How does a journey of spiritual awakening evolve into a mission to educate and empower the next generation of holistic therapists? In this blog post, we explore how Reiki became the cornerstone of a thriving practice, blending intuitive energy work with structured education. Discover how integrating critical thinking, professional standards, and a passion for wellness is transforming the way energy medicine is taught and practiced—laying the foundation for a truly integrative approach to health and healing.
How did your journey with Reiki shape your career as a holistic therapist and influence your approach to healing?
I found Reiki (or Reiki found me) not long after I had my spiritual awakening. At that point I was learning to hone my mediumship abilities, and this was my focus, it was not really about becoming a therapist.
For me, Reiki is first and foremost a journey of self – a system to support our spiritual growth and evolvement. Learning Reiki helped me to ground and centre at a time when I was feeling like everything I knew about the world was wrong and I was no longer on a solid foundation. The world of subtle, non-physical energy was opening up and it was an exciting and unsettling time.
My relationship with Reiki was and still is super important to me. It wasn’t until sometime after I was first introduced to Reiki and initiated into the practice that I felt drawn to sharing it with others. I wanted my friends and family to benefit from this amazing system and feel the shifts it could bring about, as I had. I then went on to set up a healing practice and offered Reiki professionally as well as teaching it as a Reiki Master Teacher.
If we let it, Reiki helps us to take responsibility for our own wellness journey and offers a wonderful system as a framework to support this. It is a practice – in that it should be practiced regularly, and I think this is probably the thing that has shaped me the most. Being accountable and responsible for my own healing journey and helping my clients to find this within themselves.
How do you incorporate your knowledge of crystal healing and other therapies like sound healing and aromatherapy into your practice?
The world, the universe and everything within it is in constant motion. Vibration is our essence and underlies everything physical, both living and inert. These vibrations create frequencies that influence us 24/7. We are receivers, interpreters and transmitters of frequency.
When we introduce specific frequencies, whether it is a sound, crystal, flower essence or essential oil etc., we are looking to entrain the subtle energy system to one of balance and wellness.
Crystals are important partners in my work and my relationship with them started as a child, although I wasn’t aware they were calling to my soul. I just knew I liked them and felt good when I was around them. It was only later in life that I learned how to work with them intentionally and I don’t think there is any healing (for self or others) that doesn’t incorporate a crystal or two.
What is exciting about the work I do, is that we can bring frequency to a person, place, animal or even an object at a distance or remotely with the same benefit of being in person. As a subtle energy alchemist, I work with the land, space and those who spend time there to bring about harmony and balance. I have clients around the world who can benefit from the frequencies I introduce to their subtle energy system. So, whether this is a crystal or a tuning fork, drum rhythm, essence or intention – they get to experience this in a profound and meaningful way. I also get to help a client understand how to use these wonderful healing allies for themselves. It is perfect!
What role does your background in research and critical thinking play in the way you approach holistic therapy and education?
I often joke that I have two opposing forces within me that compete for dominance. The logical, critical thinker and the whimsical dreamer. For the most part, I find a way to navigate what can sometimes be totally opposing viewpoints. In my long career as a medium, energy worker, geomancer and spiritual being – I have seen a lot of weird, unexplained and crazy things. I am an ‘experiencer of the strange and anomalous’. Yet, I strive to find a logical reason for something occurring. To turn the unexplainable into the explained. I used to fight this but now I can see that both aspects of me are important and hold a belief that research and critical thinking should be an important skill for us all.
Having an ability to sift through data in order to determine if something is good for us or not is super important. We cannot rely on any one source of information. The holistic wellness market is full of modalities, remedies and approaches to healing, it can be mind-boggling to navigate, expensive and in some cases dangerous. We need to be able to listen to our intuition and to find the evidence. Critical thinking gives us the space to listen to our gut, ask questions, do some research and determine the truth for ourselves.
I have learned over the years to evaluate what I read, watch or listen to in a balanced way. There are many truths and without asking questions it’s impossible to find our truth. This influences my interactions with clients and how I support them, as well as how I teach my students to be independent thinkers.
How has your experience working in both the NHS and Canadian Health system influenced your perspective on holistic wellness?
When I started my journey as a holistic wellness practitioner and teacher I saw that there were gaps in my own practice and the way in which many energy medicine modalities were being taught. Important topics like professional practice, the legal and ethical framework, safeguarding clients and more are often absent in the curriculum. Yet these are important ways of being taught to medical practitioners in the health system.
When I learned Reiki, there was no mention of any of these topics and yet I was able to obtain insurance and practice professionally with clients. In my opinion this has implications for how energy medicine is viewed as legitimate and effective and ultimately can put clients at risk.
When I teach any energy medicine program like Reiki, Crystal Therapy, Sound Healing or House Healing – I incorporate professional practice modules and build in summative assessments so that I am satisfied that the graduates from my programs are competent and prepared for working safely, ethically and professionally.
How do your qualifications as an NVQ Assessor and Verifier contribute to your approach in developing and assessing competency in your programs?
National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) break down jobs into the required skills and knowledge. This is the basic competence required for someone to do a job. The NVQ framework not only covers traditional jobs it covers roles like Reiki and Crystal Healing, breaking down into detail what a person needs to know and do. An NVQ assessor is trained to observe someone undertaking a task and assess them against the ‘performance criteria’ too many spaces to determine if they have the required knowledge, skill and understanding for the role.
When I create a program, I use the knowledge and skill requirements to build a curriculum. These are UK standards that have been developed by industry experts. When I use the standards, I know that I am teaching the basic things that my students need in order for them to be successful.
This framework is also used to develop the assessments I use, including an observation of the student undertaking a healing session. The performance criteria, not only helps the student see what is expected of them, but also provides the framework for assessment and feedback that I use. Thankfully I can use technology to help me, and I have successfully observed students practice over zoom with people all over the world.
What do you hope to achieve as both a principal and course tutor in educating the next generation of holistic therapists?
My goal is to prepare my students to be successful in their chosen energy medicine practice and to raise the standard of education so that these healing modalities are no longer seen as ‘fringe’, but valid and effective ways to support health and wellness.
My vision for the world is a truly integrated approach to wellness which brings the best of traditional medical models with energy medicine, treating not just the symptom but the underlying cause.
