A. First of all, I have profound empathy and understanding of how trauma, or adverse experiences deeply imbalances and impacts a person's mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual beingness. This has become a specialty for me in my practices in Albany NY, and Manhattan. I have deep sympathy for clients who have suffered emotional duress, trauma, or abuse, that ultimately blocks them from what they long to create.

When a person first comes to see me, I work to develop a healing plan or strategy to assist them in the emotional release of these circumstances that get held in ones physiology that eventually cause physical pain, fears, anxiety, energy depletion, depression and stress related illnesses. I base this on their history, medical intake, and conversations with my client regarding their life experience, and encourage them to “feel” where they are holding that in the body.

At times it is clearing trauma from an accident, childhood stress or a physically related stress. Many times, it stems from a feeling of “emptiness” or unfulfillment in their lives. And the healing journey becomes releasing ‘held down essence” and journeying to discover why a person will not “give themselves what they long for”, and all the accompanying images held in the body, soul and psyche around that.

Once we address what has been held down in the cells from past traumas, and begin connecting to that, and then clearing it in their healing sessions; physical wellness, emotional, spiritual and psychological balance is often restored! Many illnesses that a client may have developed due to emotional trauma, dis-ease are healed, ( brought into balance, by facing them, feeling them, clearing the old energies held there) and the client experiences a newfound state of health, balance and wellness. This frees them to enjoy their lives!

The energies that pour forth, that had been stored in the body also help to release previously depressed creative energies that begin to assist a client in healing on all levels including renewed energy for self-care, or redefining their lives, their priorities. (I think this coincides with the 6th and 7th stage of healing that I quoted from Barbara earlier). Sometimes a person realizes they aren’t living the life they dreamed of at all. And a client may make huge shifts, including career changes, relational changes, geographical changes etc. For me, it is very fulfilling indeed to watch someone really risk creating the life they want, by clearing all the reasons why they don’t, and going for it!

I find this to be an extremely rewarding career, particularly knowing that my life and path were not in vain, and I am most thankful to my own, at times, adverse early childhood experiences that prepared me for this career. In other words, I am who I am because of those early childhood experiences, and being able to assist others and help show them the way to balance is a wonderfully fulfilling path indeed!

I feel grateful to my mother, a healer in her own right, whose family was from Portugal. She didn't have the training that I received, she was "old school" so to speak, and gave and gave, so she burned out her body from over care taking...I learned a lot from her about the need to "balance" for the healer, so it’s no surprise that I continually seek that balance for myself and I also teach that to professional therapists, physicians and caretaker's of all sorts. So again, I am who I am because of what I experienced in life, and I'm so grateful for the parents I had and what I learned from them. As you can read, this has shaped my healing and teaching practice.

To be more clear, once we glean through our own healing process, the gifts from our own wounds, we realize our specialty. Naturally people, our clients or students that have a similar path, experience or wound are drawn to those that have forged a path before them. I liken being a healer to clearing the path to fulfillment by continually working to clear all of our blockages, fears, pain, that we may have personal freedom. Then we turn and reach our hands out to others...and help them out of theirs, knowing from our own healing process, how this is done. Remember, “we can only take a client to the places that we ourselves have traveled.”

Q. What can you say about protecting and taking care of health as a whole and about the origins of illnesses and disturbances?

A. I believe that all illness, all imbalances are a gift to us, a "red-flag system" if you will, that sends a message to us, about the need to balance something, or some aspect of our lives. Or to acknowledge an area where we have “held something from the past,” in order to come to terms with, finally feel and release it, or get refocused on self some aspect of our lives. Healers assist a client to “get the gift” from this internal “red -flag system.” This is a positive spin on what can at times be a frightening time. Healers are trained to assist a client or patient to find the message or “gift” that any circumstance is teaching them.

In our training at The Barbara Brennan School of Healing, we learn how to bring that awareness to the client or patient, from our knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the human energy field, chakra system and how it correlates to illness and dis-ease. As well as how that affects every aspect of the client's life. Healers are particularly adept at assisting the client to bring balance to areas that they were formerly in denial about, and thus will need to choose (as mentioned above) or surrender something that is taking them out of balance, affecting their health or sense of wholeness. (Again, as Barbara describes in the aforementioned excerpt from her book, “Light Emerging.”

We as healers, then assist in restoring balance and wholeness in the healing session as we were trained to do, via the healing techniques we learn in our education at BBSH, as well as the courage to “feel our feelings“ from our own deep process and therapy.

The healing session may be two-fold, The restorative healing treatment, coupled with suggestions to the client to make shifts that would benefit that balance in their lives, (that they are ready to hear), that will help them to hold the healing work, and for wholeness. This creates a partnership with the client, as a support and as part of their healing team which at times interfaces with their physician, chiropractor etc.

But remember, all healing is "self-healing", the client will receive the healing to the degree that they can surrender and open to the healing energies that the healer channels to them in the session. The energy goes where the client allows it to. This is very empowering and important for a client to learn. That way we humbly remind the client they are in charge, they have free will as discussed in Barbara's books, they make the choice to heal. Prior to that knowledge, they may have felt like they had "no power" or were a victim of circumstance or their body betraying them.

Q. Your school is one of the most famous, well-known and appreciated schools in the world. What is your anticipation about the role and function of healing and dedicated schools and organizations on healing they will lead all over the world in future ?

A. In truth, it goes back to the answer for the first question, the better trained healers are, in healing themselves, discovering their own specialties, and bringing them home to their communities, cities, towns...etc...the more people are educated about the new paradigm of healing. Which is as Barbara refers to it, "Full Spectrum Healing," treating the whole person. Therefore, the healers that have good training, will assist in educating the world that we are in partnership for the better balance and health of a patient.