Cymatic therapy

Sections 1–3 describe cymatic therapy as its own promoters publish it. Section 4 covers the psychotherapist's own work when a client uses, is considering, or is being sold cymatic therapy. The psychotherapist never performs, sells, prescribes or recommends it.

1. Introduction

Version followed: Peter Guy Manners' "Cymatic Therapy" as described by its current promoters, mainly the Cymatherapy™ line (Mandara Cromwell / CymaTechnologies, AMI devices) and the Cymatic Source account of Manners' work and the "Cymatique" facial application. Older Cyma 1000 instrument practice is mentioned only where sources name it. [source: Cromwell, Cymatic Source PDF, Berlin Sun]

What it is. Cymatic therapy is a device-based sound practice. A hand-held applicator, which promoters call a "wand", is held against the skin and gives out audible sound. Promoters say it was developed by Dr Peter Guy Manners, a British osteopath. He worked at Bretforton Hall Clinic in Worcestershire, England, from the 1970s until the clinic closed when he retired in 2005, and he died in 2009. [source: Cymatic Source PDF; Cromwell] Mandara Cromwell writes that she met Manners in 2001, then organised the development and production of his device and renamed the therapy Cymatherapy™. [source: Cromwell] Promoters say Manners chose the name in tribute to the Swiss researcher Hans Jenny, who coined "cymatics" for the study of visible sound-wave patterns. They also note that Jenny did not study therapeutic effects. [source: Cymatic Source PDF; Cromwell] The dates of Manners' research do not agree across sources. One account places his frequency research in the 1940s and 1950s, while clinic work is dated from the 1970s. The 1960s origin often given is [uncertain: not verified against a primary source].

Core idea of how change happens (as the method holds it). Promoters hold the following:

• Every material, organ and tissue has its own resonant frequency.
• Health is a state of balanced, "healthy" resonance.
• When that resonance falls out of balance, physical and emotional problems follow.
• Each organ or tissue has a characteristic combination of five audible frequencies, described as a "harmonic" or a "five-frequency code". Played through the skin, this combination is said to restore the tissue's balance. [source: Cymatic Source PDF; Cromwell; Berlin Sun]
• Some promoters link the five-frequency pattern to Chinese medicine meridians and the Five Elements, and to cell membranes and cell renewal. Cymatic Source itself presents these explanations as theories. [source: Cymatic Source PDF; Cromwell]
• Cromwell adds a spiritual layer. Visual "cyma glyphs" (images of the sound patterns) are presented as doorways to "divine awareness". "The Soundflower Experience™" pairs the sound with viewing these images. [source: Cromwell]

All of these are the method's own concepts. They are reported here as the method holds them, without endorsing or dismissing them.

Claims and status in one line each.

• Health claims (attributed): promoters claim relief of joint and back pain, sports injuries, digestive problems, inflammation, anxiety and insomnia, faster injury recovery, and facial toning ("sonic facelift"). These claims rest on case stories and promoters' own trials. No peer-reviewed controlled trial is cited here. [source: Cymatic Source PDF; Cromwell] [uncertain: not verified]
• Cancer: one promotional source mentions medical uses of resonance against tumour cells. Cymatic therapy is not a cancer treatment, and no source presents evidence that it is. [source: Cymatic Source PDF; PolitiFact on frequency-device cancer claims]
• Regulatory status (US): no FDA clearance or approval for cymatic devices is documented in the cited sources. A device sold only for relaxation or stress management may fall under FDA's general wellness policy. A claim to treat a disease or condition, for example "helps treat an anxiety disorder", falls outside that policy. [source: FDA General Wellness guidance] [uncertain: not verified]
• Regulatory status (UK/EU): a product with a stated medical purpose is regulated as a medical device. Device incidents in the UK are reported to the MHRA through the Yellow Card scheme. UKCA or CE marking status for these devices is not established here. [source: GOV.UK Yellow Card] [uncertain: not verified]
• Licensing: there is no specific licence for cymatic therapy. It is offered by osteopaths, massage therapists and other complementary practitioners under their own registration, and devices are also sold for home use. [source: Berlin Sun; Cromwell] [uncertain: no regulator statement cited]
• Evidence status: there is no established evidence of benefit for any health condition. The evidence offered consists of anecdotes and unpublished trials. [source: Cymatic Source PDF; Cromwell]

2. Framework

The method as promoters describe it.

