Originally published in Energy Magazine: The official Publication of the Healing Touch Program February Issue Healing Touch in Canada by Kathy Moreland Layte RN, BScN, MScN, CS, HTCP/I Don Watt, HTCP; Betty Petersen, RN, BSCN, HTCP/I ; Cathy Landry, HTCP, Judi Urquhart, HTCP; Brenda Anderson, BSN, CHTP/I

I am so pleased that you have this opportunity to read this article authored by several HTP instructors and practitioners in the various provinces of Canada. Last November, I had the privilege of teaching a large Advanced Practice 1 and 2 weekend in Calgary. In 2008-2009, I will have the honor of being in Canada four times for classes, including instructor training and the Canadian Conference/HTP Instructor meeting in April (see the ad!). Janet Mentgen brought HTP classes to Canada in her first year of inaugurating the official curriculum in the United States,so Canada is also helping us celebrate HTP's 20th Anniversary year of Janet's original curriculum on the entire North American continent! Cynthia Hutchison, Healing Touch Program Director

Healing Touch Snapshots from Canada Healing Touch is alive and well and growing like a prairie fire across Canada. It continues to be a life-giving and life-changing experience for those who enroll in HT courses and for those who experience it "on the table" (or in a chair, or in bed, or at the scene of an accident). In this article several people from central and western Canada offer snapshots of what is happening as they "do the work" of Healing Touch in their communities and regions.

 

 

For those of us in the west who do not yet have stories of the wild and wonderful hospitality of the people of Newfoundland, we look forward to the Healing Touch Association of Canada Conference, "Energy Rocks", to be held in St. John's April 24 – 26, 2009. Find more information at ht.conference2009@hotmail.com. Those who attend will have stories!

Healing Touch Canada was begun by Susan Morales of Toronto, Ontario, and Janet Mentgen, who were joint partners for a number of years. Janet remained a Mentor until the time of her death. Related, but separate, organizations were formed: the Healing Touch Association of Canada to communicate with the HT community across the country, and the Canadian Healing Touch Foundation (all volunteers) to administer bursaries to HT students who need them. Healing Touch in Southwestern Ontario by Kathy Moreland Layte RN, BScN, MScN, CS, HTCP/I, CHTP There is a resurgence of HT activity in Windsor with a group of practitioners who meet monthly with certifi ed practitioner Kim Watson. Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital in Windsor has supported HT classes with Cindy Palajac from London as instructor. Under the guidance of Cindy Palajac, there is a long-standing practice group and classes are offered regularly in London. Elfi e Holst, our wonderful transplant from BC, is now based in Oakville, just west of Toronto. She has taught HT classes in the Niagara Region and Toronto.

The Kitchener-Waterloo region is approximately one hour west of Toronto, and one hour east of London. Over 180 people have taken Level 1 Healing Touch in the Kitchener-Waterloo region in the last three years. In early 2009, Levels 1, 2 and 3 HTP classes will be offered at the Conestoga College site in Kitchener. The nursing students who have taken Level 1 classes have taken HT to the West Coast, the great White North and to Africa.

Part of my passion for bringing "the work" to conventional healthcare and the education environment is the need for self-care among health care providers and educators. I wrote an article called "Pebble in the Pond" in one of the 2007 issues of Energy Magazine that talked about how I bring the program to educators.

Kathy, a Registered Nurse for twenty-six years in a variety of roles in Canada and the United States, has been involved in energy-based healing since 1994. She has been a certifi ed practitioner of HT since 1998 and recently achieved instructor certifi cation. She was the fi rst person in Canada to do HT as part of her Master's thesis. Currently, she is a professor of nursing in the McMaster/Mohawk/Conestoga Collaborative BScN program and is pursuing her PhD in nursing. She enjoys her role as the Editor of "Research Corner" in Energy Magazine, a quarterly article highlighting research-related topics, and currently chairs HTP's Research Advisory Council. Kathy loves teaching and bringing the work to students and faculty of the nursing program. Her real passions in life are her husband Brian and their young children, Alexis and Austin. In her precious spare time, Kathy loves to be outdoors, read (something without references), make stained glass and dance (to anything!).

 

Healing Touch in Alberta - by Don Watt, HTCP

In the spring of 1994 Alexandra Jonsson, on behalf of Janet Mentgen, approached Dr. Barbara Dobbie, whom she knew through the Canadian Holistic Nurses Association, to coordinate a Healing Touch Level 1 class in Calgary with the intention to expand this work into Alberta. The first Healing Touch Level 1 class was taught by Alexandra September 9-11, 1994 at the Children's Village in Calgary with about a dozen students. In September of 1995 a Level 2 was taught and a Level 3 in May 1996, both by Rochelle Graham. On the same weekend in May, Ruth Lamb and Susan Morales taught the second Level 1 HT class across the hall! Susan Morales taught the first Level 4 for all the Calgary learners in October of 1998, and by then all the earlier levels were being taught in Calgary on a regular basis. 

