Marcia S. Bregman, BSN, RN, HTCP/ I
Highland Park
847-831-3680
mbreghtt@gmail.com
www.HealingTouchChicago.com
Energy Healing, Shamanism, Meditation, Feldenkrais Movement, Healing Touch

Services

Describe your services:
The services I provide include healing touch, shamanism and meditation, which help my clients to heal from within. The nature of energy allows me to work with acute or chronic issues and help people to have a better understanding and to heal. Everything is energy, and when our energy is out of alignment that is when painful symptoms may appear. I help to release my clients’ issues and assist them in coming to a place of wholeness. Releasing and freeing the underlying causes of illness through energy work allows healing to occur most often. I use energy to raise the field so that things can move along or away. All is energy. When we are feeling well, we feel buoyant and light. When we are unwell we feel depleted and suffer from low energy levels. Illness begins with a cause and each has a particular meaning. Most often illness and pain are the way our bodies get our attention; for example, a headache is a message.

The early lessons required me to go deep inside and heal my wounds that I carried. With that preparation, I learned and have incorporated the same techniques in helping others to go inside and look at their pain and illness so that they too may heal. I do this during the healing session by being present and supporting the client on their journey. I enhance their energy vibration to make the journey easier and more complete. When the client has released the energy about the place of illness or injury and is ready to let it go, I energetically move my hands into that space and remove it as it is no longer of value. These issues may be stored in the stomach, chest, leg or anywhere.

During the past 17 years I have studied many modalities and ways to interact with a person in need of relaxation and/or wanting to heal from serious physical and emotional problems. Through a gentle, heart-centered approach, I listen carefully to their story without judgment. I may ask questions for clarification.

When we both have an understanding of what has led to your symptoms, we discuss how the healing may take place. The client rests comfortably clothed on a massage table. Comfort is important to your healing. Using my hands I assess the energy about you and your energy centers (your aura and your chakras). This assessment will help define where you are holding your problem. Then with light touch or if you prefer touch off your body, I will use my healing skills to help bring you into balance and relieve your symptoms.

How does your healing modality work?
Since all things are energy the restoration of energetic balance and flow within the body enables people who are ill and functioning less efficiently to restore harmony and bring their energy back into balance and thereby assist their return to health. We refer to this as releasing the “issues from your tissues”.

For effective healing my clients need to want to heal. Without collaboration and trust between myself and my client, it would be much harder to return them to lasting wellness.

Each part of our body is representative of our emotions, and where each symptom is located gives an immediate clue as to the underlying cause, even for something as mundane as a broken toe. Pain is a messenger. A good example is that our digestive system not only digests food from our stomach but also digests thoughts and feelings. However a client can communicate their history and story to me is always beneficial during the healing process.

Information from the clients’ energy field is also important as it will show what is going on at the time and add to the story. During the process of raising the vibration of your energy field, I can follow the flow of energy to places where it has become blocked or constricted. We work together to release the blockages, and as a result free you from the underlying causes.

Current research shows the value and multiple benefits of using energy work. It has been used for thousands of years and is part of ancient ways to help people to heal and stay well. Not only does energy healing help you to improve specific health issues and alleviate symptoms, but it also enhances your immune system.

How do you see your services evolving over the next three years?
I see my services evolving as I continue to advance my own studies and enhance my knowledge and skills. I will continue my private practice and look forward to learning from my clients, who are the best teachers. I will continue to teach three levels of the Healing Touch Program™. My passion is helping students understand and incorporate energy balancing into their own lives so that they can grow and heal, something I have done and continue to do.

Providing a place where new students can practice in comfort and develop their confidence and skills in a nurturing and practical learning environment will remain important to me.

Volunteering at the Cancer Wellness Center allows me to do healings and teach the guests how to use energy to help themselves to heal. I will also continue to provide a mentoring relationship to other Healing Touch practitioners at the Wellness Center as well as in the Chicagoland community.

