ABOUT DR. PERKUS
Dr. Benjamin Perkus is a Licensed Psychologist who has combined 25 years of Private Practice experience with 19 years of using Essential Oils to create a unique modality for dissolving negative thoughts, feelings, and memories called “The Aroma Freedom Technique.” This integrative modality incorporates elements of EMDR, NET, Polyvagal Theory, Somatic Psychology, Meditative Awareness, Trauma Therapy, and Aromatherapy in a unique yet simple way. He found the process to be so successful that he left his private practice to teach and certify people worldwide in this modality. There are currently over 800 certified practitioners in 39 states and 19 countries, and this approach continues to spread worldwide due to its universal effectiveness in so many areas of life.
Dr. Perkus is the author of “The Aroma Freedom Technique” and has lectured widely about this process through his online portal at www.aromafreedom.com. He lives in Upstate New York with his wife Elaine and Daughter Eyana, 2 cats, and a Golden Retriever. His mission is to spread this modality throughout the world in order to empower individuals to be free of past burdens and actualize their dreams and goals.
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WHAT FLIPPED BENJAMIN’S LID?
There wasn’t one experience in adulthood that flipped Dr. Perkus’ lid, but as he reflected on the significant experiences from childhood, the key landmark for him was his parents’ divorce when he was about 10 years old. He found himself on an unstable foundation that sent him on a quest to learn about psychology, his own emotions, the human brain, and his spirit. It all set him up to be a seeker— a person who wanted to find his place in life.
Dr. Perkus believes that we all experience a second birth when we discover who we really are and begin to live as our true selves and pursue our purpose in the world.
Benjamin’s education journey went from engineering to creative writing to philosophy, and finally to psychology. Kim had pointed out that once Ben discovered what he was made for, he didn’t keep it to himself, though he admits he didn’t initially go into psychology to help others. Once he discovered that helping others was rewarding, he was hooked and has built his life around serving others.
WHAT IS AROMA FREEDOM TECHNIQUE?
It wasn’t long after beginning seeing patients full time that Ben discovered he needed more than talk therapy. He began with EMDR, EFT, neurofeedback, family constellation, etc. His breakthrough came when he was setting up EMDR with a patient and decided to have his patient smell essential oils instead of using eye movement. He watched as the traumatic memories dissolved— gently and quickly. He continued using oils in this way for some time while he and his wife were teaching classes on how to use essential oils to heal physical ailments. But he had never found a recipe book for using oils clinically. He wanted to find remedies for both major and minor trauma for his patients, as well as a path to overcoming negative thoughts that limit our ability to achieve our goals.
After reading the book, The Untethered Soul, he found the concept of the inner roommate— the conversation we’re always having with ourselves. There were a lot of cognitive and meditative techniques for finding separation from that negative inner critic, but Dr. Perkus took it in a different direction.
He discovered that if you listen to that negative voice after you’ve set a goal of where you want to go in life, and then you connect how you feel when you hear the voice, what you feel in your body, and go connect with a memory, you might discover the source of why you aren’t reaching your goal.
That brought the loose ends of his theory together, so he decided to continue his research and write a book. He first tried the 12-step process on himself to overcome the struggle to meet his writing deadline for the book. Because it worked so well on him, he knows the process could help many others break through negative thoughts and beliefs that might be rooted in past experiences in order to achieve their goals. Dr. Perkus emphasized that as important as it is to dissolve past trauma, it’s also so important to not get stuck in the past.
MOST OF THE NEGATIVE THOUGHTS THAT ARE IN OUR HEADS ARE SELF-CREATED.
We do this for self-protection. We experience something painful and our brain is always there trying to project us with defensive negative beliefs. The trouble is that this imprisons us and limits what we think is possible.
What Aroma Freedom is really about is discovering what your heart’s desire really is and then finding out what those blockers are from your past, tracing them back to their origin, and clearing the memories out using essential oils.
HOW IS AFT DIFFERENT FROM EMDR?