The participants in these early classes have become the HT leaders of today, as they worked with their Peer Mentoring groups to develop their skills. By March of 2000 they decided to form a local organization to support the work of Healing Touch in the Calgary area and beyond. They developed by-laws and guidelines and a fi ve-year plan. Betty Petersen was the first President of Healing Touch Calgary, which met monthly, and soon had a membership of over 100 people. 

Healing Touch Calgary continues to co-ordinate HT and related courses so that people can take them in a local setting. A 10-person Executive Committee oversees several practice groups, sponsors a HT presence at Health Fairs, and organizes potluck gatherings for the members in September, just before Christmas, to celebrate Healing Touch Day on March 6, at our AGM each April, and a backyard gathering in June. These gatherings often include the communal pinning of those who have become certified in HT, as well as to provide an opportunity for our community to gather in friendship.

We have developed a website: www.healingtouchcalgary.com which serves much of western and northwestern Canada. Our members, many of whom have their own practices, often volunteer HT sessions at shelters for teens and women, at Wellspring Calgary for those who have or have had cancer, in hospices and in hospitals. We have yet to fulfi ll our dream of being an integral part of the current health care system — but we are working toward that goal on a variety of fronts.

Don started Healing Touch through the Naramata Pathways program in 1998, and after completing Phase 3 he started at Level 1 in the HT program, becoming HTCP in November of 2008. He works as an Investor Representative for private companies in Calgary, and is currently in his fourth year as President of Healing Touch Calgary. He and his wife, Cindi Reopell, HTCP, have HT practices in their home.

 

Healing Touch on the Prairies - by Betty Petersen, RN, BSCN, HTCP/I

I was an eager participant in the fi rst Healing Touch course in Calgary, Alberta, in 1994, and then travelled to subsequent HT classes in various parts of North America to learn more. Many of us have continued on the Healing Touch journey, in our own practices, in classes we have taken and taught, and in practice groups in our communities and churches.

I have recently been certifi ed to teach HT Levels 4 and 5, having taught Levels 1 and 2 for several years, and Level 3 more recently. In the past year I have taught HT courses in Whitehorse (Yukon Territory), Yellowknife (Northwest Territory), Calgary and Edmonton (Alberta), Swift Current (Saskatchewan) and Winnipeg (Manitoba).

In Winnipeg, HT classes are given in Cancer Care Manitoba, where, in early December 2008 a medical doctor completed HT Level 4 in the fi rst HTP Level 4 class offered in Canada. One Winnipeg student is currently a HT Instructor-in-Training. Recently, HT classes have been offered at Community Colleges in Calgary and Lethbridge in Alberta, and in North Battleford, Saskatchewan. There are ongoing classes at the Allen Gray Continuing Care Center in Edmonton, Alberta, where the treatment tables are placed over the labyrinth. Imagine that combination of energy!

For almost six years Healing Touch has been presented to the first-year Medical students at the University of Calgary as part of their four-hour Integrative Medicine Fair. Currently – this is the only program of its kind in Canada.

We have seen great growth in the number of people doing Healing Touch, and also in those offering their support of those who "do the work". Consider the employer in Invermere, British Columbia, who allowed fi ve people time off during the week, and gave us space to hold Healing Touch classes and practice groups.

In 2001 we held a HT Level 1 class with three students in mysister's living room in Hazenmore, Saskatchewan, near Swift Current — and this Fall we had a HT Level 3 class in that city with 13 students in attendance.

Consider the three-year-old working with her mother who was complaining of migraine pain. The child said, "Mom sit, I fix." The mother's comment afterward was, "I don't know what she did, but I do feel better." All of that because grandmother had taken a class and did Healing Touch with the child!

Betty Petersen, RN, BSCN, HTCP/I, a graduate of the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, has been a certified practitioner since 1998 and certified instructor since 1999. In addition, she has completed three levels of the Canadian Holistic Nurses Association specialization course in Holistic Nursing, and is a certifi ed Spiritual Healer and Eduk practitioner and instructor. Betty is immediate past president of CHNA and has been in private practice since 1990.

