The purpose of this blog is purely educational. It does not advise any reader to forgo medical treatment for any condition. It describes methods that have not yet been proven effective through widespread scientific testing. Readers who are concerned about their health are advised to contact their physician.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

How to be a wise consumer of bioenergy healing workshops

A friend recently had lunch with a young woman from out west who had just taken a 2-day workshop on bioenergy healing which set her back a whopping $1500. After completing the workshop she and her fellow students were told that they would not be allowed to charge for treatments as practitioners until they took the second level workshop, which would cost a further $6000. However, if they acted fast, they could sign up for the second workshop at the (cheap) early-bird rate of $3500.

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 studied the Domancic Bioenergy Healing Method with Zdenko Domancic. They took the Domancic Method back to Ireland and are enthusiastic participants in a movie on Mr. Domancic 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
In my humble opinion, bolstered by 14 years of experience both teaching and learning bioenergy healing, three levels ought to be sufficient to teach any energy healing method. Some enterprising Reiki masters manage to break up the three levels of Reiki into seven, with the price going ever higher with each level, ostensibly to give the student time to absorb and practice the teachings. In my humble opinion, again, that is just not necessary. Bioenergy healing is not that difficult to teach. The student may need time and practice to absorb the teachings, and may need some mentoring, but not to the tune of six or seven levels of the same method, and certainly not to the tune of thousands of dollars.

I perused Mr. D'Alton's website some more. I looked at the 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 workshops.

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 train and 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 (some of them add "personal development" to the mix as filler, though one could reasonably ask how much personal development one can fit into a weekend dedicated to learning energy healing). I would say that in my experience each method is strongest at the source, so one's best bet is always to learn it from the founder. At this point I wouldn't take a course from an "aggregator" for the very simple reason that by now I may know more than they do. But if you are new to energy healing, and just want to get your feet wet, an "aggregator" could be a perfectly fine choice for you. The question that remains is how much you want to pay.

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, now called PureBioenergy, will set you back about $600 for a 3-day workshop. Level 2 will cost you $800.

The Bengston Method, taught by Dr. Bengston (who has healed mice of cancer in laboratory studies), 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.

And I note that Mr. D'Alton's own teachers in Ireland only charge 350 and 425 euros respectively (approx. $480 and $585) for levels 1 and 2 of their own program. Why is Mr. D'Alton's program so much pricier?

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 (750 euros for level 1, and 980 euros for level 2), with money left over to do a bit of traveling around Europe.

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.

Postscript: Recently it was pointed out to me that Mr. D'Alton's method in fact has a lot in common with Pranic Healing, which I hadn't mentioned in this post. Something else to research! For the purposes of this post it is sufficient to note that their healer certification program costs $350, also well short of Mr. D'Alton's $1497.

9 comments:

Jeri Lawson said...

Thank you so much Judith for gathering all this research together in one place. Very, very interesting.

Judith said...

You are most welcome. I have fun doing it.

Victorina said...

This is cool!

Sandra said...

I hope they tell people up front that there'll be a second, much more expensive course to take before they can practice! It's really unfair otherwise.

nicreilly said...

HI Judith! I found this post while searching for energy healing courses. I am leaning toward MCKS pranic healing. Any thoughts from you on this course?
Nicole Reilly

Judith said...

This particular method is not one that I am familiar with, but I heard good things of pranic healing in general. You might ask some practitioners to tell you of their experiences.

Anonymous said...

All opinion, views and experience are invaluable in the huge field of energy healing so thank you so much Judith. Having a steer especially when you are new is like finding a diamond in a haystack to the newcomer, The universe provides us with everything at all price levels so everyone can make their own choices which is how it is. If you are are making a large investment relative to what you can afford then naturally be as discerning as you can - expect miracle results and cures for all is possible. More importantly take stock of the teacher. From where are they operating in the great spiritual process of development? How far are they evolving? Look out for those operating from true love and from their pure hearts. What does this look and feel like to you? Ask and you shall always always find. Operate from a place of no limits yourself and you may soon find after gaining some experience that you are an energy founder yourself and you can create how you choose. We all live to learn and grow and everyone grows at their own pace and volition. Enjoy, share and have fun and lookup on everything as learning to become your greater self. All teachers are only a great as their students in the great scheme of things after all.

Unknown said...

Dear Judith,

I have found your blog to be one of the best resources to understand bio energy healing. I am writing to you from India where there's not much of an opportunity to learn this. The book i found online which teaches about this healing work is Daniel Csongor, called Bio energy healing, which was quite good. Is there any other online resource you would recommend ..either books or digital video or such which could be purchased online.

Reiki and pranic healing are the more popular forms of energy healing available in India towards with i never felt drawn but Bio energy healing seems to be something that really resonates.

Thanks for taking the time to read,
and for you wonderful blog
Sri

Judith said...

Dear Sri,

Thank you for your kind words.

I too know Daniel Csongor's book. It is based on the Domancic Method.

I don't think there is any online resource that would teach you the Domancic Method (also called Bioenergy). There is, however, an online course on Quantum Touch at www.quantumtouch.com, and you can order or download Dr. Bengston's 6-CD audio course at Sounds True (www.soundstrue.com). They are both good.

Best wishes on your energy healing journey,

Judith