After I picked my jaw up off the floor I betook myself to my computer, where I googled this workshop provider, a certain Michael D'Alton of Michael D'Alton's School of Bio-Energy Healing. Mr. D'Alton's bio tells us that he learned bioenergy healing at Plexus Bio-Energy in Ireland. If you follow bioenergy healing trends and modalities as I do, you will know that the folks from Plexus Bio-Energy originally studied the Domancic Bioenergy Healing Method with Zdenko Domancic. They may have since modified what they learned, but they are enthusiastic participants in a movie on the Domancic Method, entitled "Think About It", which can be viewed on YouTube.
Mr. D'Alton offers a series of bio-energy healing courses, for which no price appears on his website. They are, in order of appearance,
- Level 1 Bio-Inspired
- Level 2 Bio Body/Mind/Spirit and or Bio-Pro
- Level 3 Bio-Advanced trainings workshops
- Level 4a Bio-Teacher L1 training
- Level 4 Bio-Teacher L2 training
- Level 5 Bio-Jedi
I perused Mr. D'Alton's website some more. I looked at his testimonials, which were very nice, but not anything terribly special in the world of energy healing, and certainly nothing beyond the capabilities of many talented and diligent Level 1 practitioners of Quantum Touch, the Domancic Method or the Bengston Method. I now have about 20 energy healing workshops of different stripes under my belt and my attitude to anyone who wanted to charge me the kinds of money Mr. D'Alton is charging would be to ask, only half tongue-in-cheek, whether he was proposing to teach me how to raise the dead in his workshop.
Some comparison shopping
There are three types of teachers in the business of energy healing instruction. The first are the founders or "originators", the people to whom the ability to heal came spontaneously and who then developed a system for teaching their method. The second type are their authorized instructors, the people whom they appoint to teach their system. The third type are the "aggregators", who learn one or more methods and then proceed to fashion them into something of their own. In my experience each method is strongest at the source, so one's best bet is always to learn it from the founder.
So with that in mind, let's see what is out there that is comparable to Mr. D'Alton's $1500 two-day workshop.
Level 1 of the Domancic Method, taught in North America by Zoran Hochstatter, who was authorized to teach the method by Zdenko Domancic, will set you back about $600 for a 3-day workshop. Level 2 will cost you $800.
The Bengston Method, taught by Dr. Bengston, will cost you $300-$350 for a 2-day workshop.
Matrix Energetics, taught by Richard Bartlett, the originator, costs $600 for levels 1 and 2 combined, which is another 3-day workshop.
Quantum Touch, taught by authorized representatives, will cost you $350-$400 for level 1, and $450 for level 2. Or you can learn it on-line with videos of the founder for $67.
Reconnective Healing, levels 1 and 2, taught by founder Eric Pearl and "the Reconnection teaching team", will cost you $657 for a 3-day workshop in the U.S., more in Europe.
In terms of value, for the amount of money that it costs you to take a 2-day workshop with Michael D'Alton ($1500), you could do two levels of the Domancic Method with Zdenko Domancic's authorized instructor, Zoran Hochstatter; or, you could take level 1 of the Domancic Method and levels 1 and 2 of Matrix Energetics, and throw in a weekend with Dr. Bengston to learn his method; or you could do levels 1 and 2 of Reconnective Healing and Matrix Energetics and still have money left over to do the online course in Quantum Touch.
For the amount of money that it would cost you to take levels 1 and 2 of Michael D'Alton's method, you could probably fly to Slovenia and learn the Domancic Method from the master himself, Zdenko (650 euros for level 1, and 980 euros for level 2), with some money left over maybe to do a bit of traveling around Eastern Europe. Please note that Michael D'Alton's level 1 costs more than Zdenko Domancic's, even though it in fact has its roots in the Domancic Method, but is twice removed. That seems somewhat odd to me.
All these workshops are worthwhile investments, singly or in combination. The different price tags are a reminder that in learning energy healing, as in any other consumer endeavour, it pays to shop around.