• What a client experiences. The client lies or sits while a practitioner, or the client at home, holds a hand-held applicator against the skin over the area or organ being targeted. The client hears audible tones. Promoters describe the experience as painless and relaxing. A course of repeated sessions is usually offered. [source: Cymatic Source PDF; Berlin Sun]
• Promoters' safety claim. Promoters contrast cymatic therapy with ultrasound and say that audible-range sound carries no risk of tissue damage. They give no supporting evidence. [source: Cymatic Source PDF]
• Combined offers. Cymatic therapy is sold in several combinations: "Soundflower" visual-plus-sound experiences, cosmetic facial packages, sports-injury and animal (horse) applications, home devices, and in some markets subscription audio products. [source: Cromwell; Cymatic Source PDF] [uncertain: subscription products not verified]
• Training. Cromwell describes being trained by Manners at his Worcestershire clinic. None of the sources describes a formal training curriculum or certifying body, so practitioner training should be treated as device-vendor training. [source: Cromwell] [uncertain]

The psychotherapist's framework alongside it. [synthesis, built on NCCIH patient and provider guidance and the APA Ethics Code] This is not a separate treatment. It is a strand inside ordinary therapy. Most clients need it for one to three sessions, and then for brief check-ins at later reviews.

Phases A to C often happen in a single conversation. Phase E runs alongside the rest of therapy. Move straight to E whenever there is any sign that the client is stopping, delaying or replacing medical assessment or treatment.

3. Guiding principles

Sources: NCCIH; APA Ethics Code; FDA. Where a principle applies those sources to this method, it is marked [synthesis].

• Ask routinely, without judgement. NCCIH advises clinicians to ask about complementary practices so that patients can make informed decisions. Practical meaning: ask every client, not only those who seem likely to use such methods, and ask in a neutral tone. [source: NCCIH tips]
• Respect the client's autonomy and explanatory model. Practical meaning: describe resonance, five-frequency codes and cyma glyphs in the method's own terms, without arguing physics with the client. [synthesis]
• Never perform, sell, prescribe or recommend. Practical meaning: do not use a device in session, do not suggest a practitioner, and do not take referral fees (APA 6.07, Referrals and Fees; 3.06, Conflict of Interest). [source: APA Ethics Code]
• Stay within competence. Practical meaning: do not comment on whether the device helps a physical condition. Route physical questions to the client's doctor (APA 2.01, Boundaries of Competence; 2.04, Bases for Scientific and Professional Judgments). [source: APA Ethics Code]
• Medical care comes first; never instead. NCCIH warns against using an unproven approach to delay seeing a provider. Practical meaning: any sign of delaying, stopping or replacing medical care becomes the session's priority. [source: NCCIH "Are you considering…"]
• Attribute claims and evidence status honestly. Practical meaning: when asked, say plainly that no reliable evidence shows benefit for health conditions, and keep that separate from whether the client enjoys the experience. [synthesis]
• Avoid harm, including financial harm. Practical meaning: notice spending, debt, upselling and pressure to buy devices or training (APA 3.04, Avoiding Harm). [source: APA Ethics Code]
• Coordinate with consent. Practical meaning: share only what is needed, with the client's agreement, except where law requires otherwise (APA 4.05, Disclosures). [source: APA Ethics Code]
• Be transparent in consent to therapy. Practical meaning: at intake, tell clients that you ask about all health practices and explain why (APA 10.01, Informed Consent to Therapy; 4.02, Discussing the Limits of Confidentiality). [source: APA Ethics Code]
• Offer your own evidence-based help for the target problem. Practical meaning: where the device is being used for anxiety, insomnia or stress, offer the psychological treatments within your scope alongside it, without making that a condition of working with the client. [synthesis]

4. Intervention inventory

Everything in this section is the psychotherapist's own work. None of it involves using, demonstrating, choosing settings for, or recommending a cymatic device. The whole section is [synthesis] unless a source is tagged.

