Healing & Releasing Earthbound Spirits: Signs, Symptoms & Energy Healing
Have you ever walked into a room and instantly felt heavy… even though nothing seemed wrong?
Or maybe you’ve gone through periods where you felt emotionally drained, disconnected from yourself, exhausted for no clear reason, or stuck in patterns that didn’t fully feel like your own.
As someone sensitive to energy, you may notice that certain places, people, or situations affect you more deeply than others. While some heaviness can come from stress, trauma, emotional pain, or everyday life, there are also moments on the healing journey where certain experiences can feel harder to fully explain.
This is where the topic of earthbound spirits, energetic attachments, and spirit release therapy begins to enter the conversation.
I know this subject can sound intimidating at first. Movies and social media have created a lot of fear around spirits and spiritual attachment. But through my experience in energy healing, I’ve learned that this work is not about fear: it’s about compassion, awareness, healing, and helping restore peace and balance.
In this blog, we’ll explore:
● What earthbound spirits are
● My personal experience with spirit attachment
● What spirit release therapy is
● Common signs of energetic or spiritual attachments
● How Reiki and energy healing can help
● Why some people may be more sensitive to energies than others
Whether you’re simply curious, going through a spiritual awakening, struggling with unexplained energetic heaviness, or looking to deepen your understanding as a Reiki practitioner, my intention is to approach this topic with openness, compassion, and clarity.
What is an Earthbound Spirit?
To better understand spirit attachment and spirit release therapy, it’s important to first understand what an earthbound spirit is believed to be.
In many spiritual traditions, it’s believed that after death, the soul naturally transitions toward the light. However, in some cases, a spirit may remain emotionally or mentally attached to the earthly plane. These are often referred to as earthbound spirits.
There can be many reasons for this: unfinished business, trauma, fear, confusion, attachment to loved ones, addiction, or simply not realizing they have passed.
Earthbound spirits are sometimes referred to as lingering spirits, spiritual presences, or intelligent energetic hauntings. Despite how they are portrayed in movies, they are rarely believed to be malicious. Most are thought to be confused, lost, or seeking resolution.
These energies can manifest in different ways. Some may remain connected to homes, objects, or locations, while others may attach themselves to a person’s energy field. Often, the effects are subtle and may feel like emotional heaviness, exhaustion, disconnection, or energetic overwhelm.
Within spirit release therapy and energy healing work, practitioners may also encounter different types of energetic influences, including:
● Unconscious Energy Attachments
● Intentional Energy (Curses, Spells, Psychic Attack)
● Human Energies (loved ones who have passed)
● Entities or Non-Human Energies
● Demonic or Interdimensional Beings
It’s important to approach these topics with grounding and discernment rather than fear. In my experience, healing work should always focus on empowerment, balance, spiritual protection, and compassion.
What Is Spirit Release Therapy?
Once people begin learning about earthbound spirits and energetic attachments, the next question is often: How are these energies released?
This is where Spirit Release Therapy, often called SRT, comes in.
Spirit Release Therapy is the process of identifying and healing energies, attachments, or influences believed to not belong to a person’s original soul. Sometimes a loved one who has passed has unfinished business, or a contract with the living person (eg. “He can't survive without me” or “I'll love her forever.”) and sticks around to try and help the living, or stay with a loved one.
If a person's death has been lengthy and prolonged (as in the case of the elderly being sustained for weeks or months by morphine), or if a person died suddenly, then in both cases, when they cross into the spirit world, they are often unaware that they are dead, and when the light comes for them, they don't realize it is for them. In these situations, they turn towards their living loved ones instead, and live off of their energy field.
Regardless of the type of spirit attachment, people often report feeling emotionally heavy, mentally exhausted, disconnected from their sense of self, or trapped in recurring patterns that feel difficult to understand or break.
Every spirit release session is different. Some are calm and deeply emotional, while others can feel more intense depending on the energy being cleared. People may experience emotional releases, physical sensations, or noticeable energetic shifts during the process.
Because this topic can easily become fear-based online, I think it’s important to approach it with grounding and balance. Spirit release work is not about blaming every struggle on spiritual attachment. There are many emotional, psychological, and physical reasons why people experience heaviness, trauma, addiction, anxiety, or distress.
At its core, Spirit Release Therapy is about healing, compassion, and restoring balance within the energy field. Many practitioners believe the energies encountered are often confused or unresolved rather than purely malicious.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned through energy healing is that fear weakens us, while grounding, compassion, Reiki healing, and spiritual protection help bring us back into alignment.
Even for people who don’t fully believe in spirits or entities, energy healing sessions often help them feel lighter, calmer, clearer, and more connected to themselves again.
Common Signs of Energetic or Spiritual Attachments
One of the most common questions people ask is: How do I know if I’m dealing with an energetic attachment?
