Theophostic Counseling

(based on the work of Dr. Ed Smith)

Recently I have had the joy of learning a powerful and improved version of "healing of memories' called "Theophostic Counseling". The rather unusual and unfortunate name is a combination of the Greek words for God (Theos) and Light (Phos). It is basically God shining the light of His presence and His truth on the pain and the lies embedded in our memories. The key Scripture verse is:

(John 8:32 NKJV) "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
Theophostics is not a cure all. It won't generally deal with problems that are only in the present eg feeling lazy today, financial pressure, finding your life partner. You will need other counseling techniques for that. It deals with moods, bad feelings and things that "just seem to be there all the time". It deals with the portion of our pain that is inherited from the past and which diffuses through our consciousness from our memories

The personal effect in my own life and in the life of others has been quite dramatic. A good friend who had suffered from Tourette's syndrome for 35 years and tried every conventional treatment was healed in the matter of half an hour. Others were set free from life-long emotional bondages. Here is my own testimony shortly after learning Theophostics.

Someone described Theophostics as "God's eternity intersecting our history". I think that is a good definition. I have personally had some HUGE changes in my life as a result and am much more peaceful and settled even my family and friends are saying the changes are "immediately obvious" and that I am "much more relaxed". I feel much more normal. I had one core belief that I was not valid at all, that I had no right to eat, have a roof over my head, possess anything nice or even exist. My mind knew better but my emotions didn't. No amount of reasoning or Scripture would move this sense of not mattering at all.

As a consequence I alternated between being a doormat or being obnoxiously arrogant. I could never settle down to a normal humble existence. I was "off-center". As a professional counselor by trade I had tried a dozen or more different therapies over a 15 year time span without success- including medication. Theophostics (or rather the Lord Jesus) fixed me in around 15 minutes. I now feel a happy average bloke. I feel normal for the first time in my life. Also a number of habitual sins that were compensations for this pain went as soon as the pain went.

The emotional pain was like a sharp knife in my stomach day and night and now it is gone. It is so good being without it. I can validate the method as being from God in that it has made me humble and normal and very thankful to God for His grace to me a sinner. Satan's "healings" tend to inflate people's egos and puff them up with pride and self-importance. I don't feel special or exalted just thankful and normal. That is God at work.

Now, if you are like me, the name "Theophostics" probably makes you wary. If you like just call it healing of the memories if that makes you happier. The main difference is that Dr Ed. Smith saw the importance of not just addressing the memory, or its emotion, but the long-term lies that the memory held in place. Say that you came home one day and found your family had been shot. This may leave you feeling guilty for surviving, or it may leave you with the perception that the world is an unpredictable and dangerous place and you can lose everything very suddenly. It may leave you with the belief that nothing is secure. From then on you may avoid even beneficial relationships because you feel that you may suddenly lose them. You may not have the ability to trust God for the future.

Whenever you do start to trust the memory of that awful day sends out an emotional signal saying "people you love and trust are dangerous, they will be snatched away from you and you will be hurt". The beliefs the trauma generates consistently paralyze future actions. You may not have trauma like that in your life but you probably have a dozen or so key memories that send out pain signals into the present and lock your behavior into undesirable patterns.

There are three parts to any memory. The memory itself -which is a historical fact and cannot be changed, the emotions that memory generated, and the lies/beliefs that the memory has embedded within it. Sometimes there can be a spiritual component to the memory as well. Some memories are so awful that they become a "home" for the forces of darkness. Theophostics addresses the emotions and the lies/beliefs that the memory has embedded within it. Thus it is a very useful tool for emotional healing. To seek help contact Dr. Ed Smith- not the magazine, and he will put you on the right track.

Effects and Usefulness

Theophostics is very good with addictions, low-self-esteem, inferiority, phobias, anxiety and panic attacks, trauma, depression, and sexual abuse. That is impressive but it is not everything by any means. However what I have seen is people experience genuine long-term recovery that profoundly affects their life and relationships - in one or two sessions. The power of this brief counseling technique has impressed me. It should not really be called a counseling technique as it is Jesus that does all the hard work. The counselor may often be almost silent in the process.

Some people have very traumatic lives and many memories to process. Also some memories may be particularly potent and have a number of lies embedded in them that need to be tackled. Most people can only tackle 3 or 4 separate memories in one session. Each memory is generally fully healed when it is dealt with. The average person will find that less than half a dozen sessions with Theophostics will produce considerable change and relief. People who have been severely abused may take up to twenty sessions. This is still much more rapid than other techniques and the recovery is complete. That is each memory that is tackled is healed and is no longer a source of intra-psychic pain.

The only discomfort I have found with Theophostics is that the changes in me were more rapid than I expected and my mind was often whirring late at night and it took some time to adjust to the "new confident me". It was like a lot of rearranging was going on in a remarkably short time period. I changed "more than I wanted to" in a sense but all the changes were good and permanent.

If you are interested in Theophostics have a go at the above technique - and remember to have someone with you. Its hard to implement alone for some reason. Maybe its the "where 2 or 3 are gathered together" phenomenon. Also if you want manuals or to go to a Theophostics seminar contact Dr Ed Smith at https://www.transformationprayer.org/contact-us/

This article may be freely reproduced for non-profit ministry purposes but may not be sold in any way. For permission to use articles in your ministry, e-mail the editor, John Edmiston at [email protected].