4.1 Routine, non-judgemental inquiry and recording

• Purpose / when: At intake and at reviews, find out about every health practice the client uses, including sound and frequency devices. Do it again whenever a new physical symptom, a new practitioner or new spending comes up. NCCIH advises asking patients about complementary practices, and advises patients to list them and tell every provider. [source: NCCIH tips]
• Steps:
  1. Normalise the question: tell the client you ask everyone about everything they use for their health.
  2. Ask open questions: what it is, who provides it (practitioner, home device, app or recording), what it is for, how often they use it, what it costs, and how they heard of it.
  3. Ask whether their doctor or other treating clinicians know about it.
  4. Record it in neutral words, for example: "Client uses cymatic sound-device sessions (Cymatherapy) with a massage therapist for back pain and stress. GP not yet informed."
  5. Do not give an opinion at this point. Note any questions to return to later.
• Example language (illustrative): "I ask everyone about all the things they do for their health: medicines, supplements, devices, sound or energy practices, anything at all. That way I have the full picture. Is there anything like that for you?" … "Tell me about the cymatic sessions. What happens, and what are you hoping they'll do?"
• Watch for / working: The client discloses freely and does not seem to brace for criticism. If you see hesitation, shame or a rehearsed defence, that suggests earlier disapproval from someone else; name it gently. It is working when the client raises updates without being asked.

4.2 Exploring meaning, hopes, expectations and the explanatory model

• Purpose / when: Once use is known, and before any discussion of decisions. Understanding why a client chose cymatic therapy usually matters more than the device itself.
• Steps:
  1. Ask what they understand about how it works, in their words. They may describe resonance, being "out of tune", five-frequency codes for organs, meridians, or glyphs as spiritual doorways. [source: Cromwell; Cymatic Source PDF]
  2. Reflect their model back accurately, without endorsing or debunking it.
  3. Explore what draws them. Possible reasons include:
     • hope after other treatments failed
     • wanting control
     • distrust of medicine or past medical harm
     • the appeal of a non-drug, non-invasive approach
     • spiritual meaning
     • the relationship with the practitioner
     • a community of fellow users
     • simply finding the sessions relaxing
  4. Ask what they expect to notice, and by when. Ask what they would conclude if nothing changed.
  5. Ask how it fits their wider values and identity.
• Example language (illustrative): "How do you understand what the sound is doing?" … "What does it give you that other things haven't?" … "If you imagine a few months from now, what would tell you it had been worth it, and what would tell you it hadn't?"
• Watch for / working: You can sum up their reasons in a way they recognise. Notice unmet needs underneath the choice, such as being heard, chronic pain, loneliness, anxiety or mistrust; these can become therapy targets in their own right. Watch for all-or-nothing beliefs ("medicine is poison") and for hope that is carrying a great deal of despair.

4.3 Neutral information on evaluating claims

• Purpose / when: When the client asks for your view, or is weighing a purchase, a course or training. The aim is to share evaluation questions, not verdicts.
• Steps:
  1. Ask permission before offering information.
  2. Share NCCIH's general questions:
     • Is the claim backed by scientific evidence or only by personal stories?
     • Who runs the website, and is it selling something?
     • When was it updated, and where does the information come from? [source: NCCIH "Are you considering…"]
  3. Name NCCIH's red flags in neutral terms:
     • "miracle cure", "secret" or "ancient" language
     • one product for many unrelated ailments
     • fake-looking news pages or only positive comments
     • discouraging you from seeing your doctor [source: NCCIH "Are you considering…"]
  4. If asked directly, state the evidence status in one line: no reliable evidence shows benefit for health conditions, and the support offered is mainly anecdotes and promoters' own trials. [source: Cymatic Source PDF; Cromwell]
  5. Point to independent sources (NCCIH, FDA, FTC) for checking enforcement history, and leave the decision with the client. [source: NCCIH]
• Example language (illustrative): "Would it help if I shared a few questions people find useful when deciding about any health product? I'm not going to tell you what to do." … "Some of the material relies on stories rather than studies. How do you weigh that?"
• Watch for / working: The client engages with the questions instead of defending. If you notice yourself lecturing or the client withdrawing, stop and go back to 4.2.

