The Art of Volunteering
January 17, 2012
As we move from Level 1 to certification, most Healing Touch students turn to volunteer opportunities to practice their skills. Volunteering becomes particularly important between Level 4 and 5, when we must document 100 treatments – a requirement which usually exceeds the number of treatments we can easily accomplish with just our families, friends and practice groups. After completing Level 5, some Healing Touch practitioners may want to continue to volunteer Healing Touch as ongoing community service. It’s also a practical tool for networking and building “word of mouth” when starting your own practice.
When we choose to volunteer, it’s useful to keep in mind the differences between “helping,” “fixing,” and “serving.” When we “help” we see life as weak, and when we “fix” we see life as broken; but when we “serve” we see life as whole. So from that perspective, it’s valuable to approach volunteering as an opportunity to “serve.” “Helping” the client positions us as strong and the client as weak, and may inadvertently diminish their self-esteem. When we volunteer in the spirit of “serving,” it becomes an energy exchange between equals that benefits us as much as the client.
Most areas throughout California have multiple outlets for volunteering, each with its own unique requirements. When deciding when and where to volunteer it is important to make sure our volunteer commitments support our own self-care. How many days or hours a month is required as a commitment? How far will you have to travel? Will the specific times you need to volunteer conflict with other activities you might want to do? Is the volunteer opportunity aligned with a population you are interested in serving?
It’s also important to be aware of the flip side of volunteering: None of us should feel shy about charging money for Healing Touch sessions, and should not let our desire to be of community service diminish our ability to earn a living through our practice.
Following is a list of volunteer opportunities across the state of which I am aware. Since I live in San Francisco, many of these are located in the Bay Area. If you know of additional volunteer opportunities in your community, please email me at michele@healing2gether.com and I will add those to the list.
Michele Bernhardt, Certified Healing Touch Practitioner & Reiki Master. For more information about Michele, visit her website at www.healing2gether.com.
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
Healing Partners—a Stanford School of Medicine program that provides free Healing Touch treatments to women with breast cancer at locations across the city, Peninsula and South Bay. Contact Kathryn Davis at healingpartners@sbcglobal.net.
Jewish Home – a skilled nursing facility in San Francisco that provides free Healing Touch treatments to long-term care residents. Contact Nina Weil at nina@ninaweil.com.
PUREcommunity—a roster of qualified, experienced energy healing practitioners that are available to volunteer throughout the Bay Area. Contact Kathy Rule at kathyarule@yahoo.com.
Stand Downs—opportunities to provide Healing Touch to veterans in Contra Costa and Northern Solano counties. Contact Nancy Khlafallah HTCP at blueiiis@astound.net.
Mercy Center—a donation-based clinic in Burlingame that provides Healing Touch to the public. Contact Helen Hann at hann808@hotmail.com.
Charlotte Maxwell Complementary Clinic—a free clinic with locations in San Francisco and Oakland that provides a wide variety of complementary health care modalities to low-income women with any type of cancer. Contact Jill Arnold at jill@charlottemaxwell.org.
Walnut Creek United Methodist Church—Free Healing Touch sessions for the public in Walnut Creek. Contact is Lillian Whipple at whipplelg@astound.net or 925-687-4312.
Hospice of the East Bay—volunteer program at hospice in Pleasant Hill. Contact: Diana Ryckman, 925-887-5678.
SAN DIEGO
Rady Children’s Hospital--free monthly Healing Touch sessions for nurses and families of the children being treated at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego. Contact Lisa Thompson at thompson@rchsd.org.
FOLSOM
Mercy Hospital— donation-based ”Caring Center” in Folsom provides Healing Touch and other modalities. Contact Marcia Taylor-Carlisle RN at (916)817-8656.
