Access Bars · Atlas

1. Introduction

Version followed: Access Bars® as taught by Access Consciousness (founder Gary Douglas, co-founder Dr Dain Heer) in its one-day Access Bars class, which certifies an "Access Bars Practitioner". Point-by-point technique comes from the licensed class manual and head chart. Those are not reproduced here, and details not confirmed in published descriptions are marked [uncertain].

What it is. Access Consciousness describes Access Bars as "a set of 32 points on the head" that are "lightly touched". The organisation says this can "defragment the electro-magnetic components of stress, thought and emotions". Gary Douglas compares it to deleting "bad stuff" on a computer hard drive. [source: Business Wire release via La Raza, 2016]
The idea of change, as the method holds it. Practitioners describe the points as storing thoughts, emotions and memories, with each point linked to a life area such as creativity, gratitude or money. Touching them is said to release "stuck energy" and old patterns and to bring the person into a deeply relaxed, near-sleep state. [source: Hall, Science-Based Medicine 2021; Humanitix class listing 2023; Jarry, McGill OSS 2024] These are the organisation's own energy concepts. They are reported here as its beliefs, not as established fact.
Origin. Gary Douglas founded Access in Santa Barbara in 1990. He says the Bars were revealed to him through channelling. [uncertain: secondary, unverified; the channelling account is also reported by Jarry 2024 and Hall 2021]
Who practises it. Lay practitioners, facilitators, and some licensed therapists and body workers. A one-day class is enough to practise. [source: Humanitix class listing 2023]
Evidence status (one line). There are no randomised controlled trials. The studies the organisation promotes are preliminary or uncontrolled: an EEG study, thermometry, and a 2023 survey of 15 people whose authors note the lack of solid evidence. Critics find no robust benefit beyond that of a relaxing head massage. [source: La Raza 2016; Cortez Ocaña et al. 2023; Jarry 2024]
Not a medical treatment. Promotional material lists insomnia, anxiety, depression, migraines, OCD, panic attacks and weight management among the things it helps. These are the promoters' claims. This guide does not present Access Bars as treating any mental or physical disorder. [source: La Raza 2016]
Organisational context a therapist must know. Douglas has past links to Scientology [source: Jarry 2024]. Investigative journalism reports that the organisation has expensive tiered trainings, that facilitator licences cost tens of thousands of Australian dollars, and that there are allegations of misogyny, grooming and sexual misconduct and troubling material for children and teenagers [source: Jarry 2024, citing The Australian 2024; licence costs also Wikipedia [uncertain: secondary, unverified]]. In 2024, former members complained to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission [uncertain: secondary, unverified]. In 2016, Swedish television reported a public-sector psychologist privately selling Access Consciousness treatments to her own clinic patients [source: ECSO 2016]. In Nova Scotia, a social worker's registration was permanently revoked in 2020 after findings that included using Access Consciousness, described as non-evidence-based, with reciprocal-touch "energy trades" with a client [source: NSCSW 2020; CBC 2021].

2. Framework

Access Bars is a single-session touch procedure, not a staged therapy. The framework below separates what the organisation publishes from how a psychotherapist could place it within their practice.

As the organisation publishes it

Session format. The client lies down on a massage table, clothed, with shoes removed. The practitioner sits or stands at the head and touches points with light, sustained fingertip contact. Each hold lasts a while, and the practitioner chooses which points to touch by what they "perceive". There is little talk. [source: La Nación 2026; Humanitix 2023]
Session length. A session is described as usually 60–90 minutes and as feeling like "a gentle head massage" [source: La Raza 2016]. Practitioners also offer shorter sessions.
Number of sessions. No fixed course is published. Sessions are offered singly or repeatedly, and practitioners trade sessions with each other. [uncertain: not verified]
Training route.
- Practitioner: a one-day class (about 8 hours in one published listing). Participants receive two sessions, give two, take home a manual and head chart, and leave as a "Certified Access Bars Practitioner". No prerequisites are listed. [source: Humanitix 2023]
- Facilitator (teaching the class): attend three Access Bars classes, each with a different facilitator, then apply online to Access Consciousness [source: Access Consciousness help desk]. Further requirements, annual licence renewal and fees are reported but not confirmed here [uncertain: secondary, unverified].
- Certification is issued by Access Consciousness itself. It is not a regulated health qualification and does not extend a psychotherapist's scope of practice. [synthesis]
Combining with psychotherapy. No organisational guidance on combining Bars with psychotherapy was found [uncertain: not verified].