4.4 Supporting an informed, values-based decision without coercion

• Purpose / when: The client is deciding whether to start, continue, spend more on, or stop cymatic therapy, and particularly whether it would affect medical care.
• Steps:
  1. Clarify the specific decision. Examples: "buy a home device", "replace physiotherapy with sessions", "use it alongside my GP's plan".
  2. Help the client list the options, including keeping medical care and adding nothing, or adding it alongside medical care.
  3. For each option, explore benefits, costs, risks and uncertainty as the client sees them. Add information about medical care only by prompting them to ask their doctor; do not give medical opinions yourself.
  4. Link each option to the client's stated values.
  5. Summarise, and check that the decision is theirs, without pressure from you, the practitioner, the seller or their family.
  6. Agree a review point.
• Example language (illustrative): "What matters most to you here: comfort, cost, keeping your doctor on side, trying everything?" … "It sounds like using it alongside the treatment your doctor has planned fits what you've said. Have I got that right?"
• Watch for / working: Watch for coercion from any direction, including from you. A good sign is a decision the client can explain in their own words that keeps their medical care in place. No published decision aid specific to this method is cited here; do not improvise one presented as validated. [uncertain]

4.5 Coordination with the client's doctor, pharmacist or other treating clinician

• Purpose / when: Whenever the device is being used for a physical symptom or condition, the client has implanted devices, is pregnant, has epilepsy, or a child is involved. Also whenever the client is considering changing medical treatment.
• Steps:
  1. Explain why coordination helps: their clinicians can only advise well if they know everything the client uses. [source: NCCIH tips]
  2. Get specific, documented consent: what you will share, with whom, and for what purpose (APA 4.05). [source: APA Ethics Code]
  3. Encourage the client to tell their doctor themselves first. Offer to role-play the conversation or to write a short note together.
  4. If you make contact, share facts only: the method, the name of the device or provider if known, how it is being used, and any concerns about delayed care. Ask nothing about settings, and offer no view on whether the device is effective.
  5. Record the outcome. If consent is refused, record the refusal and revisit it later, unless there is a safeguarding or legal duty to act.
• Example language (illustrative): "Your GP is in the best position to say whether there's any reason to be careful with this, given your pacemaker. Would you be willing to mention it, or would you like me to?" … "What would make that conversation easier?"
• Watch for / working: The client agrees, or at least understands, why coordination matters. If the client refuses because they expect ridicule, work on that fear (4.2). Never pass on medication advice yourself. Questions about medicines go to the prescriber or pharmacist.

4.6 Recognising and responding to delayed or replaced medical care

• Purpose / when: Use this whenever the client is relying on cymatic therapy for any of the following:
  • pain, injury or inflammation
  • digestive symptoms
  • a diagnosed physical disease, including cancer
  • a new symptom that has not been assessed
  Promoters' claims cover several of these areas, which makes replacement of medical care a realistic risk. [source: Cromwell; Cymatic Source PDF] NCCIH warns that stopping or not starting conventional treatment can have serious consequences. [source: NCCIH "Are you considering…"]
• Steps:
  1. Ask directly whether any symptom has gone unassessed. Ask whether any treatment has been paused, delayed or stopped since starting the sessions.
  2. If yes, make this the priority. Explore what led to the choice: fear of tests, past experiences, cost, or practitioner advice.
  3. Encourage prompt medical assessment. Help remove practical and emotional barriers, for example by planning the appointment or rehearsing what to say.
  4. If there are red-flag symptoms (severe or worsening pain, unexplained weight loss, bleeding, neurological changes, chest symptoms), advise urgent medical contact or emergency services. Follow your service's urgent-care procedure.
  5. If a practitioner told the client to stop medical care, record this. Consider whether to report it (4.14).
• Example language (illustrative): "I'm glad the sessions feel good. I'd be worried, though, if they meant the lump hasn't been checked. Could we look at what's making the appointment hard?" … "This isn't either–or. Many people keep their medical care and do other things alongside it."
• Watch for / working: Watch for minimising ("it's just inflammation, the wand is clearing it"), fear-driven avoidance, and a practitioner discouraging medical contact. NCCIH treats that last one as a red flag. [source: NCCIH] It is working when the assessment is booked and attended, and the client keeps you informed.

