Barbara Brennan

Currently an energy healer and teacher of her method of energy healing. She runs the Barbara Brennan School of Healing and has released two books detailing her healing methods: Hands of Light and Light Emerging. Her teachings have been extremely popular; her books have been translated into several languages and her school regularly gets around a thousand students each year.

Although obviously there's more detail involved, there are two main issues that Barbara Brennan deals with.

Most of the healing techniques involve laying on hands directly over chakra points. These are the same traditional locations used in other forms of healing. Ms. Brennan identifies specific illness issues with blockages or overspilling from one chakra or another. The goal, according to her method, is to have each chakra sending out energy in a smooth steady spiral. According to the theory, if not enough or too much energy leaves a chakra point, the problem is manifested physically as an ailment or discomfort.

Another belief is that many of our problems stem from defenses we picked up as children. They're known as character defense structures. Brennan identifies 5 different defense structures. The names for some of these structures come from psychiatric terminology, but their meanings here are very different from their traditional ones.

Schizoid

The earliest defense to be developed, these children supposedly felt rejected or uncomfortable with the universe from birth. They don't like being here and often "escape" through daydreaming or just spacing out. Energetically, they're very separated from their physical bodies -- often leaving their bodies energetically -- and may resent or feel hostile towards physical reality.

Oral

The oral character developed their defense during the period when they were totally dependent on their mother; the breastfeeding stage. At some point they are either abandoned by their parents or feel that they don't get enough physical or emotional nourishment. The belief of the oral is that they never have enough. Oral people tend to be thin and to jut out their heads. Energetically, orals to try to pull energy from other people because they believe they don't have enough of their own.

Psychopath

The psychopathic defense is developed somewhat later in childhood and reflects a belief that aggression is the only way to get what they want. Psychopathic character types tend to have lots of muscular development, particularly in their upper body -- a "jock" provides a good stereotype. Energetically, psychopaths send large arrows of energy up from their body and down onto whomever they're trying to intimidate.

Masochist

The masochist defense is developed in an environment where the parents were domineering and gave love in a conditional way. Guilt, shame, and passive-aggressive techniques were all used by the parents to control the child. The masochist character responds by witholding their love and themselves from others. They complain and focus on the negative sides of things. They tend to carry a lot of weight around -- literally and figuratively: stored fat is seen as a sign of masochistic tendencies. Energetically, the masochist sends out tendrils of negative energy that pierce the energy field of others.

Rigid

The child feels that their creativity (sexuality) is rejected by the parent. They get the message early on that their unique qualities are not welcomed. They develop a rigid posture and suppress their emotions and feelings. The rigid personality is obsessed with being genuine and constantly fears that they are not. The rigid body type is reflected in a board straight posture. Although they often seem more balanced than the other character types, they are not letting out their feelings. Energetically, their energies remain hovering at the edge of their field while their core or true essence remains suppressed.

Reference:
"The World of Feelings and Emotions" by Walter Last
http://users.mrbean.net.au/~wlast/Feelings.html