Placement within psychotherapy [synthesis]

This whole subsection is synthesis, built around the boundary findings in NSCSW 2020.

Phase 0: decide whether to offer it at all. First check three things:
- your licensing board's scope-of-practice rules,
- your liability insurer,
- your service's policy on touch and complementary methods.
Regulators have treated Access Consciousness used by a registered social worker as outside scope of practice [source: NSCSW 2020]. Many therapists will find that the safest form is referral to an independent practitioner, not delivering Bars themselves.
Phase 1: assessment and consent session.
- Take the history: trauma, touch sensitivities, dissociation, psychosis, medical conditions affecting the head or scalp, and current medicines.
- Explore the client's expectations.
- Discuss consent in writing.
- Move on only when the client's informed, unpressured consent is documented and no exclusion applies.
Phase 2: separate session or sessions. Run Bars in clearly separate appointments from talk therapy, with a separate fee code and record, or refer out.
Phase 3: integration. In the next talk session, review what the client noticed and fold it into the ongoing treatment plan.
Phase 4: review. After a small number of sessions agreed in advance, stop if there is no meaningful benefit to the client's goals. Continue only on the client's informed choice, and stop at once if the client is distressed.

3. Guiding principles

These principles are synthesis unless a source is tagged. Each line gives the practical meaning.

Complementary, never instead of care. Bars never replaces evidence-based treatment or medical care. In practice, check that the client keeps all medical and psychiatric care.
Consent before and during touch. Ask before touching, check in during the session, and the client can stop at any moment by word or signal.
Never sexual. Touch is limited to the head as the method describes, over hair or skin. There is no other touch, no hugging and no reciprocal touch with clients. [source: NSCSW 2020 for reciprocal touch as misconduct]
No dual relationships. Never trade sessions with clients, socialise with them, take classes with them or recruit them. [source: NSCSW 2020; CBC 2021]
No selling. Do not sell Access classes, products or memberships to clients, and do not earn commission or credit from their enrolment. [source: ECSO 2016 for the harm pattern; synthesis]
Attributed language. When describing energy, "bars" or "electromagnetic charge", say "the method holds that…". Neither assert it nor mock it.
No health claims. Make no claim to treat anxiety, depression, insomnia, migraine, weight, trauma or any disease.
Honest evidence statement. Give clients the one-line evidence status above before they agree.
Trauma-informed default.
- Lying down with someone out of sight behind the head can trigger trauma memories, so offer adjustments or a hands-off option.
- Watch for dissociation.
- Keep the client within their window of tolerance.
Medicines go to the prescriber. If a client links a session to changing medication, route the decision to the prescriber. Jarry (2024) reports a practitioner testimonial about a client stopping antidepressants after a session.
Document everything. Record the rationale, consent, what was touched and for how long in general terms, the client's responses, and any concerns. Lack of documentation was one of the regulator's findings. [source: NSCSW 2020]
Consult. Seek supervision or peer consultation before you start and whenever boundaries feel strained. [source: NSCSW 2020 cites failure to consult]

4. Intervention inventory

Access Bars has one core procedure: running the Bars (4.5). The organisation teaches it in class with a manual and head chart [source: Humanitix 2023], and the point locations are not reproduced here. Every other item is the psychotherapist's frame around that procedure and is synthesis unless a source is tagged.

