Muscle Response Testing (MRT) The NMT Way
What is MRT?
Literally, a conversation with the “other than conscious” (OTC) mind of the subject.
Because the OTC does not control speech, the OTC must express its response to an OTC query from the NMT practitioner by modifying some property of body function that the OTC controls.
Any convenient and reproducible way of monitoring a response of the OTC/OTC communication between the practitioner and the client can be used: MRT is preferred and will be used in the NMT seminars. GSR, EEG?, pendulum?, other?
The purpose of the verbiage of the scripted questions of the NMT Clinical Pathways is to bring to awareness in the conscious mind of the practitioner the subject matter that will become an iconographic “picture thought” representing each query or corrective statement of the pathway. Of significance, though less important, is that verbalizing the statements causes the patient to be aware of the content at a conscious mind level, giving the patient a general conscious awareness of NMT dialog content.
Whether spoken or silently delivered, it is the OTC level “picture thought” that is understood and not the audible words. So, speaking verbiage without the practitioner’s clear understanding of the meaning produces OTC/OTC dialog that is more or less meaningless and such response will be of little clinical value. Similarly, unspoken OTC/OTC communication that is based on the practitioner’s clear understanding will produce clinically valuable responses.
Types of MRT
Active MRT
The OTC influences the quality of contraction, in response to a challenge force delivered to a selected test muscle. Any muscle can be used that is convenient and can be isolated for testing (as opposed to trying to test a complex muscle group).
Passive MRT
The OTC expresses a response by demonstrating a pattern of muscle contraction/relaxation. E.g., Leg length testing done by “Activator method” chiropractors, arm length testing. The practitioner observes shortening or lengthening of one leg or arm versus the other as a response to the content of the practitioner’s OTC input.
What does the language of MRT mean?
How does the practitioner know what an MRT response means? OTC communication begins when the practitioner first addresses the patient in the clinical setting. An OTC exchange automatically occurs, initiated by the conscious intention of the practitioner to interact on an OTC level with the patient. Just as when we say, “Good morning” to a stranger on the street, we establish that the appropriate language of response is English, so the OTC of the practitioner indicates to the patient the protocol of response that will be understood by the practitioner. If the practitioner clearly intends that a “strong” MRT response is yes (agreement), then the patient’s OTC recognizes this and responds in kind. The converse is also true. So, determination of the meaning of a strong or weak response is the responsibility of the practitioner. If the practitioner does not understand that they control, by their intention, the definition (yes or no) of a strong and weak MRT response from the patient, then MRT responses will be inconsistent and untrustworthy.
The Patientā€™s Responsibilities in MRT testing.
Provisional belief. The patient must be open to the procedure and at least neutral in their judgment of MRT. Cynicism, distrust, fear, strong mental distraction may all contribute to some degree of barrier to OTC/OTC communication and compromise the quality of the NMT session.
The Practitioner's Responsibilities in MRT testing.
Accurate but relaxed mental focus is essential. We are not trying to force something to happen, but to allow a dialog to unfold.
If you enter into a session of MRT and your mind is filled with doubt, boredom, disinterest in the patient, greed, lascivious intent, anger, jealousy, fear, or confusion, that too will be printed on the “envelope” that you send to the patient via OTC/OTC. What patient would be fool enough to open such an envelope? Maintain focus of intention on the patient and the job at hand.
Truth of an MRT response. Is the derived information accurate?
NMT recognizes that the OTC response of the patient is a reply to the OTC dialog content from the practitioner representing the best understanding available to the patient’s OTC in regard to the subject of the OTC exchange.
The OTC, like the conscious mind, is a “nested hierarchy” of intelligent agents that cooperate to form the user illusion of a homogenous information processing system.
Some level of the OTC always has access to the information required to properly regulate the body.
All levels of the OTC may not have this information.
MRT permits an OTC/OTC dialog to determine information that is sequestered to some level of the nested hierarchy but available for all levels of the OTC to use to properly regulate physiology and to identify erroneous information and eliminate its confusing influence on body function.