What’s missing from EMDR is a strategy for what memories or traumas to release when. AFT begins with where you want to go. Dr. Perkus has developed a number of modalities that can be used under different circumstances, depending on where the patient is with their understanding of which memories are causing their pain.
Kim expressed that AFT seems to allow for more creativity and connection to self.
Many people who have experienced both EMDR and AFT, express that AFT is gentler and faster than EMDR. One of the reasons is that with EMDR, you’re deciding where you want to go ahead of time. You’re saying, “How intense is the negative feeling, and what is the positive thought you want to have?” With AFT, you don’t set things up mentally ahead of time. As the memories dissolve, you’re going to begin to get some wisdom. There’s an openness that the essential oils create.
HOW DO THE OILS ACTUALLY WORK?
Dr. Perkus sent Kim some blends to explore ahead of the recording and she asked him to explain the different oils used in AFT. He explained that there is scientific data to explain the actions of each oil and the blends all have different purposes. For instance, the inner child blend is intended to connect the user to their true selves.
You can only feel one thing at a time and as you review certain memories, the aromas travel the olfactory pathway— a primitive, survival pathway. The sense of smell is hard-wired into the limbic system and the amygdala which determines which part of our nervous system will be activated.
Memory reconsolidation is where you activate a memory and feel the feelings associated with that memory. The neurons that hold that memory in place actually unlock for about five hours. During this time, they are looking for new information and if they don’t get any new information, they lock back the way they were. There are specific conditions under which re-wiring can occur in order for the neurons to develop a new pattern. Aroma Freedom works so well because the smells are the new information that essentially says, “You are safe.”
The beauty of this technique is that it can be very private and anonymous. The patient may never have to share the memory. It’s non-invasive and leaves the patient feeling positive and prepared to formulate an affirmation that will be repeated in a power pose to anchor the new belief.
CAN AFT WORK WITH ADDICTION RECOVERY?
Kim is an addiction specialist and shared that the olfactory pathway can be very triggering for people in recovery. She asked Dr. Perkus if they have any research around AFT and addiction. Dr. Perkus has applied AFT to the experience of a craving or the use of anything to make a person “feel better”. AFT asks why the patient doesn’t feel good in the first place. He’s seen incredible results with this process in addressing craving and has high hopes for AFT in treating addiction.
CAN OTHER SMELLS WORK?
Theoretically, any smell can work, but using essential oils for clinical results utilizes the scientific data behind specific natural substances that act in a certain way. Dr. Perkus wants people to be aware that not just any oil can be effective. There are a lot of oils on the market that contain impure substances that when inhaled can cross the blood-brain barrier and become quite harmful.
WHAT’S AHEAD?
Ben’s goal is to get this process to the whole world. He wants families to know how to use this technique to help kids avoid growing up with wrong beliefs. He imagines transforming the mental health field and getting into the therapeutic community. This is a self-care tool as much as it is clinical practice. Practitioners learn to make this part of their daily routine helping them not carry the stress associated with their work into their family and other relationships. Kim pointed out that this is a highly effective modality for remote therapy.
While you’re here, why not check out Kim’s book?
But Your Mother Loves You is the witty and candid tale of how a renowned psychotherapist moved from “not good enough” to “the right person” despite childhood neglect and a toxic relationship with her mother.
Everyone knows at least one person who demonstrates toxic love, someone who consistently jabs a straw in others and sucks the life right out of them. Without an in-depth understanding of how to navigate these relationships, most people continue to emotionally regress and remain paralyzed in familiar, pain-soaked patterns. But Your Mother Loves You helps readers overcome this cycle of toxicity.
Kim Honeycutt shares the real-life experience of how a shame-based, self-destructive little girl grew up to be a recovered alcoholic, entered the world of psychology as a professional, and created her own strategies to address and conquer toxicity.
This story, both witty and practical, is told through the lens of personal life experience and expert psychological strategies combined with Godly intervention. Readers learn how to either walk away from or walk with a toxic loved one without losing themselves. Covered in both vulnerability and clinical information, But Your Mother Loves You provides a step-by-step approach on how to stop toxic love and the subsequent self-abuse.