Contact Reflex Analysis

Domain XII · Complementary, energy & biofield · Dick Versendaal

What it is

Contact Reflex Analysis (CRA) is a muscle-testing assessment carried out by other practitioners, mostly chiropractors, and is usually linked to nutritional recommendations. This guide describes CRA as its promoters publish it (sections 1–3) and sets out the psychotherapist's own work with a client…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• What a client typically experiences, as described: lying or standing with one arm held out, the practitioner touching points on the body one after another while pressing the arm, then being told which organs or systems are "weak" and what to take or change. A critical account reports remote "testing" from telephone descriptions of dreams and faxed handwriting samples, and a licensing board found a CRA-linked…
• Regulation by jurisdiction (one line each):
• United States: practised under state licences (mainly chiropractic); state boards decide scope. The Wisconsin Chiropractic Examining Board (2009) found that diagnosing from handwriting and dreams, and prescribing supplements from testing a substitute person, fell outside chiropractic scope.

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• US products and advertising: supplements are reported to FDA through the Safety Reporting Portal; health-related advertising, including through practitioners, must meet the FTC standard of competent and reliable scientific evidence.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• increasing frequency of tests or products; new "weaknesses" found each visit. Working: reduced checking and testing, more tolerance of uncertainty.
• clients assuming you endorse CRA because of where you work; your own urge to persuade. Working: the client experiences your stance as neutral and safe.
• the client feeling blamed for physical illness ("it's my emotions"); conflicting instructions from two helpers. Working: goals are framed in the client's own experience.
• fear of retaliation or loss of community; your own mandatory duties. Working: the client makes an informed choice about reporting, and your statutory duties are met and documented.
• concealment after a risk conversation; escalating costs; a child's growth, illness or school absence. Working: the client re-engages medical care, or risks are known to those responsible.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.