It might seem logical that an accomplished, conventionally trained registered nurse with a master of science degree like Mary Pat FitzGibbons would be drawn to Healing Touch because it was founded by a registered nurse and was the first form of energy medicine ever recognized as a biofield therapy by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. An additional attractor might have been that the Healing Touch program through the American Nurses Credentialing Center Commission on Accreditation and the National Certification Board of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork grants continuing education hours.

But FitzGibbons’ real motivation in 1992 was more personal. “Healing Touch, an energy therapy in which practitioners consciously use their hands and intent to promote health and healing, recognized a subtle energy field around the body, as well as energy centers located within the body. I intuitively believed in these without the need for medical science to confirm it with clinical studies,” says the Fort Myers resident and founder of Healthworks Energy Healing LLC, which provides treatment and education in subtle energy healing.

In 1979, as a cardiovascular nurse specialist interested in expanding her knowledge, FitzGibbons attended a critical care convention in Hawaii, where for the first time she learned about energy healing and other forms of alternative medicine. “I was so fascinated by what I learned in the breakout sessions that when I returned to Syracuse, I got involved in a holistic healing center where I eventually served as a board member. Another result of the conference was that I also took classes in acupuncture, but decided not to pursue it as a career. Instead, I eventually enrolled in Healing Touch classes at New York University in 1992 and became a certified practitioner in 1996 and a certified instructor in 1999,” she says. “Healing Touch is an outstanding program for professional and nonprofessional healthcare practitioners because it elevates energy healing to a professional level.”

FitzGibbons’ 46 years of nursing experience, acquired during her work in locations throughout the country, was enhanced by the degree she received from the Barbara Brennan School of Healing Science in 2000. The highly respected educational and global healing institution is dedicated to research and exploration of the human biofield. “My Healing Touch classes, as well as any Healing Touch sessions with clients, reflect what I learned from my Barbara Brennan studies,” says FitzGibbons.

She cites an example of how well Healing Touch can work to assuage pain. “A female client who was directed by her orthopedic surgeon to complete a rehabilitation program that included using a continuous passive motion machine after a knee operation, refused to let me help her get set up to use the machine. I queried about what was going on and she replied that she was experiencing a lot of pain, even though she had taken pain medication. I asked her, as I ask all clients, if I could do something to help her with the pain, which was outside the scope of what I was there to do. She agreed to let me apply several Healing Touch techniques. Afterwards, she raised her leg so high getting into the machine that she almost kicked me. Twenty minutes later when I approached her about getting out of the machine, she wanted to continue.”

Recognized in Who’s Who in American Nursing, FitzGibbons has experience in intensive/coronary care, home and hospital IV therapy, hospice, home care, cardiac rehabilitation, geriatrics, hemodialysis and workers compensation. She maintains memberships in the Healing Touch program and the American Holistic Nurses Association.

FitzGibbons will teach a two-day Healing Touch Level I class at Hope Hospice, located at 2430 Diplomat Parkway East, in Cape Coral, from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., January 19 and 20.

For more information, call 740-607-4038 or visit Facebook.com/Healing-Touch-of-SWFL.