4.7 Physical-safety questions to route to a clinician

• Purpose / when: Use this when the client has an implanted electronic device, is pregnant, has epilepsy, has skin damage or wounds at the application site, or the device is being used on an infant or an animal. None of the cited sources gives device-specific safety guidance for these groups, so do not advise either way. [uncertain: not verified] Promoters' claim that audible sound cannot damage tissue is not supported by evidence in their own material. [source: Cymatic Source PDF]
• Steps:
  1. Ask about these factors whenever device use is disclosed.
  2. If any factor applies, ask the client to check with the treating doctor, midwife or cardiologist, and with the device manufacturer's instructions, before further use.
  3. Offer coordination (4.5).
  4. If the client reports an injury or a malfunction, help them get medical care and support a report (4.14).
• Example language (illustrative): "I can't advise on the device itself. With a pacemaker, your cardiology team is the right place to ask. Would you be OK checking with them?"
• Watch for / working: The client checks before continuing. Do not let yourself be drawn into discussing settings, frequencies or how to apply the device.

4.8 Children, dependent adults, consent and safeguarding

• Purpose / when: Use this when a parent or carer is using or buying cymatic therapy for a child or a dependent adult, especially for a medical condition.
• Steps:
  1. Ask what the child is being treated for and whether the child's medical care continues.
  2. Explore the child's experience and assent. Is the child willing? Is it uncomfortable? Is the child frightened?
  3. If the child's needed medical care, nutrition or vaccination is being withheld or replaced, follow your local safeguarding procedure and consult your safeguarding lead.
  4. Record your concerns factually. Never name the child in external communications beyond what the procedure requires.
• Example language (illustrative): "What does your daughter make of the sessions? Does she get a say?" … "I need to understand whether her doctor is still involved, because I have a duty to make sure children's health care isn't missed."
• Watch for / working: Watch for medical neglect, a parent's escalating investment, and the child's distress or fear. It is working when medical care stays in place and the parent engages with you. If it does not, escalate through safeguarding.

4.9 Financial exploitation, sales pressure and group dynamics

• Purpose / when: Use this when the client describes:
  • buying home devices
  • prepaid courses of sessions
  • subscriptions
  • device-vendor practitioner training
  • recruiting others
  • a community that frames doubt as disloyalty
  Promoters market devices, training with the founder's lineage, combined sound-and-image experiences, and cosmetic packages. [source: Cromwell; Cymatic Source PDF] Multi-level-marketing structures for these devices are not documented in the cited sources. [uncertain: not verified]
• Steps:
  1. Ask about total spending, debt, and who benefits from purchases.
  2. Explore pressure: time-limited offers, testimonials, being told results need more sessions or a better device, and earning by selling to others.
  3. Explore the group's role in the client's life: belonging, identity, and what happens when someone questions it.
  4. Help the client set their own limits, such as a budget, a review date, or saying no to upsells.
  5. If you see deception or false health claims, discuss reporting (4.14).
• Example language (illustrative): "What's the total been so far, roughly?" … "How do people in the group respond when someone says it isn't working for them?" … "What spending limit would you be comfortable with if you looked back in a year?"
• Watch for / working: Watch for escalating spending, secrecy from family, and shame about doubts. Watch also for buying training to become a practitioner as a way out of financial loss. It is working when the client makes spending decisions openly and sticks to their own limits.

4.10 Health anxiety, somatic symptoms and environmental-intolerance beliefs

• Purpose / when: Use this when cymatic use is driven by persistent worry about illness, medically unexplained or functional symptoms, or beliefs that the body is "out of tune" or harmed by environmental frequencies. Use established psychological approaches; see Domain II for full guides.
• Steps:
  1. Assess for health anxiety and somatic symptom presentations using your standard tools. Agree on a shared formulation with the client.
  2. Map checking and reassurance cycles, which may include repeated sessions, device use or searching for frequencies.
  3. Work collaboratively on the cycle rather than the device, using the CBT or acceptance-based methods in Domain II.
  4. Coordinate with the doctor so that medical assessment is appropriate in scope: not avoided, and not endlessly repeated.
• Example language (illustrative): "When the worry spikes, what do you reach for? What happens to the worry afterwards, and a few hours later?"
• Watch for / working: It is working when the client is less preoccupied and does less checking. Do not frame the device as "the problem". Keep the focus on the cycle.