4.1 Scope and fit check (before offering Bars at all)

Purpose. Decide whether you may and should deliver Bars, or should only refer.
Steps.
1. Read your licensing board's rules on touch, scope of practice and non-evidence-based methods.
2. Ask your insurer in writing whether touch-based energy work is covered.
3. Check your employer's policy. In a public service, never sell private treatments to the service's own patients [source: ECSO 2016].
4. Take supervision.
5. If any answer is no or unclear, use referral (4.10) instead.
Example language (illustrative). "I've had training in a touch-based relaxation method, but it isn't part of the psychotherapy I'm licensed for. I can tell you what I know about it, but I won't be providing it here."
Watch for. Notice if your own enthusiasm for the method is driving the offer rather than the client's needs. A regulator found a registered social worker's use of Access Consciousness was outside her scope of practice [source: NSCSW 2020].

4.2 Screening before a session

Purpose. Spot reasons to change the plan or not go ahead.
Steps.
1. Ask about the client's medical conditions and any recent injury, surgery or skin condition of the head or scalp. Clear these with their doctor if they are relevant.
2. Ask about trauma history, especially experiences of being touched, lying down or being approached from behind or above.
3. Ask about dissociation, psychosis or mania, or current severe suicidality. If any is present, defer Bars and prioritise standard care.
4. Ask about current medicines and whether the client hopes Bars will let them reduce any. Route that question to the prescriber.
5. Ask about pregnancy or chronic pain conditions affecting lying flat on the back, and adjust or defer.
6. With minors, do not offer Bars within psychotherapy. Class materials suggest shorter sessions for children, but this guide does not support delivering Bars to minors in a therapy setting.
Example language (illustrative). "This involves lying on your back while I lightly touch your head. Has being touched on the head or neck, or lying down with someone behind you, ever felt unsafe?"
Watch for. Look for hesitation, a quick "it's fine", or a trauma narrative that involves similar positions. In any of these cases, offer the hands-off option (4.9).

4.3 Informed consent conversation

Purpose. Make sure the client agrees freely, knowing what it involves.
Steps.
1. Explain that this is a complementary relaxation practice from Access Consciousness. It is not psychotherapy and not a medical treatment.
2. Describe what happens:
  - the client lies on a table, clothed;
  - light fingertip touch on points of the head only;
  - the session runs about an hour, and there is little talking [source: La Nación 2026; La Raza 2016].
3. Give the method's own explanation, attributed to it. It holds that the points store thoughts and emotions and that touching them releases charge [source: La Raza 2016; Hall 2021].
4. Give the evidence status in one line (see section 1).
5. State the client's rights:
  - to say no;
  - to stop at any time;
  - to have a door left ajar or a chaperone where your professional body expects one;
  - to choose the hands-off alternative.
6. Confirm that no touch will ever go beyond the head and that it will never be sexual.
7. Explain fees, and confirm there will be no selling of classes or products.
8. Get written consent, and re-confirm verbally at the start of each session.
Example language (illustrative). "The people who teach this say the points hold stored thoughts and feelings and that touch helps release them. The research so far is small and early, so I can't promise any particular effect. You can stop me at any moment just by saying 'stop' or raising a hand."
Watch for. Watch for consent given to please you, and for clients who expect a cure. Revisit consent if their expectations are unrealistic.

4.4 Setting up the session

Purpose. Create a safe, predictable setting.
Steps.
1. Use a treatment table or a reclining chair. The client keeps their clothes on and removes shoes only if they wish [source: La Nación 2026].
2. Agree on a stop signal, and agree whether the client wants their eyes open or closed.
3. Explain where you will sit, and offer to start with a hand near the head before any contact.
4. Ask whether the client wants a blanket, and whether they want a brief check-in partway through or none.
5. Keep the door policy and any chaperone arrangement in line with your professional body's touch guidance.
Example language (illustrative). "I'll be sitting behind your head. Before I touch, I'll say 'I'm going to place my fingers now'. If anything feels off, just tell me and I'll stop straight away."
Watch for. Watch for bracing, breath-holding, or the client watching you over their shoulder. If you see these, slow down and check in.

