How Do I Grow My Business as a Healer?
Some super common questions a lot of my training clients have about being a healer and the sticky, tricky, weirdness of being in an emotional labor and spiritual labor profession while existing in a diploma-selling, capitalist society:
How do I go from this license I currently have to what I want to be doing, especially when it’s incorporating many different modalities or beyond what I’m currently licensed to do?
I have only learned how my practice wanted to shift by doing, by experimenting, by trying, by actually getting my fingers in the clay. I asked friends, colleagues, etc. to be my "guinea pigs" in my laboratory of exploration in exchange for whatever they were comfortable paying in a sliding scale (originally $50 - $100 at that time), plus a Google review of their experience working with me on my business listing, and any additional feedback they wanted to share with me directly. I also offered a shorter version of a session to friends-of-friends and colleagues-of-colleagues in exchange for Google reviews. I consistently talked with colleagues and mentors about ethical practices, boundaries, what I was and wasn’t comfortable offering, and where I felt I needed more training or validation.
What additional licensure or education do I need to bridge the gap, to be able to offer what I want to offer?
This is a hot take, and completely not the cultural norm, but it’s entirely possible that you do not need another piece of paper or another training (unless it involves you putting your hands on someone’s body, doing work that is around trauma, or doing work that is regulated in your state of residence). That's not to say there isn't more education that calls to you and turns you on. It's an ever-deepening, ever evolving expansion of your offerings. Ethical healers are lifelong learners - from courses, books, teachers, and most importantly, from COMMUNITY. Being in community and having many colleagues and teachers helps to refine and clarify your own personal ethics.
How do I build confidence in my work, in what I offer? How do I stop making myself small? How do I open to abundance (aka GETTING PAID) ?
This is the biggie. This is one that hangs on and hangs on. It prevents healers from charging hearty prices. It prevents us from just "going for it". It's not you, it's 7,000 years of oppression and dominance. The only way I've seen people truly shift into confidence that was easy and authentic was from relaxing, ceasing trying to direct the process, and allowing internal somatic, spiritual, and energy guidance to provide immediate pathways forward. This is what I see in my clients again and again (and in myself, obvs). I know, I know. I wish I had a “program” or strategy for this. But truly, the super empowered, fiery, compassionate confidence and self-respect IS THERE inside you. The process of energy healing and somatic training opens up pathways for that to emerge because it opens up experiences of EXPRESSING power and self-valuation to feel SAFE.
What was your education process like?
It was ridiculous. It was informed by dreams, people, inclinations, many turns down dark alleys, going back to trying to find a piece of paper to validate what I wanted and then giving that up and just doing what I felt I truly wanted to do. It was years of taking classes and reading books that interested me, taking jobs to just feel like I had some stability and sanity, and then quitting those jobs and going for it again. It was falling in love and learning from heartbreak. It was saying “NO” and realizing I wouldn’t die or disappear into a hole in the ground when I opt’ed out of what I didn’t want. It was saying, “Fuck it.” A lot. Just going for it, experiments working and not working. It was a lot of oscillation, a lot of despair, a lot of deep knowing and trusting again. Mainly, it was becoming at ease with being at ease. And that required surrender. Over and over and over again, I had to just set down my ideas and wantings of how I wanted it to be, how I wanted it to look. And even now, it’s cycles of surrender and receiving and celebration. You can hear more about my journey in the podcast interviews here.
How did you know what you didn’t want to offer?
It’s highly likely, in your GUT, you already know what you don't want to offer. If it’s not in your gut, it’s maybe in your heart or in your wavering, quavering, hesitation. It's right there in your body right now. What you may not know yet is that it is WISE and RIGHT and PERFECT that you change your mind all the time about what you don't want and what you do want. Yes, you're supposed to change your mind. What you don't want to offer changes over time. Your body will tell you what's right for right now, for this week, or this season. Somatic training and energy healing helps you re-establish basic consent practices with yourself so you can feel GREAT about changing your mind.
What energy healing modalities do you have and how did you incorporate them into your practice?
It's a melange that is ever-changing, and my offerings have naturally incorporated my fun curious learnings over the years. Any practice I've enjoyed and loved gets QUASI-blended in because I'm not doing any kind of taught practice by the books. Focusing oriented therapy, authentic movement, Theravada Buddhism, and more more more have been blended irreverently in, conveniently expressing just the pieces I LOVE and leaving the rest.
If you’d like to learn more about somatic therapy and energy healing training for facilitators, healers, therapists, and other wellness industry professionals, please book a consultation.