4.11 Offering your own evidence-based care for the target problem

• Purpose / when: Use this when the client is using cymatic therapy for anxiety, insomnia, stress or pain coping. Promoters list these among their claims. [source: Cromwell] A device that claims to treat an anxiety disorder falls outside the FDA general wellness policy. [source: FDA General Wellness guidance]
• Steps:
  1. Acknowledge what the client values in the sessions, such as calm, attention or ritual.
  2. Offer the psychological treatments within your scope, such as CBT for anxiety or insomnia and relaxation training. Present them as an option alongside, not as a replacement the client must accept.
  3. Agree how you will both notice change.
• Example language (illustrative): "It sounds like the sessions give you a calm half-hour you don't get elsewhere. Would it be useful to build some ways of getting there that you can use anytime?"
• Watch for / working: Watch for the client hearing your offer as a takeover. It is working when the client is engaged with therapy goals, whatever they decide about the device.

4.12 Managing your own boundaries and conflicts of interest

• Purpose / when: Keep this in mind at all times. It matters most if you have any personal interest in sound healing, or if a client or colleague offers you products, training or referral arrangements.
• Steps:
  1. Do not use, demonstrate, sell or recommend devices, and do not refer clients to specific practitioners.
  2. Decline gifts of devices and referral fees (APA 3.06, Conflict of Interest; 6.07, Referrals and Fees).
  3. Avoid dual roles, such as being a fellow member of a client's sound-healing group or a co-trainee (APA 3.05, Multiple Relationships).
  4. Take your own enthusiasm or scepticism to supervision.
  [source: APA Ethics Code]
• Example language (illustrative): "Thank you for thinking of me. I keep my role separate from any health products, so I'll say no, but I'm still very interested in how it goes for you."
• Watch for / working: Watch for drift into giving advice, for countertransference contempt or zeal, and for the client looking for your endorsement to settle a family dispute.

4.13 Documentation and consent to therapy

• Purpose / when: At intake and whenever complementary use or coordination is discussed.
• Steps:
  1. In your consent-to-therapy information, say that you ask about all health practices and may, with consent, coordinate with other clinicians (APA 10.01; 4.02).
  2. Record what the client uses, why, risks noted, discussions held, consents given or refused, and any actions taken.
  3. Use neutral, attributed language, for example: "Client reports the provider says the device rebalances tissue resonance."
  [source: APA Ethics Code]
• Example language (illustrative): "I'll note that you're using the sessions and that we've talked about telling your physio. Is that OK?"
• Watch for / working: The record would make sense to a colleague, shows no judgement, and contains no device settings or advice.

4.14 Reporting routes

• Purpose / when: Use this when there is:
  • physical injury or a device malfunction
  • false or misleading health claims, especially disease-treatment claims
  • a practitioner advising someone to stop medical care
  • financial exploitation
  • a child at risk
• Steps:
  1. UK device incidents: in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, report through the MHRA Yellow Card scheme (online or app; patients without online access can email). In Scotland, use Health Facilities Scotland. Keep the device; do not repair or discard it. [source: GOV.UK Yellow Card]
  2. US device issues and claims: report through FDA reporting channels for devices and to the FTC for deceptive advertising. NCCIH points people to the FDA and FTC for enforcement information. [source: NCCIH] [uncertain: specific FDA/FTC reporting pages not verified]
  3. Advertising: report to the national advertising regulator, such as the UK Advertising Standards Authority. [uncertain: not verified]
  4. Practitioner conduct: report to the practitioner's own professional regulator or licensing board, for example for osteopaths or massage therapists. NCCIH notes that state licensing boards hold licensing information. [source: NCCIH "Are you considering…"]
  5. Children or adults at risk: follow your local safeguarding procedure.
  6. Support the client to report themselves where possible. Make reports yourself where your duty requires it, and record what you did.
• Example language (illustrative): "You've been told to stop seeing your doctor. You can report that to the practitioner's regulator, and I can help you do it if you'd like."
• Watch for / working: The client feels supported rather than pushed. Confidentiality limits are respected (APA 4.05). [source: APA Ethics Code]

5. Handling problems

The promotional sources do not address psychotherapy-side difficulties. Everything below is [synthesis] unless tagged.