4.5 Running the Bars (core procedure)

Purpose. In the organisation's terms, to release the stored charge of thoughts and emotions and bring the person into deep relaxation [source: La Raza 2016; Humanitix 2023]. In psychotherapy terms, it serves as a structured, attentive relaxation experience. [synthesis]
Steps (as published, without the point map).
1. Re-confirm consent before the first contact.
2. Place the fingertips lightly on the points taught in class. Contact is minimal and sustained, not massage or pressure [source: La Nación 2026].
3. Hold each point or pair of points for a while. Practitioners choose which points to touch by what they perceive during the session [source: La Nación 2026]. The exact sequence and pairings come from the class manual [uncertain: not verified].
4. Keep talk to a minimum and offer brief reassurance if the client becomes drowsy [source: La Nación 2026].
5. Run the session for the agreed length. Published descriptions give a usual length of 60–90 minutes [source: La Raza 2016].
6. Lift the hands, tell the client the session has ended, and move to closing (4.7).
Example language (illustrative). "I'm starting now. You don't need to do anything. If you drift off, that's fine." Partway through: "Still okay to continue?"
Watch for.
- Practitioners report clients feeling relaxed, energised, drowsy or deeply asleep, and some see colours [source: Humanitix 2023].
- Watch for tears, shaking, a sudden rush of memories, or signs of dissociation: a fixed gaze, unresponsiveness, or not knowing where they are.
- When it is going well for the client: breathing settles, shoulders drop, and afterwards they say they felt relaxed or clear-headed [source: La Nación 2026]. Treat these reports as subjective. They are not evidence of the claimed mechanism. [synthesis]
Risk flag. Exchanging sessions is part of how Bars is taught in class [source: Humanitix 2023], but never exchange sessions with a client. Reciprocal "energy trades" with a client were part of a misconduct finding [source: NSCSW 2020; CBC 2021].

4.6 Responding to what arises during the session

Purpose. Keep the client within their window of tolerance while they are lying down and in a passive position. [synthesis]
Steps.
1. If the client starts crying or becomes emotional, keep your touch still or lift your hands. Ask whether they want to continue, pause or sit up.
2. If you see signs of dissociation, stop touching, use the client's name, and orient them to the room: ask them to open their eyes and name objects they can see. Help them sit up.
3. If memories surface, do not process them on the table. Note them and agree to bring them to the next talk session.
4. If the client falls asleep, that is acceptable to them as the method describes it [source: La Nación 2026]. Wake them gently at the end.
Example language (illustrative). "I've taken my hands away. You're in my office, it's [day]. Can you feel your feet? Let's sit up slowly."
Watch for. Look for recurring distress across sessions. That means the procedure is not suitable for this client now.

4.7 Closing and grounding

Purpose. Help the client leave the session alert and safe to travel. [synthesis]
Steps.
1. Give the client a moment before they sit up.
2. Help them sit up slowly, and offer water.
3. Ask a brief check-in question about their body and mood.
4. Check they are alert enough to drive.
5. Note any after-effects they report.
Example language (illustrative). "Take your time. What do you notice right now? Is there anything that felt uncomfortable that I should know about?"
Watch for. Watch for lingering drowsiness, disorientation or low mood. If any of these is present, the client should not leave alone.

4.8 Integration in the next talk session

Purpose. Link the experience to the client's therapy goals without overstating what it did. [synthesis]
Steps.
1. Ask what the client noticed during the session and in the days after. La Nación's reporter noted that she was waiting a few days to see whether any effect lasted [source: La Nación 2026].
2. Link any shifts to the treatment plan, for example relaxation skills or sleep work.
3. Use standard outcome measures for the presenting problem, and review whether Bars adds anything.
4. If there is no added value after the agreed trial, stop.
Example language (illustrative). "You said you felt calmer that evening. What helped you notice that? How could we build that calm into your week without needing a session?"
Watch for. Watch for the client crediting Bars for all change and dismissing their own skills, and for growing reliance on sessions.