I look forward to expanding and growing the 501c3 that I founded in 2008 where I am Executive Director. The organization plays an important role in the lives of those diagnosed with breast cancer, so they may receive healing from practitioners I have trained. The curriculum specifically focuses on enhancing participants’ knowledge of breast cancer and focuses on improving communication skills. I look forward to bringing these programs and skills to under-served communities.

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Benefits

What are the benefits/results people see?
By working with my clients to facilitate their return to health through Healing Touch, energy work, shamanism and meditation I have had the honor of helping people move toward improved physical and emotional health. I have listed below some examples of conditions I have helped people through and benefits clients have experienced through my work.

Some benefits of my healing work:

• Pain relief
• Relaxation
• Accelerated healing
• Accelerated recovery from surgery
• Reduced discomfort
• Enhanced immune system functioning
• Reduction of neuropathy
• Improved bone marrow function
• Reduction of chemotherapy/radiation side effects
• Improved sleep/reversal of insomnia
• Reduction of and/or eliminating medication use

Some conditions/symptoms I have worked with:

• High blood pressure/Hypertension
• Arthritis
• Back Pain
• Many types of Cancer, and radiation and chemotherapy side effects
• Diabetes
• Neuropathy/other nervous system disorders (including MS)
• Fibromyalgia
• Sleep disorders/Insomnia
• Chronic pain
• Asthma
• Sinus conditions
• Digestive disorders, including IBS
• Post-surgical care
• Stress and Anxiety
• Emotional issues
• HIV/Aids
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• Migraines

Why do people come to see you?
People come to see me for a variety of reasons, and to alleviate a number of problematic symptoms. The nature of healing work means that I am able to not only help people on an emotional and spiritual level, but also on an energetic and physical level. As a result, I help people address and overcome many challenges.

The uniqueness of healing energy is that it can help just about everything, as everything has energy that is identified by its vibration. I listen carefully to the vibration so that I can work out where the issue is. Then I help you to free yourself from these issues.

Who is an ideal client?
An ideal client is someone who understands that to benefit from Healing Touch they need to be a willing and active participant in the healing process. They should be interested in exploring the causes and issues and involve themselves fully in the journey of moving forward. Often, by the time people come to see me, they have experienced their problems for so long that they are emotionally and spiritually exhausted. A client who knows that the journey they are traveling along requires them to lean on others for support or guidance along their path to wellness can end up feeling empowered as their participation in the healing process allows me to provide them with the best possible treatments with the greatest results.

What makes you different/good at what you do?
I absolutely love what I do, and am incredibly passionate about it. In my lifetime I have experienced many personal crises and challenges which improved through my experiencing many of these healing techniques. I have a deep understanding of the process, which makes me calm, compassionate, interested, and a good listener without being judgmental.

I have been in practice for 15 years and am a leading Healing Touch practitioner, instructor, and mentor here in the Midwest. I have “many strings to my bow”. In addition to Healing Touch, I also practice Shamanism, Meditation, and Feldenkrais movement techniques. I have been studying shamanism for 13 years and continue my apprenticeship.

My own self healing combined with my natural gentleness means that I tread lightly on this earth, and help my clients to learn to do the same. I am light of heart. I sense where my clients are and what their challenges are. This enables me to walk with them on their journey using sensitivity and discernment. I continue to study as I feel there is always more to learn, and there are more ways to grow and new and different situations to work with.

Healing is my life’s work. My joy is when someone knows that they are healed or their life is more comfortable because of the work we have done together.

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Philosophy/Approach

Describe your healing philosophy:
Effective healing starts with self healing. Just as we can take on problems, we also have the ability to relieve ourselves of them. The role of a healer is to support and provide direction for you in a safe space, and to provide enhanced energy for the work. The healer needs to be someone you can trust to walk with you on your journey as healing can be hard work; to support, guide, protect, and cheer you along.

Describe your style or approach:
I come from a gentle, comfortable place that allows you to relax and know that you are safe. I work at your pace as it is you journey. To become better informed about your situation, I listen carefully and observe your energy field, then incorporate my inner knowingness to read between the lines and move forward. When appropriate I use stories to provide understanding.

