Center for Therapeutic Massage and Counseling

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Center for Therapeutic Massage
and Counseling

Irene Wade Belcher
RN MS NCNMT CNS HNC

PHILOSOPHY

Irene Wade Belcher
RN MS NCNMT CNS HNC

My philosophy of nursing and life as a whole embraces and facilitates healing on all levels inclusive of mind, body, and spirit. One can only heal completely by addressing every facet of the whole. Healing is not synonymous with curing; even in the dying process one can experience phenomenal healing of the mind and spirit.

As part of the human condition, we are constantly being challenged to heal into more wholeness. My belief is that each one of us is responsible for our own healing. How much we choose to heal is a decision that we, as responsible individuals, must make. In my practice of nursing as both an art and a science, I play a distinctive role in a client’s healing process. I may be intimately present with her as she discovers her own path. I may bring to consciousness information that aids him in his healing process. I may administer medication that one’s body can take and use to heal itself. But, as in the analogy of a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, it is crucial that I not disrupt, interfere with, or try to do one’s process for one.

My core premise regarding illness of any kind, including mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual, is that it, for the most part, originates from disharmony between different aspects of one’s perceived "self". I believe that human life is continually about healing: that is, we are all constantly being offered opportunities to transform belief patterns that create distress on mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual levels. In my role as a nurse I choose to educate clients about choices of when and how they might heal. I also choose to empower them by reminding them of their inherent ability to self-heal. This kind of expanded consciousness leads to a more total honoring of both self and others which, to me, is the hallmark of a healthy interconnectedness of body, mind, and spirit. Recognizing and honoring each person’s individual, unique, and chosen place in his or her own human experience defines the boundaries within which I function in my roles as a human being, an educator, and as a professional nurse.

Finally, I perceive that every person I encounter, be they patient, student, co-worker, or friend, brings back to me a part of myself that was missing. When that part resonates within, it is transformative, drawing me closer to my own wholeness. Such experiences over time have confirmed to me that healing seldom, if ever, involves or affects just one person. Rather, we are all continually, whether knowingly or unknowingly, participating together as co-partners in healing.

Irene Wade Belcher
RN MS NCNMT CNS HNC

Copyright 2009 Center for Therapeutic Massage and Counseling