Originally published in Energy Magazine: The official Publication of the Healing Touch Program April issue. Healing Touch Program: Changes Build the Specialty of Energy Medicine by Janna Moll, HTCP/I, MSN, QM 

What an amazing time to be living! Healing Touch Program has come through some of the toughest years since Janet Mentgen took the risk to establish our discipline in the 1980’s. Back then, for many of you, things were far from easy – having to deal with skeptics, culture shock and conservatism in relation­ship to our energy work callings. We did not seem to really fit anywhere. However, as hands-on healers, we belong aligned with health care. Not just anyone can break into that field – especially from the outside. With great wisdom, intuition and safety in numbers, Janet aligned Healing Touch with nursing. We are proud of this and highly value our health care connections.

Our health care alignment is so valuable that our next step in this direction is national accreditation, which is being undertaken with gusto, knowing that it will create changes in the field of energy medicine and the business of Healing Touch. I know that many of us automatically shy away from change – which is hu­man nature. Believe me when I tell you that even the most dedi­cated to this project have days when we want to run in the other direction! Why is HTP doing this? The answer is pure and simple – it is for our practitioners to achieve their rightful recognition.

In the field of education, national accreditation is for the educa­tional provider, the school or educational institution. Yes, it may help you to say, “I got my Master’s degree from U of M”, but it is all about the school being accredited, not the student. Health care is different. In health care, when the discipline is accred­ited it reflects on the quality and standard of that discipline’s practitioner. When HTP is accredited it means something to the program, of course. However, the real value comes to you, the practitioner. Now you will be in demand because you reflect the increased status of HTP. Now health care facilities, insurance companies and clients want practitioners from a nationally ac­credited program in the form of an individual — you.

You will see many changes in the next one to two years. You will see improved standards, gaps in education being filled,

changes in business practices and more involvement from volunteers. I cannot stress enough where the benefits of this lie. They lie with energy medicine students –to be able to train in a viable and growing field. But above all, they lie with you, the practitioner.

I’ll describe two examples of changes in HTP. First, we have a new standard for mentors, the Qualified Mentor (QM). What is a QM? This is a Healing Touch Certified Practitioner (HTCP) who is dedicated to future practitioners — interested in creating and being the most highly trained and effective representatives of HT. This is also someone, by virtue of this focus, dedicated to improving the field of energy medicine. Yes, this includes our HTP Instructors (for they are all HTCPs). It is hoped that many, if not all, of our instructors will become QMs. But through this new QM status, we honor those practitioners who have been mentor­ing as non-nurses in a nursing aligned discipline. With the QM designation we equalize our pool of mentors and eliminate the nurse requirement. (CLICK HERE for more information on the change.) A QM is an HTCP who stays current with the HTP level 4/5 homework, curriculum and certification requirements, is ac­tive in a practice and interested in service to our community.

Secondly, we have a new, and long time coming, tele-course for training mentors, the HTP Mentor Training Course. This 27-hour CE Advanced Practice course fills a void that has existed in our educational program, by taking practitioners and helping them to develop into well rounded, effective mentors for our students. Anyone who is an HTCP can mentor. This course offers men­tors the training to meet and uphold the standard of QM. (LINK here to info on the course.)

It is very important to note that although these changes may look daunting to you at first,we are not changing the Healing Touch Program. Our twenty-one year old core curriculum remains the same quality program. We are improving what the Healing Touch Program offers. If we are to fully align with health care as the energy medicine professionals we are, it is necessary to make these changes. Transition will be made easier by our community being fully involved and educated to the changes coming. (CLICK HERE for how to get involved.)

Our HT community has enthusiastically said, “YES” to national accreditation in health care. Why? It is primarily for you, our practitioners, that we undertake this professional growth. Heal­ing Touch Program IS our practitioners! A strong, viable, health care-aligned and nationally accredited discipline supports your being the best representative of healing in the world. What we do, we do for you so that you can go into the world and serve with passion, confidence and integrity.

About the author:

Janna Moll, HTCP/I, MSN, QM, is the founder and president of Energy Medicine Specialists, a business offering hands-on healing, consulting on accreditation in health care, and advanced coursework for energy medicine practitioners. She is the HTP Ethics Chairperson and an HTP certification reviewer. She presents on various Energy Medicine topics and works closely with holistic physicians. To learn more go to www.EnergyMedi­cineSpecialists.com or call 303-346-3809.