4.9 Hands-off alternative

Purpose. Give clients who decline touch, or for whom touch is unsuitable, an equivalent relaxation experience. [synthesis]
Steps.
1. Offer an established hands-off relaxation method that you are trained in, with the client lying or sitting as they prefer. Examples are guided progressive muscle relaxation, a body scan, or slow-breathing practice.
2. Keep the same check-in and grounding steps.
3. Note that no hands-off version of Access Bars was found in published descriptions [uncertain: not verified]. Do not invent one or present a non-touch practice as Bars.
Example language (illustrative). "We don't have to use touch at all. I can guide you through a relaxation practice instead, with you in charge of your eyes, position and pace."
Watch for. Watch for a client who feels they have "missed out". Explore what they hoped the touch would give them.

4.10 Referral to an independent practitioner

Purpose. Respect a client's wish for Bars while keeping your psychotherapy role clear. This is the option preferred in this guide. [synthesis]
Steps.
1. Explain that you will not provide or sell it yourself.
2. Encourage the client to ask any practitioner about fees and training, their policy on touch and consent, and whether they will press the client to buy classes.
3. Ask the client to tell you about any distress or pressure they experience.
4. With the client's consent, keep their doctor informed if they are changing their health care around it.
5. Do not take referral fees.
Example language (illustrative). "If you'd like to try it, that's your choice to make. I'll keep being your therapist either way. If anyone pushes you to buy courses or stop treatment, please bring it here."
Watch for. Watch for escalating spending, invitations into training pathways, or pressure from the group [source: Jarry 2024 on the cost of tiered trainings].

4.11 Trauma-safety adaptations

Purpose. Some promoters say Bars releases "stuck energy" linked to trauma [source: Humanitix 2023]. No trauma-safety protocol was found in organisational sources [uncertain: not verified], so the steps below are the therapist's own.
Steps [synthesis].
1. Do not use Bars as a trauma treatment. Use an evidence-based trauma therapy for PTSD.
2. Use Bars, if at all, only after the client is stabilised, as a relaxation option.
3. Give the client control:
  - eyes open;
  - a shorter session;
  - sitting in a reclining chair instead of lying flat;
  - the practitioner moves only where the client can see them first;
  - check-ins at agreed intervals.
4. Start with a short trial and expand only if the client stays within their window of tolerance.
5. Re-check consent after any flashback.
Example language (illustrative). "Let's start with just a few minutes, eyes open. We'll check in, and you decide whether we go on."
Watch for. Watch for flashbacks, freezing, compliance without engagement, or after-session nightmares. If any of these occur, stop and return to stabilisation.

4.12 Working with a client already involved in Access Consciousness

Purpose. Support informed choices when Access is part of the client's life, along the lines of the psychotherapist's own work alongside such methods. [synthesis]
Steps.
1. Ask about it routinely and without judgement. Ask what draws them: relaxation, community, hope or identity.
2. Ask about money spent and money committed. Reported costs include one-day classes at several hundred US dollars and licences up to AUD 30,000 [source: Jarry 2024].
3. Explore the group's teachings on health, medicines and mental illness. Jarry (2024) reports that the movement reframes conditions such as schizophrenia and PTSD as special abilities. Protect the client's psychiatric care.
4. Followers are reported to repeat a "clearing statement" [uncertain: secondary, unverified]. Treat it as part of the client's practice. Do not use it or reproduce it in therapy.
5. If the client describes sexual misconduct, grooming or abuse within the group, follow your safeguarding and reporting procedures. If children are involved, apply child-protection duties.
6. For misleading health claims or pyramid-style selling, tell the client about consumer and advertising regulators. In Australia, former members have complained to the ACCC [uncertain: secondary, unverified].
Example language (illustrative). "What does Access give you that matters to you? And has anything about it ever felt costly or pressured?"
Watch for. Look for signs of high control in the group: shaming of people who question it, cutting off contact with outsiders, debt, or a client's fear of leaving.

