Controversial Langara energy healing program to expand

Langara’s controversial integrative energy healing program has expanded to satellite campuses in Nanaimo, Edmonton and Whitehorse this semester.

The program has been around for 15 years, with Langara being the first post-secondary school to offer certificates to students in this field of alternative medicine.

Dr. Lloyd Oppel of the British Columbia Medical Association is critical of the expansion.

“We are not in favour of anything that hasn’t been proven to work,” said Dr. Oppel. “The energy fields they claim to see do not exist.”

The BCMA called the program’s  therapies “medically useless” in a 2009 article by the Globe and Mail.

Dr. Ruth Lamb, program coordinator and instructor of the energy healing program, defends the practice.

“The [BCMA] is the only organization that has publicly criticized the program,” Lamb said.

“Other than them, [energy healing] is welcomed by the health care profession.” She adds that energy healing has been recognized by Vancouver Coastal Health and clinics for 15 years.

What is integrative energy healing?

Integrative energy healing is based on principles of Western scientific energy medicine and ancient Eastern teachings. It is a form of holistic health that focuses on the human body’s energy field and its goal is to awaken the body’s innate healing potential.

According to program instructor Monica Heuser, certified energy healers restore balance in a person’s energy field.

Langara currently offers the integrative energy healing intensive program and the two-year advanced certificate program. The intensive program is a prerequisite to the advanced course and currently the only program available at the satellite campuses.

This spring, integrative energy healing students will be working with nurses in high stress areas at the Surrey Memorial Hospital as part of a research project on the request of the Fraser Health Authority.

Reported by Leslie Kam

Find out what Langara students think about the program.