Experiences look different for everyone. Within spiritual healing practices, some believe energetic attachments may contribute to emotional, mental, or energetic heaviness. At the same time, it’s important to remember that these experiences can also be connected to stress, trauma, burnout, mental health, or difficult life circumstances.
1. Feeling Constantly Drained or Heavy
Many people describe feeling exhausted or emotionally heavy even after resting or taking care of themselves.
2. Sudden Mood Changes or Emotional Fog
Some experience unexpected emotional shifts, brain fog, irritability, anxiety, or emotional overwhelm that feels out of character.
3. Feeling “Not Like Yourself”
A common experience is feeling disconnected from yourself, your intuition, or the person you used to be.
4. Nightmares, Sleep Disturbances, or Anxiety
Some spiritually sensitive people report vivid nightmares, restless sleep, sleep paralysis, or feeling unsettled during the night.
5. Feeling Stuck Spiritually or Emotionally
People sometimes feel blocked or unable to move forward emotionally or spiritually despite doing healing work.
6. Repeating Negative Patterns
Some individuals notice recurring cycles such as addictions, unhealthy relationships, emotional triggers, or self-sabotaging behaviors that feel difficult to break.
The purpose of spirit release therapy is never to create fear or blame, but rather to support healing through awareness, grounding, and energetic balance.
My Personal Experience With Spirit Attachment
During the early stages of my healing journey, I experienced what I personally believe was a spiritual attachment. At the time, I constantly felt like I was being watched, always looking over my shoulder, especially when I was alone.
There was this deep feeling of unease that never fully left me. I would distract myself with loud music, stay busy, or surround myself with people just to avoid the heavy feeling I carried inside.
I also felt pushed toward thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that felt completely out of character for me. It created a constant sense of guilt, fear, and emotional heaviness that felt like a fiery pit in my stomach.
Deep down, I knew something felt energetically wrong and that this heaviness was affecting both my mental and physical wellbeing. This eventually led me to seek help through Spirit Release Therapy and energy healing.
After my spirit release session, I felt an incredible sense of freedom, peace, and lightness that I hadn’t felt in a long time. It was one of the experiences that inspired me to continue learning about energy healing and helping others reconnect with themselves and reclaim their energy.
Why Do Spirits Attach to Someone’s Energy?
Within spirit release therapy, it’s believed that energetic attachments are more likely to happen when a person is emotionally, mentally, physically, or spiritually vulnerable. Periods of intense stress, trauma, grief, fear, addiction, illness, or emotional overwhelm may weaken the energy field and make someone more susceptible to outside energies.
Some practitioners also believe attachments can happen during major life events such as accidents, surgery, hospitalization, divorce, the loss of a loved one, childbirth, or other deeply emotional experiences.
Certain professions and spiritual practices are also thought to carry greater energetic sensitivity due to constant exposure to intense emotions, trauma, or spiritual work. This may include:
● Nurses, doctors, paramedics, firefighters, and police officers
● Therapists and healing professionals
● Reiki practitioners, energy healers, mediums, and psychic readers
● People who channel spirits or frequently work with spiritual energies
Some believe that practices such as using Ouija boards, engaging in ungrounded spiritual practices, or participating in harmful ritual work may also increase energetic vulnerability.
To put it simply, the more emotionally overwhelmed, spiritually ungrounded, or energetically open a person becomes, the easier it may be to attract unwanted energies. This is why grounding, spiritual protection, emotional healing, and self-awareness are such important parts of spiritual work.
How Reiki and Energy Healing Can Help
Reiki healing and other energy healing modalities can help support the body, mind, and spirit by restoring balance within the energy field. Before doing spirit release work, I personally believe it’s important to first strengthen and stabilize the person through grounding, chakra healing, and emotional support.
Energy healing sessions can help clear heavy or stagnant energy that often leave someone feeling emotionally overwhelmed, disconnected, anxious, or energetically drained. Many people describe feeling more balanced, calmer, lighter, and more at ease afterward.
I also believe healing should be approached holistically. Alongside spiritual work, I often encourage counseling, emotional support, nervous system regulation practices such as meditation, breathwork, yoga, or spending time in nature, as well as healthy lifestyle habits like proper sleep, nourishing food, movement, journaling, and self-care as part of the healing journey.
One of the most important parts of Reiki healing is helping people reconnect with themselves again: their intuition, emotions, inner peace, confidence, and personal energy.
Final Thoughts on Spirit Attachment and Healing
Spirit attachment and energy healing can be very misunderstood topics, often surrounded by fear or judgment. But in my experience, this work is not about fear: it’s about healing, awareness, compassion, and reconnecting with your own light.
No matter what someone is going through emotionally, spiritually, or energetically, healing is possible. With the right support, grounding practices, Reiki healing, spiritual protection, and inner work, people can begin reclaiming their energy, strengthening their spirit, and feeling like themselves again.