 

New Frontier Open for Healing Touch 'North of 60' - by Cathy Landry, HTCP

Thanks to HT Instructor Betty Petersen, Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories now has the beginnings of a vibrant Healing Touch community. A HT Level 1 class was held in June of 2007 for 10 enthusiastic students. Betty had a chance to enjoy the Land of the Midnight Sun and, as her mentees, my friend Bev Hallett and I had the honour of giving Betty a Healing Touch session on the shore of Great Slave Lake. The sounds of the water lapping on the shore, fl oat planes, ducks, and the clear morning air with Bach in the background will not be forgotten.

Since then, the word about Healing Touch has spread throughout Yellowknife and the outlying aboriginal communities. Healing Touch is used in our local hospital and we also have 2 practice sessions a month. It is defi nitely something that is growing in our city. Betty has now instructed a second Level 1, and Level 2 and 3 classes were taught in November of 2008. Thank you Betty for bringing HT to the Northwest Territories!

Cathy, an Operating Room nurse in the hospital in Yellowknife, NT, started taking Healing Touch classes in 2004. She became certifi ed in 2008 and was pinned by Cynthia Hutchison in Calgary in November of 2008.

 

Healing Touch in Whitehorse, Yukon - by Judi Urquhart, HTCP

We live in the Yukon, the remote northwest region of Canada- sharing our western border with Alaska. In spite of the cold and isolation we are "doing the work" in the community, actively working as volunteers. Many of us offer Healing Touch for Hospice or palliative care patients. We have also offered volunteer programs in long term care facilities, the Cancer Meditation Circle and at the Community College. Our practice group meets twice a month; one evening is for the community and the other for HT students and practitioners.

In January, 2008 we formed the Healing Touch Yukon Association and through this organization we bring instructors to Whitehorse twice a year to offer HT classes for an enthusiastic group of students who are working toward Certifi cation. In November, 2008 we had a Level 3 workshop and we are already planning for Level 4 in June, 2009. So, Healing Touch is alive and well in the north and we keep the light burning even through our chilly winters.

Judi has lived in the north for 36 years and taught in several communities. She took her Healing Touch classes in the Yukon and Alaska and is a Healing Touch Certifi ed Practitioner with an office in Whitehorse, Yukon.

 

Healing Touch at Langara College - by Brenda Anderson, BSN, HTCP/I

Langara College in Vancouver, British Columbia, provides University Studies, Career Studies and Continuing Studies for over 19,000 students each year. It is a college known internationally for its innovation and foresight.

Healing Touch classes have been offered for many years through the Langara Continuing Studies Centre for Holistic Health. Instructors Lois Ross, Ruth Lamb, Ginny Mulhall, Janet Given and Brenda Anderson, have all been invited to teach here, offering Healing Touch instruction for people from the greater Vancouver area, the province of British Columbia, and beyond.

As well as offering weekend HT Level 1, 2 and 3 classes, Langara is now including HT as a component of two of their other programs. The Integrative Energy Healing Program is a three year course of study of energy healing which begins with Level 1 Healing Touch. Brenda Anderson is also an instructor in this program which was created by Ruth Lamb, Lois Ross and several others.

From this foundation of Level 1 Healing Touch, students continue an integral approach to healing and spiritual transformation that bridges ancient eastern and western teachings with recent scientific discoveries. Linda Turner, director of the Centre for Holistic Studies at Langara College says, "The IEHP programhas been taught here for 8 years now. We have had twenty-two to fi fty graduates each year for the past five years. Our alumni association is active and we receive very positive responses from health care organizations throughout British Columbia where our students and graduates work."

Langara's new Spa Therapy and Holistic Massage Program prepares students to offer spa therapy with healing properties.mThe focus is on Swedish Massage, Thai Massage and Aromatherapy.mHealing Touch Levels 1 and 2 are integrated with this to offer students the basics of energy-based healing as a fundamental component of their skills.As the recognition of and interest in energy-based healing increases, it is exciting that Healing Touch is the model and foundation for the introduction to energy-based healing courses at Langara College.

Brenda is a Canadian instructor for Healing Touch Levels 1, 2, and 3. She has also taught Healing Touch and the Principles of Hypnosis courses and other study groups throughout Western Canada. Combining her nursing education and Healing Touch, Brenda began practicing in 1993. Her wide range of experience includes support for people preparing for childbirth, managing stress, living with cancer, experiencing grief, and coping with pain. Brenda began teaching in the Langara College Integrative Energy Healing Program in 2006. Her focus there is Healing Science theory and practice as well as Energetic Communication. Her passion continues to be supporting those taking Healing Touch into their workplaces and their lives as leaders of change one small miracle at a time. Brenda and her husband live in a quiet lakeshore home in Smithers, British Columbia, where they have raised three children.