In 1996, at the age of 30, I opened my doctor’s practice near Berlin. I had studied and trained in conventional medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), ancient European healing methods, neural therapy, osteopathy, homeopathy, reflex therapies, kinesiology and more, so here I was with a huge repertoire of therapeutic options to choose from and had to decide which of the numerous therapeutic approaches would have the highest chances of success for each patient.

Testing

Thanks to the arm-length test that I’d learned from Raphael van Assche, I already had a tool to diagnose the state of organs. For that purpose, I touched the skin above the respective organ, exerting a light but definite pressure to stimulate it. If the organ had stress, the arm-length test showed a difference in the length of the arms. If the organ had no stress, the arms remained equally long after this provocation.

To increase the quality of my testing, I made the agreement with myself to always look at all levels (structural, biochemical, mental, emotional, energetic) when testing an organ. This enhanced the diagnostic quality, since I’d removed an inner limitation.

Tuning in

Then, I started to no longer test via the patient’s arms but for many things, I used my own arms on behalf of the patient.

This required that I fully tuned in to the patient beforehand, which was possible by imagining being the patient at the outset of the treatment. Thus, I could feel inside of me how the patient was doing and feeling. “If I was the patient, how would I breathe, move, perceive myself, in which mood would I be, etc.” This created such a deep connection with the patient that I was able to use my arms to test on his behalf.

Impulse

Out of touching the organs as a stimulus, which wasn’t possible with all organs, or would have been too intimate or even painful, a new technique was born—the impulse. Here, I hold my open hand with the palm facing down toward the organ at a distance of about 8–12 inches above the body while thinking the name of the organ. It’s as if an energy wave was targeted at and sent to that organ, touching it on all levels through the consciousness of these levels. Even if an organ is out of balance on one level only, the arm-length test reveals stress. Over time, I extended the levels to include the structural, biochemical, rhythmic, mental, emotional, energetic and spiritual, as well as all unknown levels.

Unknown levels represent anything that hasn’t been discovered yet. Since I discover something new every time I diagnose and treat someone or something, a closed system would mean to limit insight. This technique works very well with all organs—from the liver to the eyes all the way to the bone marrow.

Rhythms

To diagnose the breathing, I imagined that my hands and lower arms were no longer mine but instead, became the patient’s breathing. Then, I moved them in a large opening upward movement for the inhalation, and a downward movement for the exhalation, sensing in my hands the patient’s degree of freedom when breathing. This revealed complete or even partial blockages in the inhalation or exhalation, or blockages on either side, since I diagnosed the breathing using both hands at the same time.

But it showed even more: Our breathing consists of two phases—the movement of air, followed by the movement of energy. As we’re breathing in, we first fill our lungs with air and then we fill the universe with infinite energy; as we’re breathing out, we first empty our lungs of air and then the universe exhales energy through us. This also matches concepts of prana.

To double-check what I’d sensed with my hands, I asked my patients to take a breath and verified my results directly with their hands, using the arm-length test.

The inner conductors

To diagnose the autonomic plexuses—the conductors of our inner organs—I held my hand above the plexus, such as the solar plexus, and I imagined that my hand was no longer my hand but that very plexus.

This allows me to sense the degree of freedom of that plexus in my hand as I move it upward—a wonderful way to diagnose the autonomic nervous system.

I’ve also noticed that many irritations or malfunctions of organs are caused by blockages in the related plexuses, since these act as inner conductors for those organs. This also explains the success of neural therapy where local anesthetics are injected into a plexus area, which can have a positive impact on organs.

The most fascinating discoveries occurred when I diagnosed the left vagus nerve in the context of heart problems, but more about that in the chapter on the autonomic nervous system.

Structure and cyberhand

To diagnose structure, bones, fasciae and joints, I imagined once again that my hand was the respective joint or bone, etc., and I moved it virtually in the air in several axes. In this way, I’m able to determine blockages or limitations precisely using what I call the “cyberhand.” Then, I verified the results with the help of the arm-length test after moving the joint directly in all directions, and the results always matched.

In this way, I can virtually move through the patient’s body with my hands and test joints in all axes. Patients often feel my hand within their body, especially at the tailbone and sacrum, even though I’m moving it about 12 inches above their body.

Scanning

Regarding the large intestines, I practiced scanning the organ with the palm of my hand to detect possible changes of the field. After some time, I was able to differentiate inflammations or tumors, among others, merely based on how the field had changed there, as they felt different in my hand.

Then, I started to scan the teeth with my finger tips for inflammations especially below the roots, palpating the field about 1 inch above the jaws. If I detected something in the field, I verified the result by palpating that area, since inflammations produce painful swellings there, which, however, are only felt when touching them directly.

In order to scan the entire body for inflammations, tumors, focal infections and changes in the field, I scan the field above the patient’s body from top to bottom and left to right with the side of my hand where the pinky finger is—as if it was a flat laser beam.

Imago

For internal organs, I’ve developed the Imago technique where patients imagine that the organ is a space they can enter. The patients close their eyes and describe what they see in that organ, translating any irritation into a picture. The therapist is able to see the same images as the patient does and can guide the patient through the organ like a supervisor.

This technique was developed primarily for the uterus and prostate in order to make consequences of energetic manipulation and sexual violence visible and thus treatable. This technique also works with any other organ, such as the eyes, the brain, bones, etc.

The word Imago only means “image,” a representation of something, and over the course of the years, various beautiful ways to apply it have evolved. Patients can go to a certain age, for example, and describe the room of their family. This is similar to systemic constellation work with the difference that patients will see all images themselves and that there are no limitations based on time and space.

Another form consists of drawing an Imago. Here, complex situations are turned into abstract pictures that show the forces at work, which makes targeted change possible. With this technique, it’s possible to work on teams, projects, situations, and companies or organizations—that is, any kind of system.

The hand of light

Here, the images are supported and verified by using a technique that I call the “hand of light.” Therapists imagine that their own hand is light that they can move through the internal organs. If the organ is affected by a structural, biochemical, rhythmic, mental, emotional, energetic or spiritual irritation, the field is different and disharmonious in this spot, and the hand senses resistance that it cannot move through.

That way, I’ve created my own research institution and been having great fun in discovering life and the body myself. And the wonderful thing is that every human being can learn the techniques of intuitive diagnostics him- or herself. In a workshop, this doesn’t take longer than two to three days, and then participants can do it as well as I can.

Text from the book Intuitive Diagnostics, chapter Basics and Techniques