Frequency specific microcurrent

Domain XII · Complementary, energy & biofield · Carolyn McMakin · 1995 · Portland

What it is

FSM is a device-based technique in which a licensed practitioner applies a very weak, sub-sensory electrical current to the body through contacts, choosing "specific frequencies" said to correspond to particular tissues and conditions. The developer's textbook describes it as using frequencies,…

Format

• The psychotherapist's framework alongside FSM. This is woven into ordinary therapy rather than run as a separate course; most clients need it across one to three sessions, with brief check-ins afterwards.
• Origins. McMakin, a chiropractor (MA, DC), is reported to have developed FSM in 1995 from frequencies obtained from a Canadian osteopath who had inherited a machine made in the 1920s; she developed myofascial pain protocols in 1996. She founded the Fibromyalgia and Myofascial Pain Clinic of…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• The method's own training framework (for orientation). FSS teaches a 5-Day Core seminar (the foundation, CPD-accredited), Advanced seminars and condition-specific programmes, in person and by livestream; about 2,100 practitioners are described as trained across more than ten countries. A certification examination and "Certified Advanced Practitioner" titles exist. FSM is delivered in a series of clinic sessions by…
• Version followed: Frequency Specific Microcurrent (FSM) as Carolyn McMakin and her training organisation, Frequency Specific Seminars (FSS), and FSM-approved course providers publish it; sections 4–5 describe the psychotherapist's own work alongside it. The psychotherapist never performs, sells, prescribes or recommends FSM.
• What it is (as its organisations describe it). FSM is a device-based technique in which a licensed practitioner applies a very weak, sub-sensory electrical current to the body through contacts, choosing "specific frequencies" said to correspond to particular tissues and conditions. The developer's textbook describes it as using frequencies, very low-level current and "the principles of biological resonance" to treat…

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Evidence status (one line). Support comes mainly from developer-authored case reports, a small pilot and laboratory work; an independent critic describes the clinical evidence as minimal and the method as pseudoscience.

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

• your own reluctance to raise risk for fear of rupture. Working: risks are named, routed and documented.
• notes that read as endorsement or ridicule. Working: a neutral, factual record another clinician could act on.
• client fear of offending the practitioner. Working: the report is made, or the client's informed decision not to report is recorded.
• clients asking you to choose for them; colleagues asking for referrals. Working: the client experiences you as neutral and safe to tell.
• activity suspended "until the treatment works"; boom-bust patterns after a good day. Working: functioning improves independently of the device.

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.