UPCOMING WORKSHOPS
Level 1. Olympia, WA. January 21-22, 2012. Instructor: Sherri Cote. Contact Sherri at 360 753 2276 or healingessence@comcast.net.
Level 1 Portland, OR. January 21-22, 2012. Instructor: Constance Hammond. Contact Constance at 503 230 2331 or revcah@comcast.net. The class will be held at the historic Laundry Building (a retreat center) at St Mary’s Woods in Portland, OR. The retreat center offers private rooms with a bath and breakfast for $30/ night. The environs offer a retreat opportunity combined with the Level 1 class. Some scholarship assistance available.
Level 1 Ellensburg, WA. March 3-4, 2012. Instructor: Anna Marie Newman. Contact Anna Marie at 509 899 0099 or meadowrose9@gmail.com
CERTIFICATION
By Barbara Dahl, BSN, RN, HTCI
Oregon’s Governor has signed a bill that goes into effect January 1, 2012 that has implications for all Healing Touch Practitioners every where. The bill basically exempts practitioners of alternative modalities who are certified by their respective programs from regulation by the Massage Board. The handwriting is on the wall. Certify.
Before Accreditation, certification was a challenging but doable process. Now that we have achieved respectability through Accreditation, the process is a veritable minefield of hoops to jump through starting with mentorship from a “qualified” mentor who has paid a substantial sum to take a course in mentoring, and then has earned the privilege of selling her mentoring services for substantial sums to mentees. Janna Moll who is the instructor for the online course charges her mentees $75 a month and it goes on for many months. Mentorship is not a requirement of Accreditation but rather a requirement of the program for completion and completion is a requirement for certification.
Many certified practitioners are now facing renewal and must take an exam – even those of us who have taught in the program over 20 years -- a requirement of Accreditation. The trial exam costs $100. It is a trial exam in that it has never been offered before and the exam questions are being tested. There is a handbook you can download from the website. My initial impression of the questions is that some are vague and designed to result in a curve, i.e., some practitioners are destined to fail – and that will legitimize the exam. Plus, others are just plain silly. Should you take the trial exam for $100 and fail, you can then take the final exam for another $200. To take the exam you must find a qualified proctor and pay that proctor. I believe proctors are something like notaries; they don’t know you from Adam but they have a little seal from the State that stamps approval on whatever it is you need.
The cost of becoming a certified practitioner adds up. You do the addition. Certainly Accreditation puts heavy demands on the “corporate” structure to comply with all the requirements and that costs money.
It’s not hard to read between the lines. I have some strong feelings about the changes in the Healing Touch Program under Accreditation but, bottom line, I love and value this work and I care about all of you. I wish it didn’t all come down to money. Janet (Mentgen) was gifted in relating the micro to the macro, “as above so below.” We need only to look at what’s going on in our global culture today to gain a perspective on the changes within our program. I would like to encourage dialogue. I know that others hold different thoughts and feelings. Please share.
Thanks to Susan Kiley for her Yahoo reports and to Linnie Thomas for further clarification of the Oregon law. This is landmark legislation and is sure to influence other States in governance of energy medicine.
Love and blessings, Barb
barbdahl@aol.com
We send our love to Jerri Huebner on the passing of her husband. Lt. Col. Retired Leslie Huebner was ordained as a Lutheran pastor and retired as an Air Force Chaplain. At Jerri’s request, Sherri Cody assisted in a transition ceremony doing Healing Touch and anointing with biblical oils.
Congratulations to Sherri Cote who is now officially a Certified Healing Touch Instructor. She was pinned at the Regional Conference in Portland by her mentor, Bernie Clarke. Sherri has been active in the Olympia area for years as a practitioner and as a workshop coordinator.