4.13 Documentation and review

Purpose. Show that each decision is accountable and that consent was valid at every session.
Steps.
1. Record consent each time, including the client's right to stop and the evidence statement given.
2. Record that touch was limited to the head, that any chaperone or door arrangement was followed, and the client's responses.
3. Record review outcomes and any consultation or supervision.
Example language (illustrative). In the record: "Client re-consented verbally; head-only light touch; session stopped at client request; grounding completed; plan discussed."
Watch for. Gaps in records. Failure to document encounters was one of the findings against a registered social worker [source: NSCSW 2020].

5. Handling problems

The organisational sources describe no problem-handling guidance [uncertain: not verified]. Everything below is synthesis unless a source is tagged.

"Nothing happened" (stuck or no response).
- Normalise it. Experiences vary widely, and promoters themselves report anything from energised to asleep [source: Humanitix 2023].
- Review whether the trial adds anything to therapy goals, and stop if it does not. Do not add sessions to chase an effect.
Client wants more and more sessions (dependence).
- Explore what the session gives them, such as rest, being cared for or touch.
- Build self-directed alternatives such as relaxation skills and sleep routines.
- Cap the number of sessions in the plan.
Overwhelm, abreaction or dissociation on the table.
- Stop the touch, orient the client and help them sit up (4.6).
- Treat the episode as clinical information. Return to stabilisation, and suspend Bars until the client chooses again with informed consent.
Touch discomfort that appears mid-session.
- Stop at once and thank the client for telling you.
- Offer the hands-off option (4.9).
- Never persuade a client to continue being touched.
Romantic or sexual feelings, or requests for hugs, socialising or exchange sessions.
- Name the boundary kindly and keep the relationship strictly professional.
- Discuss the feelings in therapy and consult your supervisor.
- If the boundary cannot be held, refer on. In the Nova Scotia case, failing to address a client's feelings and failing to refer on were part of the misconduct [source: NSCSW 2020; CBC 2021].
Client asks you to take Access classes together, or to join their facilitator pathway. Decline. That would be a dual relationship and a commercial entanglement [source: NSCSW 2020; CBC 2021].
Client stops or wants to stop medicines after sessions.
- Do not advise on the medicine. Encourage an urgent conversation with the prescriber, and with consent, contact the prescriber yourself.
- Monitor the client for relapse and for risk.
- Practitioner testimonials of stopping antidepressants have been reported [source: Jarry 2024].
Client delays medical care for a physical symptom because of Bars.
- Explore their hopes and fears.
- Urge timely medical assessment.
- With consent, coordinate with their doctor.
Financial strain or pressure to buy trainings.
- Map the client's spending and commitments.
- Discuss refund rights and consumer-protection routes.
- Watch for sunk-cost thinking.
- Reported costs are high at higher tiers [source: Jarry 2024].
Group pressure, shaming or difficulty leaving.
- Use a supportive, non-confrontational approach that respects autonomy.
- Help the client rebuild relationships outside the group.
- Address any trauma from the group in standard trauma-focused care.
Distress on learning of allegations against the organisation. Reports include sexual misconduct and grooming allegations [source: Jarry 2024].
- Validate mixed feelings, such as having gained something real alongside feelings of betrayal.
- Screen for personal harm.
- Offer safeguarding and reporting routes.
Children brought by a parent who is involved in Access.
- Assess the child's welfare, consent and assent.
- If you have concerns about harmful teachings, exploitation or abuse, follow child-protection procedures [source: Jarry 2024 for concerns over material aimed at children].
Colleague or employer conflict.
- If a colleague sells Access treatments to their own patients or uses touch without proper consent, raise it through supervision. If needed, report to the employer or regulator [source: ECSO 2016; NSCSW 2020].
Your own conflict of interest.
- If you are an Access practitioner or facilitator, disclose it to supervisors.
- Never recruit clients, and never mix income from Access with your therapy role.
- The APA Ethics Code has relevant standards on multiple relationships and conflicts of interest [uncertain: not verified]. Check your own professional code.

Sources

Web sources

Not verified

The Access Bars class manual and head chart (Access Consciousness) [uncertain: not verified]
The Access Consciousness official Access Bars website and facilitator requirements page [uncertain: not verified]
The APA Ethics Code [uncertain: not verified]

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