The goal is never to become afraid of the unseen, but rather to feel empowered, balanced, and at peace within yourself. The more grounded, healed, and aligned we become, the stronger our energy field naturally is.
Whether you are a Reiki practitioner, empath, spiritually sensitive person, or simply curious about spirit release therapy, I hope this blog helped bring a deeper understanding to the topic with compassion rather than fear.
Healing begins the moment we stop giving our power away and start reconnecting to ourselves again.
If you feel like your energy may be affected by a spiritual attachment or persistent energetic heaviness, contact me so we can discuss a treatment plan tailored to your needs and healing journey.
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In some ways, it can resemble an exorcism, but it is very different from the fear-based portrayals seen in movies. Spirit Release Therapy is a spiritual and energetic healing practice focused on helping clear uninvited energies from the energy field through compassion, grounding, and healing rather than fear or punishment.
Some sessions can feel intense, especially when working with resistant energies. The approach I use with dark spirits is firm yet compassionate, as every spirit, no matter how difficult, comes from the light, and therefore, will return to the light.
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Each session is unique, but the process generally includes:
Grounding and protection with Reiki to help you enter a receptive and safe state
I partner with you to…
Work through areas of your aura that feel heavy or blocked
Identify the area that carries the strongest energetic charge.
Compassionately communicate with the spirit or energy present to find out it's, or his/her/their story.
Help the spirit become aware of its situation and unfinished attachments.
Send healing light to the spirit and guide it toward the light with the assistance of spiritual guides.
You remain in control throughout the process. We co-create the session together, and my goal is always to empower you rather than position myself as the “expert.”
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Reiki can help clear dense or stagnant energy, strengthen the energy field, and support emotional and spiritual balance. In some cases, Reiki healing may also help loosen or release energetic attachments as part of the healing process.
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People describe it differently, but common experiences may include feeling unusually drained, emotionally heavy, disconnected from yourself, anxious, energetically overwhelmed, or stuck in repeating negative patterns.
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Grounding, Reiki self-healing, healthy emotional boundaries, meditation, prayer, spending time in nature, and emotional healing practices can all help strengthen and protect your energy field.
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Some people are naturally more spiritually sensitive than others. Emotional trauma, grief, addiction, chronic stress, illness, difficult life events, or emotionally heavy environments may make someone feel more energetically vulnerable or overwhelmed.
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Not necessarily. Some people come into sessions fully believing in spirit attachment, while others are simply curious or open-minded. Many clients simply report feeling lighter, calmer, more grounded, or emotionally clearer afterward.
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Every session is different, but spirit release work is always approached carefully, respectfully, and at your pace.
I use Reiki healing combined with guided relaxation techniques to help clients enter a calm, grounded, and receptive state. This allows us to gently access the subconscious mind and identify areas within the energy field that may feel heavy, blocked, or affected by unwanted energies.
There are occasions when the energies we’re working with can be resistant or defensive. Sometimes these energies do not want to leave and may react strongly in an attempt to remain attached or maintain control.
The approach I use with dark spirits is firm yet compassionate, as every spirit, no matter how difficult, comes from the light, and therefore, will return to the light.
At the core of this work is helping remove uninvited guests from the energy field while helping the client feel safe, grounded, empowered, and reconnected to their own energy.
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Spirit Release Therapy should always be practiced responsibly, with grounding, energetic protection, compassion, and discernment. I strongly believe this work should support emotional wellbeing and empowerment rather than fear.
I also encourage clients to seek counselling, emotional support, or professional healthcare when needed as part of a holistic healing approach.
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Everyone’s experience is different. Some people feel lighter, calmer, emotionally clearer, more energized, or deeply relaxed afterward. Others may need time to rest, process emotions, and integrate the energetic shifts that occurred during the session.
Related Articles:
Why Reiki is Essential for Highly Sensitive People & Empaths
https://www.catalysthealing.ca/reiki-blog/why-reiki-is-essential-for-highly-sensitive-people-empaths
Protecting Your Spiritual Energy During the Holiday Season: A Healer’s Guide
Essential Reiki Aftercare: Your Guide to Post-Session Healing
SOURCES:
The Good Light Hypnosis Heart Centred Hypnotherapy, “Spirit Release Therapy” https://www.thegoodlight.ca/spirit-release-therapy
International Board for Regression Therapy, “How Earthbound Spirits, Ghosts, Demons and ETs“, Peter Wright https://ibrt.org/past-newsletters/f/how-earthbound-spirits-ghosts-demons-and-ets
National Catholic Reporter, “'Spirit release' is a different kind of therapy”, Stafford Betty https://www.ncronline.org/news/spirituality/spirit-release-different-kind-therapy
Emotional Clearing Process, “Spirit Releasement Therapy”, John Ruskan https://www.emclear.com/Emotions/Emotions_spiritreleasement.html