The OTC can respond with reasonable accuracy to questions about internal conditions of the body – this is the world that the OTC regulates. MRT responses don’t need to be perfect to be clinically valuable. We just need to interpret them in light of their probable level of accuracy.
The OTC can respond with a high level of accuracy to questions about current and past conditions in the body.
The OTC can project forward and estimate how conditions may change based on application of some set of internal operations the OTC controls, e.g., how long it may take for the body to eliminate some group of infectious agents. Such responses are not at quite the same level of accuracy as a simple response that reveals some current condition in the body, e.g., “Is any level of the OTC fully aware of an autoimmune response toward tissue of the GI tract?”
Responses to questions that involve circumstances outside the body or project into the future have lower levels of accuracy of response, e.g., “Will tomorrow’s lottery numbers be 3, 12, 23, 33, 45, and 46?
Validity of an MRT response. Is the observed response really an MRT response?
The “It is/is not?” test for validity of the MRT process for any response is to reverse the positive/negative semantics of the inquiry and see if the MRT response changes. “It is…?” versus “It is not….?” If the MRT response does not change from a “yes” to a “no”, then it can not be a valid response.
Using this test for validity of an MRT response is most reliable when the “It is/is not?” challenge is done by OTC/OTC communication without verbalization because it takes the conscious mind of the patient out of the equation so that their expectation can not possibly influence the test.
Strong/Strong MRT challenge response. If the “It is/is not?” challenge produces a strong response to both forms of the question, obviously one response is wrong. Actually, both are wrong because this demonstrates that the patient has temporarily gone out of rapport with the practitioner. This may happen due to some internal or external distraction or mental fatigue/upset.
Solution: “Is it OK to continue?” Asked verbally or silently, this will usually re-establish rapport and the “It is/Is Not” test will immediately reveal contrasting rather than the same responses.
When this does not resolve the strong/strong MRT response it may be that the patient is mentally fatigued or too upset to continue a particular session. A short break or drink of water may help them. If not, terminating a session and picking up at a later time is best.
Weak/Weak MRT challenge response. If the “It is/Is not?” challenge produces a weak response to both forms of the question, both can not be correct. This usually represents muscle fatigue.
Solution: Switch sides or switch test muscles as necessary to keep the patient fresh and able to respond.
Occasionally the weak/weak response means the patient has gone out of rapport with the practitioner. Use the statement, “Is it OK to continue?”, to re-establish rapport and correct the weak/weak response, if loss of rapport was the reason for such response.
Rarely, the patient may be overwrought or conflicted concerning the condition about which they are consulting. If this is the case, weak/weak will not be resolved by the above. Rescheduling for another day usually allows the patient to process such a conflict and be ready to participate in NMT at the next session.
Another test to confirm the meaning of the patient’s MRT responses is to simply ask, “Show me a yes/affirmative response.” and “Show me a no/negative MRT response.”
Information faults within the ACS of the patient may compromise the physiology of producing an accurate response. PSPs – corrupted and meaningless data representing unsuccessful recording of information confuses information processing. Positive CV faults (+ve CV) represent the ACS’ misperception of subject matter it attempts to consider. Negative CV faults (-ve CV) represent the ACS’ failure to recognize subject matter it attempts to consider. Checking for such compromising faults should be done at important points indicated in the protocol or when the practitioner has reason to question the validity of a response.
The concept of “switching” is often taught in other styles of MRT. The NMT position is that “switching” does not exist. What is called “switching” in other MRT instruction is what we describe in NMT as a loss of continuity of rapport between practitioner and patient. This may occur for various reasons, e.g., a patient suddenly distracted by the thought that they left a water tap running at home. We resolve this simply by asking, “Is it OK to continue?” which brings the patient back into rapport and again produces reliable MRT results. The various gestures and contact points used in other MRT methods serve to re-establish a valid testing mode, not for the reasons that are asserted, but simply because performing the gesture carries with it the intention to bring the patient back into MRT rapport.