• Client asks you to endorse the device, or to "just say if it works".
  • Give the one-line evidence status honestly: no reliable evidence of benefit for health conditions, with support mainly from anecdotes. [source: Cymatic Source PDF; Cromwell]
  • Separate that from whether they find it pleasant or meaningful.
  • Then return to their values (4.4).
  • Example (illustrative): "I don't know of good studies showing it treats conditions. That's different from whether it feels good to you, which only you can say."
• Client asks you to use their device in session, or to sit in on a session. Decline, explain why in terms of your role, and stay curious about what they hoped it would show you (4.12). [source: APA Ethics Code 3.05, 3.06]
• Defensiveness, or a rupture after you raised medical care.
  • Name the rupture and own any part you played.
  • Reaffirm their autonomy, then slow down and return to their explanatory model (4.2).
  • Example (illustrative): "I think I came across as dismissing something that matters to you. That wasn't fair. Can we go back?"
• Stuck: the client keeps paying for sessions with no change, but is reluctant to review.
  • Revisit the success markers they set themselves in 4.2.
  • Explore what stopping would mean to them: loss of hope, admitting money was wasted, or losing the practitioner relationship.
  • Work with sunk-cost feelings and grief rather than with the device.
• Client stops or delays medical treatment despite discussion.
  • Respect capacity and autonomy, and keep the door open.
  • Keep encouraging medical contact. Agree warning signs that would prompt urgent help, and coordinate with the doctor where consent allows.
  • Act on safeguarding or capacity concerns through your service's procedures. [source: NCCIH "Are you considering…"]
• Practitioner is undermining therapy or medical care (for example, telling the client that emotions are "frequencies" the wand will clear, or that doctors are harmful).
  • Explore the effect on the client.
  • Avoid a power struggle with the practitioner, and avoid splitting.
  • Consider whether the conduct is reportable (4.14).
• Overwhelm or distress during "Soundflower" or other spiritual experiences. Clients may report intense emotion, a sense of "divine awareness", or unsettling experiences while viewing the glyphs. [source: Cromwell for the experience promoters describe]
  • Assess the experience as you would any altered state: grounding, sleep, dissociation and psychosis risk.
  • Do not interpret its spiritual meaning for the client.
  • Refer for medical or psychiatric assessment if there are psychotic features.
• Family conflict over use or spending.
  • Help the client clarify their own position.
  • Consider a joint session focused on communication, not on the device.
  • Screen for financial abuse in either direction.
• Client wants to train as a practitioner after a good experience, or to recover losses.
  • Explore motives, costs and income expectations.
  • Encourage them to check what qualification the training actually confers and whether any regulator recognises it. The cited sources describe no formal certifying body. [source: Cromwell] [uncertain]
• Non-adherence to psychotherapy tasks because the device is "doing the work".
  • Explore how the client sees the two fitting together.
  • Agree small, valued therapy tasks that do not compete with their beliefs.
• Your own reactions (contempt, fascination, rescue). Take them to supervision, and check your notes for judgemental wording. [source: APA Ethics Code 2.04, 3.04]
• Animal use (promoters describe use on horses). This is outside your scope. If an animal's welfare is at risk, the client can be directed to a veterinarian. [source: Cymatic Source PDF]

Sources

Web sources:

• Cymatherapy article (Cymatic Source, PDF): promotional account of Manners, Bretforton Hall, the five-frequency theory, Cymatique sessions and claims.
• Cromwell M. "The Journey to Marry Science and Spirit" (PDF): Cymatherapy™, AMI devices, Soundflower and cyma glyphs; promotional.
• "Licensed massage therapist adds cyma therapy to private practice" (Berlin Sun): Cyma 1000 use by a massage therapist; claims taken from training material.
• PolitiFact (2022) "There is no evidence that vibrational frequencies from Rife machines can cure cancer": context on cancer claims made for frequency devices.
• FDA. General Wellness: Policy for Low Risk Devices (guidance page) and full guidance PDF
• NCCIH. Tips: Start Talking With Your Health Care Providers About Complementary Health Approaches
• NCCIH. Are You Considering a Complementary Health Approach?
• GOV.UK / MHRA. The Yellow Card scheme: guidance for healthcare professionals, patients and the public
• American Psychological Association. Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct

Books cited:

• Cromwell, M. Soundflower: The Journey to Marry Science and Spirit. Year and publisher [uncertain: not verified].
• Peter Guy Manners' own writings on cymatics are not cited here. [uncertain: not verified]