As a spiritual alchemist, Rev. Pamela “Mela” Borawski, CHt is willing to use all the tools, techniques, gifts, and talents she is able to access and you are comfortable with to facilitate transformation.
She respects all spiritual walks and religions, as well as beliefs, as long as those religions and spiritual beliefs are not harmful to you or others. Religion is not the focus of spiritual alchemy; instead, we focus on the universal truths of all spiritual paths and your personal beliefs are honored. You are a person of worth, starlight-made flesh, and will be treated as a divine, gifted soul.
Read more about her in this insightful MysticMag interview.
Can you describe your experience and training as an Integrative Healing Arts Practitioner or Certified Hypnotherapist?
I attended the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA) for their integrative healing arts practitioner program. As part of the program, I took a 100-hour hypnotherapy program, 100-hour life coaching program, and 200-hour spiritual studies program and was certified in all three as well as ordained through the spiritual studies program. I also became board-certified as a hypnosis practitioner with NATH (National Association of Transpersonal Hypnotherapists). I graduated in the Fall of 2018. My experience during this training was that of not only gaining incredible knowledge in the healing arts to facilitate healing for other people, but also finding that I was experiencing healing just by being in each of the classes, completing the assignments, and doing my own inner work. I was unsure about going back to school in my 40s, but it had taken that long for me to get to the point where I had healed enough within my own life to learn how to help other people. It was because I’d found healing myself that I had the desire to give back to the community, hoping that I could help someone find healing, empowerment, and strength earlier than I found it myself.
How do you approach creating personalized healing plans for your clients?
The first thing that needs to be done is to meet with the client and discuss their goals, and whether I am a good fit for what they wish to achieve. I offer a free consultation that is helpful in starting this process. I also have a fairly expansive intake form they fill out, letting me know background and information, as well as what of the modalities I practice they are comfortable with trying. So it’s a combination of finding out what they are comfortable with trying, what goal they wish to accomplish, and getting all the information I need to know how to proceed. I am a proponent of working with someone’s learning style and personality, so with long-term clients, I often work with them on personality types. I am a fan of Color Code personality information. Questions, conversation, listening, and holding space for clients are important. Most of my clients have things that are similar – such as self-worth issues – but I cannot just slap on the same program I’d use for someone else, because things may need to be tweaked to fit them personally.
Can you provide an example of a challenging case you’ve worked on and how you helped the client achieve positive outcomes?
Some of my more challenging cases are when clients want a quick fix, and when they realize that they have to do work themselves for the results they wish, they get frustrated and sometimes angry. One specific challenging case involved a client who had been abused through childhood and ended up marrying someone who also abused them emotionally and psychologically. They had no power, no ability to speak up for themselves, and could not even say no to small issues. For example, if they were given the wrong food in a restaurant, they did not even have enough confidence and power to tell the server it was the wrong food. They would eat it in silence. When I asked them about what they enjoyed in life, what made them happy or even about their favorite things in life, they did not know. They could not list even five things that were positive about themselves. Hypnosis was used at nearly every session with this client, along with assignments to build confidence and self-worth, and coaching. First, they had to determine who they were at a deeper level. They had to dig to find things that were worthwhile about themselves. They had to face deep, dark emotions from their inner shadows from childhood and adulthood and rewrite those stories. Sometimes, just asking the right questions would get a look of “ah-ha!” in this client, tying something from the past to current behaviors. They often felt like they’d take two steps forward, and one step back. I worked with this client for several years, breakthrough after breakthrough, specifically through the use of hypnosis. This included some regression hypnosis to find out issues holding them back from things they did not remember from childhood. This client does not see me as often now but has said many times that they found such deep healing through this work and credit my guidance for finding happiness in their life today.
How do you ensure ethical and professional conduct when working with clients?
This is very important to me, and I have my code of ethics posted on my website in public. Part of my ethics is in what I mentioned above, where I always ask what types of modalities the client is comfortable with us using. I also have a consent form that my clients fill out for hypnosis sessions. I rarely touch my clients, but in a case where I may need to touch them, I always ask for consent. Confidentiality and privacy are important, and I do not share information about my clients without permission or if ordered by law. I also believe that not being available all the time, especially on social media, allows not only more ethical contact with clients but also a more professional relationship. While clients will have a number they can text, there is a cut-off time when I will answer, and there are days that I am off the clock. On a practical note, I set up my office so that I am behind a desk and my client is on a chair or chaise lounge on the other side of the desk during hypnosis. They are always welcome to have someone sit in the session with them, and they are always welcome to video or audiotape our sessions. I believe this creates a safe environment for my clients.
How do you stay updated with the latest developments and research in the field of integrative healing and hypnotherapy?
I am a lifelong learner. As part of my board certification, I have a certain number of hours of continued education in my specialties that are required. I research by reading books, pertinent magazines, and specific online communities and websites that allow not only the latest research to be accessed but also contact with other professionals. I take workshops and classes throughout the year to learn new modalities and tweak the ones I have already. I also cultivate a local community of other healing practitioners, so that we always have others to discuss ideas and support one another.
Can you explain your communication and rapport-building strategies when working with clients?
Holding space is a key communication technique that I use; mainly this means that I listen more than I talk. I do not judge, and I ask a lot of questions, but for the most part, my client does most of the talking. This is an absolute necessity to create rapport with clients. I also believe that talking about their learning styles, and personalities, allows for rapport building as well. I take a lot of notes so that I remember my clients when they return to see me. In my own experience, the therapists and healers I have gone to who could not remember anything about me and had me telling them my information and stories every single time I saw them lost me quickly. I believe that being able to talk about their progress, and actually listening well enough to take notes about everything they tell me, allows me to be a better practitioner for my clients – it’s the type of practitioner I would want to have myself. I think it’s important to maintain a peaceful, calm demeanor and atmosphere, listen more than talk, ask thought-provoking questions, and use their language when possible. For example, if we include spirituality in our session, I ask how they refer to a Higher Power, and from that time on I will use that word. I am not the important part of a session – my client is the focus.
