“The healer’s primary mission is to alleviate suffering – individuals, groups, and the planet. The healer is a conduit who channels healing energy through the Divine and provides the path and environment for individuals to heal themselves. For the healer, this is the definition of joy.” —Healer Athena Harrell
Yorgo: Today we have Athena Harrell, owner of Intuitive Health, a healer and teacher who teaches these very profound words. Athena, what is Intuitive Health?
Athena Harel: Intuitive Health is a different way of approaching health. Allopathic medicine is necessary and provides health care. Intuitive Health is not a replacement for allopathic medicine, but is used in conjunction with it, just like going to a chiropractor, acupuncture, or cupping. These all started out as alternative therapies.
or: What services and alternative therapies do you offer?
ah: The alternative therapies I do are Healing Touch Energy Work, which moves energy through the body to release stagnant energy that causes pain and discomfort. I also work with the mind through clinical hypnotherapy to release trauma. This is something we work a lot with military, past and present. They use hypnotherapy to release Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). We also do sound therapy to bring relief to those with PTSD using the vagus nerve. All of the modalities that I use in some way, shape or form release negative energy stored in the body or clear stagnant energy so the body can heal itself.
Living in a military town, I have encountered many young people suffering from PTSD over the years. Of course, there is some support at Walter Reed Hospital and Portsmouth Naval Hospital, but it can take years. The trauma is so deep that it is difficult to understand what is causing illness in your body, whether physical or mental, especially if you have experienced or witnessed a trauma at home, personal, emotional, or sexual. Even if you are not an active duty military officer, police officer, firefighter, or paramedic, most people have experienced one of those things. It is very traumatic to watch someone die. I would say that every person on the planet has some kind of trauma that will probably cause them to experience triggers later in life that are not healthy for their body, life, or mind.
or: You do offer discounts to military personnel, first responders, teachers and healthcare workers, why did you decide to do that?
ah: Because, honestly, they are the ones who are on the front lines in the moment when someone experiences trauma. They are all the people who are holding the space or experiencing or witnessing trauma. So how can we help the general public, as I try to do in my profession, not my job? So I want to give every opportunity to people who work with the sick and the elderly and people in pain, so that they can find some relief from their own suffering and be better advocates.
or: What does a typical healing session look like?
ah: A typical healing session has two parts. The first part always involves God. If I, the healer, don’t believe in something greater than myself, in a higher power, then no healing can happen. It helps the client receiving the healing, but it doesn’t hinder the healing. So if someone comes to me and doesn’t have any kind of belief system, that’s totally fine.
Healers must trust that they are following intuitive guidance from God to help their clients achieve the greatest and highest good for all involved. It is the mandate of most healers to ease their clients’ suffering and ask God for what is best for them. So when a client comes in for their first session, I sit with them, pray, ask for guidance, get to know them by talking about the different things they want to work on and ask for guidance regarding that. At that point, the three of us – God, myself, and the person seeking healing – decide which therapy to choose. For example, if the client was in a car accident and injured, I might choose healing and touch therapy. If the client’s physical pain is gone, but they feel scared every time they get in a car, and it causes incredible anxiety, that’s an indication that hypnotherapy should be done.
or: You also provide other services.
ah: Yes, I also do a therapy called Lohan Spiritual Psychotherapy, which combines hypnotherapy with physical energy work to draw in energy and release false or intrusive thoughts that are troubling my clients. That’s one set of therapy. I also do physical therapies like heel touch, vagus nerve therapy, craniosacral therapy, which are also continuing education courses in nursing and massage therapy.
or: You are offering a new course in July called “Spiritual Development Level I – Beginner’s Mind, Beginner’s Heart”. Who is this course aimed at and how can they benefit from taking it?
ah: I have many clients who want to get intuitive guidance from God about their lives. The truth is that all 8.5 billion people on Earth, whatever their individual belief system, have the ability to talk to God and receive answers from God, and all 8.5 billion people have the ability to do healing. I’m not a special person. I’ve had a lot of training and I’ve practiced it over and over again. I tell people, you can too. That’s why this course is designed for beginner level, to help you really understand how to use your body as a channel as a healer and help people for the benefit of all involved.
So this course is a beginner’s level of spiritual development in connection with God. You don’t have to practice anything to experience this. In the words of a West Coast Anglican Bishop, “Prayer is talking to God, meditation is listening.” In this class, we teach students how to listen, how to ask questions, and how to hear the answers. How to quiet the mind, how to put the ego aside and receive answers directly from God. We also talk about what it means to be a healing channel if you also want to do physical healing work.
or: If someone has any of these needs and is looking for a palliative alternative to routine medical care or wants to take a new course, what does that person need to do?
ah: You can visit my website https://athenaharrell.com/ , choose the date and time you would like to come in, book your appointment, and once you arrive, the three of us will decide how best to treat you.
or: Let’s talk about your journey so far – where were you born and how did you discover the world of intuitive wellness?
ah: I was born and raised in Newport News, Virginia, but had absolutely no context for what I’m sharing with you all. In my 30s, my college roommate, who was then the head nurse for trauma care at Sentara, visited a woman who did healing and touch. I teased my friend that it was the most ridiculous story I’d ever heard. But when she came back from her visit, she seemed fine, despite working at a trauma care center and being constantly traumatized. So I decided to see for myself. And when I did, it changed my life. I felt lighter, freer, and more fulfilled than I’d felt in a long time.
or: What made you fall in love with healing enough to leave your corporate executive job to become a full-time healer?
ah: The woman I visited became my mentor and encouraged me to take Healing & Touch classes at the hospital. I did and I saw that she could really do it. She also had a program that taught physical therapists, nurses and doctors how to feel the energy movement in the body and I saw that it was real. It was so powerful that I got hooked and started taking more classes. There is no greater reward than no side effects, no avoidance, no scary needles and the results are positive. I knew that it was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. In the corporate world, it’s impossible for someone to leave my massage table and not feel pain. Relieving people’s pain is the best feeling, except when your child is born.
or: What was that learning process like? What did you do to become a healer?
ah: I have been studying and qualifying in alternative therapies for about 15 years. My first therapy was the Healing Touch program taught at Sentara Hospital as a continuing education course for nurses. Since then I have added eight additional therapies, all focused on healing the individual’s mind, body and soul. In January this year, after many years working in corporate America, my husband Jonathan and I decided to pursue our lifelong goal of healing full time.
or: What are you grateful for?
ah: I am grateful for my handsome and understanding husband, Jonathan, who has supported me through everything, especially my decision to go full time.
or: What is your ultimate goal?
ah: I want to serve the average citizen who doesn’t have a conviction about this, who is suffering and doesn’t know where to go. They’ve tried painkillers, chiropractic, physical therapy, and nothing works. I want to be that person, that healer, to get the job done for them, to heal them, so that they can become productive citizens again.
Yorgo is an arts, entertainment and sports writer. A stage, television and film actor, he is also a sports entertainer, educator, motivational speaker, author, storyteller and columnist.