Why do you do what you do?
I love what I do. I find the interaction with clients and their journey fascinating. It is a dance of life.

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Education/Background

Education/Training:
I graduated from the University of Pittsburgh as a nurse in 1963, and had many experiences that guided me toward a holistic wellness-focused career change. Experiences in the home health field, as a hospice nurse, and then working in a vocational training program were all great foundations for the work I do today. I enrolled in a 2 year program entitled “Foundations of Holistic Health”. It incorporated many modalities including hypnosis, biofeedback, meditation, feldenkrais movement, energy work and others. I was introduced to the Healing Touch program during this course and began my training to learn how to heal myself and also help others to heal.

I completed my course of study in 1996 and became a certified practitioner. The work was so exciting to me and I felt it was so important and impactful that I went on to train as an instructor and gained my certification in 1998. I teach 3 levels of the curriculum. I have subsequently studied with an Inca Shaman for 3 years, followed by in-depth studies with a Cherokee Medicine Man for the past 10 years, who I continue to learn from and apprentice with.

I have now been teaching in the Chicago area for over 12 years and have taught many students, many of whom are now instructors teaching other energy healers. I am the only instructor who teaches level 3 which deals with greater spiritual work and advanced healing techniques.

I have studied many modalities over the years, but the one that has expanded my knowledge and helped to make the greatest difference in helping people to heal from within has been Shamanism.

Years Professionally Practicing:
I have been actively practicing energy healing for 16 years, but feel that it’s quite possible I came into this world practicing!

Contributions/Publications:
In addition to “Assisting the Health Team: An Introduction for the Nurse Assistant“, I have been featured in the “Chicago Tribune Magazine” under “Spirituality Explored”.
I am an Instructor for and Founder, creator, and Executive Director of Healing Partners of Greater Chicago, a 501c3 that trains healers who volunteer to work with breast cancer patients. At this time and to the best of my knowledge, there are only 2 free standing organizations of this nature. All others are hospital or clinic-based.

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What to expect

Describe a typical session as well as how someone might prepare for it:
The best way you can prepare for my sessions is to arrive with a willingness to embrace change, believe in the power of self-healing, and to prepare to change your old, entrenched and existing patterns that are blocking you and preventing you from attaining greater physical, spiritual and emotional health.

If a client is particularly anxious about their first session I often encourage them to write a journal and document their feelings and experiences in advance. Many find this beneficial.

The first session focuses on us getting to know one another and I introduce who I am and discuss a little bit about what we will do during the session. I gather relevant information from you during your intake interview which includes medical history and what has brought you to see me for treatment. An important phase in the healing process comes from you unburdening yourself through telling your story. When you feels you have been heard we are then ready to move forward with the healing.

I will explain what you may experience or feel and get your permission to touch or work above the body. You are made comfortable on a massage table fully clothed. I then spend time assessing your field and share my findings with you if interested.

How long is a typical session?
A typical session lasts for about 1 1/2 hours, with the first session often taking 2-3 hours as the client has the opportunity to tell their story and be heard, which can take a while.

Describe your office or treatment room:
My healing room provides a serene and comfortable space that facilitates emotional freedom, relaxation and healing. It is peaceful and welcoming with a couch we can sit on and talk, as well as the massage table right there in the same room. I work from home and people often comment on how peaceful the environment is.

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Logistics

Office hours/days of the week:
I am extremely flexible and keen to assist people at times suitable to them. I do work occasionally on weekends if it is important and will make a difference, but prefer to keep weekends free.

Fee Range
My fees are $100 per hour.

If a client needs to cancel an appointment they will incur a $100 fee unless they provide 24hrs or more notice and reschedule the appointment.

Take Insurance?
Although I do not take insurance, I often assist clients in completing the required paperwork so that they can submit the session information to their insurance company for reimbursement (if applicable).

Closing comments

What else might someone want to know about you?
Not only am I passionate about wellness and healing but I have a wonderful sense of humor that I think assists in the healing process. I am very much an outdoors person and love biking, hiking, running and animals.
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