation of binaural beats in the brain through the Hemi-Sync process creates the natural environment for developing this blending of intuitive and rational processing skills. Through the noninvasive use of Hemi-Sync sounds, a more equal balance of activity is created in the right and left hemispheres of the brain. Subjectively reported emotional balance would also imply the activation of the subcortical limbic system.

Workshop Design

The three-day workshop is designed to assist participants to discover and trust their unique perceptive and intuitive skills; create a receptive mode for learning and gathering information; become more sensitive to inner needs and those of their clients; improve the effectiveness of clinical problem solving; rapidly gin access to intuitive states of consciousness that support intuitive and creative thinking; and enhance the ability to integrate intuitive and rational styles of thinking and problem solving.

The teaching design includes a careful blend of theoretical and experiential components. Each program begins with an examination of the process of intuition and a review of situations that enhance ease and accuracy of intuitive thinking. Laboratory research and experiential information is discussed, linking Hemi-Sync with situations that support intuition. Participants are introduced to a series of tools for accessing and using intuition. Hemi-Sync audiotapes from the Gateway Experience home course, Metamusic^® Artists Series, and Mind Food category are presented via stereo headphones. These provide a set of group exercises that enable each individual to put away distracting thoughts, enhance personal energy, affirm the intent to access information, enhance mental awareness, and tap into levels of human consciousness that create a more efficient access to intuitive information. A series of practical discussions and group exercises is blended with the taped experiences. These enable participants to practice and affirm the use of intuition with others, to integrate rational and intuitive information in practical situations, and to create applications for therapy and educational settings.

During the past year, guidelines for using Hemi-Sync with children and adolescents were included. Videotapes documenting the use of Hemi-Sync tapes to enhance sensory integration, develop focus of attention, increase learning skills, and develop self-esteem were presented. In addition to enhancing these abilities, Hemi-Sync may indirectly assist children to develop stronger knowledge of their own needs and learning processes. When both therapist-educator and child are sensitive to intuition, the resulting shared knowledge can increase the accuracy and effectiveness of the educational or therapy session.

Workshop Follow-Up and Feedback

Since 1989, four workshops, with a total of fifty-eight participants, have been presented. Participants have included professionals in special education, speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, therapeutic horseback riding, and music education, and parents of children with disabilities. In June 1992 a follow-up questionnaire was mailed to each participant. Thirty-two questionnaires, or 55%, were returned. Seventeen individuals took the workshop in 1991 or 1992 and had been using the information for three months to one year. The questionnaire contained open-ended questions on the current use and accuracy of intuition, use of specific intuitive tools, and ongoing use of specific Hemi-Sync tapes. Participants were also asked to rate themselves on a 10-point scale before the workshop and currently in their accuracy of intuition and ability to blend rational and intuitive information in educational and clinical areas.

Use of Personal Intuition and Accuracy
Participants described many changes in their use and accuracy of intuition in their personal lives. These included greater willingness to acknowledge, explore, and accept intuitive information; greater ease in "reading" people and understanding their intentions; greater ease in moving with the flow in life without having to plan and control everything. As a group they acknowledged increases in personal accuracy which resulted in creased confidence in using intuition.

Use of Professional Intuition and Accuracy
Intuition was used more easily in therapy and classroom settings. A majority of respondents were more aware of the needs and messages of children and their parents, and felt greater empathy in working with others. Most were incorporating intuitive information in the development of individual education plans and therapy sessions with feedback of improved accuracy in program development and implementation. With greater accuracy, confidence increased, leading to further increases in skill and accuracy. many therapists stated that they had become more skillful in blending intuitive and rational aspects of therapy.

Rating of Skill and Accuracy of Intuition and Ability to Blend the Intuitive and Rational
On a 10-point scale, participants accumulated a mean score of 4.93 (SD 1.82) for accuracy before the workshop and 7.81 (SD 1.12) at the present time. This was a gain of 2.89 (SD 1.40) points, or approximately 29%. 85% rated themselves at 7 or higher. A mean score of 4.56(SD 1.64) represented blending of the intuitive and rational before the workshop and 8.04 (SD 1.10) at the present time. This was a gain of 3.48 (SD 1.10) points, or approximately 35%; 85% rated themselves at 7 or higher.

Tools and Tapes Supporting Intuition
Participants described widely creative uses of the specific tools explored during the workshop. Initially these tools were used in a more structured way than they were at the present time. Although tools and specific tapes continued to be used in more challenging situations, most participants felt that the process had become internalized, and intuition flowed more spontaneously. A full 77% stated that they used Hemi-Sync tapes in their work with others. Most reported changes they felt could be attributed to Hemi-Sync.

Most participants had purchased tapes for personal and professional used. Metamusic tapes were being used by 88% at home and as a background for learning with others; 53% were using the Mind Food tapes Morning Exercise, Concentration, Energy Walk, and Catnapper. Metamusic and Mind Food tapes continued to be used frequently with many reporting daily use with clients and students. Additionally, 44% used tapes from the Excursion and Gateway Experience Discovery albums following the workshop. These were used frequently during the first one to two months, but were currently used occasionally, "as needed".

Most Valuable Aspect of the Workshop
Responses varied among participants but most had the theme of validation of intuition in professional life. Most of the workshop attendees felt they were somewhat intuitive before the workshop, but because of professional bias, they had learned to hide this ability or to notice it only in their personal lives.

Summary

Intuitive skills can be taught successfully and enhance when Hemi-Sync is used as a tool for rapid learning. The workshop model, blending the experiential with discussion and analysis of the intuitive process, created a model for blending the intuitive and rational in daily life. Most of the respondents in this study were successfully developing their ability to integrate multiple information processing styles.

Suzanne Evans Morris, Ph.D.
Speech-Language Pathologist
New Visions
1124 Roberts Mountain Road
Faber, Virginia 22938
(804)361-2285

This paper was reprinted with permission from The Hemi-Sync Journal (Fall 1992), a publication of the Monroe Institute.
© Suzanne Evans Morris, 1997 All Rights Reserved