Dr. Zach Bush, Autism, and the Emotion Code: The Role of Environment, Emotional Baggage, and Inherited Emotions
When Dr. Zach Bush, M.D., discussed the Emotion Code during his appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, I was particularly interested in his experiences working with autistic children and their families.
As a certified Emotion Code, Body Code, and Belief Code practitioner who has worked with nonverbal autistic individuals, I was delighted to hear him discussing this work.
His observations about the people surrounding these children were fascinating. However, there is more to explore than the emotional environment alone.
What Dr. Bush Observed When Working With Families
Dr. Bush described working with autistic children who initially wouldn't let him approach them. He began working with their mothers using the Emotion Code, hoping the children would become more comfortable with his presence.
Over approximately two years, he noticed something unexpected. Some children appeared to improve before he had worked with them directly.
He eventually expanded his work to grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and others in the children's lives. He described these observations as a “field effect,” suggesting that changes in the people surrounding a child could influence the child as well.
I find this particularly interesting when we consider another aspect of the Emotion Code: inherited trapped emotions.
Inherited Trapped Emotions, Generational Trauma, and Epigenetics
In the Emotion Code, a trapped emotion is emotional energy that becomes lodged in the body when an emotional experience isn't fully processed. These emotions may remain long after the original experience and influence how we respond to situations.
Not all trapped emotions originate from our own experiences. Some are inherited through our biological family lines, passed down from previous generations. Through the Emotion Code, I can identify inherited trapped emotions and trace them through either the maternal or paternal family line, sometimes several generations back.
Within this method, releasing an inherited trapped emotion also releases it throughout the family tree, which can affect other relatives and not just the person being worked on.
I suspect this could have contributed to some of the changes Dr. Bush observed while working with biological relatives.
Dr. Bush also discussed the relationship between people and the land, including the impact of environmental disruption on Indigenous populations. While his comments could be interpreted in several ways, including possible energetic influences, they also bring to mind the subjects of generational trauma and epigenetics. Epigenetics explores how environmental influences can affect gene activity without changing DNA sequences.
One fascinating example is a 2014 study published in Nature Neuroscience.
Researchers exposed male mice to a cherry-blossom-like scent while administering mild electric shocks. The mice learned to associate the scent with danger. Their offspring and grandchildren later demonstrated heightened sensitivity to that same scent, despite never having experienced the shocks.
Dr. Bradley Nelson, creator of the Emotion Code, has referenced this study when discussing inherited trapped emotions and has spoken about further research in this area.
Now consider a child who is adopted, in foster care, or being raised by someone outside their biological family.
The people raising that child may strongly influence their emotional environment, but they are not necessarily connected to the child's biological ancestry.
This is one reason working directly with the child is just as important as considering the people around them. We can explore their own emotional baggage, inherited emotions, subconscious beliefs, and other potential imbalances, regardless of who is raising them.
Of course, the emotional environment still matters.
We All Have an Emotional Antenna
Have you ever walked into a room and immediately sensed tension, even though nobody said a word?
Perhaps you've noticed someone's anger despite their friendly expression, or felt uneasy around someone without knowing why.
We all pick up on emotional cues to some degree.
Dr. Bush discussed heightened sensitivity and described an antenna-like awareness of the surrounding environment. We pick up on far more than spoken words. Facial expressions, body language, tone of voice, and subtle changes in behavior can tell us a great deal about what's happening around us.
Some people become particularly sensitive to these signals.
For example, a child growing up in an unpredictable household may learn to recognize the slightest change in an adult's mood to anticipate conflict. That heightened awareness can remain long after the circumstances have changed.
Now consider someone who is already sensitive to noise, changes in routine, physical sensations, or other forms of stimulation. An emotionally charged environment may add another layer of stress to an already overwhelming experience.
That applies whether the people surrounding them are biological relatives, adoptive parents, foster caregivers, or anyone else involved in their lives.
I strongly suspect this also plays a role in what Dr. Bush described as the “field effect.” By working with the people who make up a child's emotional environment, he may have helped quiet some of the emotional noise surrounding that child, potentially influencing the child's own emotional responses and well-being.
What About the Child's Own Emotional Baggage?
Inherited trapped emotions are only one category we can explore.
The Emotion Code also addresses common trapped emotions, absorbed trapped emotions, in-utero trapped emotions, preconception trapped emotions, Heart-Wall trapped emotions, and more. Unlike inherited trapped emotions, these must be addressed directly within the individual rather than through work performed on the people surrounding them.
In my experience, highly sensitive individuals can be especially prone to sensing and possibly absorbing the emotions of others. They may also experience their own emotions, such as fear, anxiety, or terror, more intensely than others.
Both emotions absorbed from others and emotions arising from a person's own experiences can become trapped in the body when they aren't fully processed. The Emotion Code provides a way to identify and release these trapped emotions.
Emotional baggage can contribute to the intensity of someone's reactions.
Dr. Bradley Nelson shared a fascinating example during an interview with Lewis Howes.
A man came to him with severe back pain. During the session, Dr. Nelson identified trapped anger connected to an incident approximately twenty years earlier, when the man had been falsely accused of financial wrongdoing.
After the emotion was released, the man reported that his back pain disappeared.
However, the more interesting part of this story, for our purposes, came several days later.
The man returned and explained that he had struggled for years with road rage, marital arguments, and intense anger. He had even attended anger management classes.
Since the session, situations that previously triggered his anger no longer produced the same reactions.
Dr. Nelson hadn't even known about those anger problems when he worked with him.
The circumstances hadn't necessarily changed. The emotional charge associated with them had.
I've experienced changes in emotional reactivity through releasing trapped emotions myself.
Trapped emotions, absorbed emotions, subconscious beliefs, and other imbalances can also contribute to emotional reactivity in children and adults, particularly those who are already highly sensitive. For a child who may not be able to verbally express their feelings or consciously reflect on their experiences, these underlying influences may be especially difficult to recognize.
These are areas I can explore by working directly with the child, not just with the people surrounding them.
How Can You Work With Someone Who Cannot Speak or Self-Reflect?
A person does not need to speak, describe their feelings, or consciously reflect on their experiences to receive an Emotion Code, Body Code, or Belief Code session.
The Emotion Code, Body Code, and Belief Code work directly with the subconscious mind, so verbal communication, self-reflection, and physical presence are not required. For nonverbal individuals, I work remotely by proxy, regardless of geographical distance.
The child doesn't need to sit in front of a computer, answer questions, interact with a stranger, or have someone enter their personal space.
I've worked with nonverbal autistic individuals using this approach, and it is also how I work with animals.
For verbal individuals who wish to participate directly, I offer face-to-face sessions over Zoom or by proxy.
The Emotion Code focuses on trapped emotions, the Body Code explores a broader range of imbalances, and the Belief Code addresses subconscious beliefs and belief systems.
I can work with the child, the family, or both, even when verbal communication isn't possible. It doesn't have to be one or the other.
I appreciate Dr. Bush sharing his experiences with the Emotion Code on Joe Rogan's podcast. His observations bring attention to the potential influence of the people surrounding autistic children while opening the door to a broader conversation about emotional baggage, subconscious patterns, and the possibilities of energy healing.
They also help introduce the Emotion Code to people who may never have heard of it or considered how this approach might apply to their own families.
If you'd like to discuss your child's needs or your family's concerns, I offer a complimentary 20-minute consultation.
👉 Schedule your complimentary 20-minute consultation
My focus is not on curing autism. It is on exploring concerns that may affect an individual's emotional well-being, comfort, and quality of life.
References and Further Listening
Dr. Zach Bush, M.D. — The Joe Rogan Experience, Episode #2529. Discussion of the Emotion Code, autistic children, families, and environmental sensitivity.
Joe Rogan Left SPEECHLESS After Learning About The Emotion Code (3:41 excerpt of Joe Rogan Experience #2529 - Zach Bush)
Dias, B. G., & Ressler, K. J. (2014). “Parental olfactory experience influences behavior and neural structure in subsequent generations.” Nature Neuroscience.
Dr. Bradley Nelson with Lewis Howes. Discussion of trapped emotions and emotional reactivity.
Books for Further Exploration
For parents and caregivers interested in learning more about these methods, Dr. Bradley Nelson's books provide additional information about trapped emotions, underlying imbalances, and the Heart-Wall.
Disclosure: As a Bookshop.org affiliate, I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases made through these links, at no additional cost to you.
Energy healing is a complementary wellness practice and is not a substitute for medical evaluation, diagnosis, or treatment. Individual experiences and results vary.