Today’s featured therapy is Healing Touch for Animals, an energy healing modality which at first (and second) glance seems very similar to Reiki, but there are some differences between the two, as you will see further down in the post.
What is Healing Touch for Animals?
Healing Touch for Animals, or HTA, was created by Carol Komitor in the mid 1990s and is based on 
Healing Touch – a touch and energy healing technique for humans. Healing Touch for both humans and animals helps to balance and regulate the body by working on the energy systems of the recipient’s body — both “external” (aura/energy field) and “internal” (Hara Line, chakras/energy centers). Depending on the technique, the practitioner’s hands work slightly above or rest lightly on the body in order to clear blockages and balance and energize the body, thus supporting it to heal itself.
Carol had been practicing and teaching Healing Touch for people for a number of years when, inspired by the amazing results she had seen in humans, she set out to create a similar program for animals. She found that some of the techniques used in Healing Touch needed to be modified to use with animals due to the animals’ heightened sensitivity to energy compared to humans. She launched HTA in 1996 and the first HTA workshop was held. Today, there are Healing Touch for Animals classes in various locations in the U.S. and in the Netherlands (Level 1 is also available as an online course), and the list of certified practitioners is steadily growing.
Meet Dawn LaPointe
Today’s featured practitioner is Dawn LaPointe, founder and owner of Awakened Harmony, LLC 
and Paws for Joy in Duluth, Minnesota. Dawn is a Reiki Master Teacher and Healing Touch for Animals Certified Practitioner.
Dawn got inspired to start exploring energy work in order to help her own animals. Once she experienced and witnessed the many positive results it had, she felt strongly guided to offer it to help others, and in 2007 Awakened Harmony and Paws for Joy were born. Today, she offers session to humans and a variety of animals at house and barn calls, as well as through distance healing. She also offers Reiki classes and has been featured on TV and in magazines.
I found when I was working on this post that I had a few questions for Dawn:
Q: Dawn, how does Healing Touch differ from Reiki?
They are similar in that they both work on the subtle level of energy. There are differences in the way they go about it.
Here is how I differentiate the two. Reiki is “universal life force energy”, the natural energy in all things. A Reiki practitioner acts as a conduit for the Reiki energy. A series of attunements gives a practitioner the ability to take in the Reiki energy through their crown chakra and transmit or offer it to others through the palms of their hands. Most practitioners can actually feel the energy flowing from their palms — it’s a very pleasant feeling. Reiki energy is wise and works with the body’s innate wisdom to put the energy where it’s needed the most. (Example: if my hands are resting on your shoulder, the energy could be transported to your left knee, if that’s where the greatest or immediate need is.) Reiki can help release energy, habits, beliefs, physical problems, etc. that no longer serve the person or animal.
In comparison, a Healing Touch/Healing Touch for Animals practitioner assesses the existing energy anatomy of the client. Based on that assessment, the practitioner chooses Healing Touch/Healing Touch for Animals techniques to help bring the compromised energy anatomy into balance. Similar to Reiki, HT/HTA can also help release energy, habits, beliefs, physical problems, etc. that no longer serve the person or animal.
These methods all help to balance mind, body, and spirit. Although each method stands on its own as a session or treatment, I typically combine the methods as I am guided, and often enhance sessions with appropriate Young Living Essential Oils. The oils have wonderful energetic properties and benefits in themselves. None of the methods I use interfere with one another or with other holistic or allopathic medicine or treatments, but complement and enhance one another.
Q: I saw in the news video that you use a pendulum – how does that work?
Because I do not yet reliably see energy, I use the pendulum to assess energy anatomy prior to a session. I hold the intention that the pendulum will show me whether the anatomy is in balance or compromised. In a nutshell, if the pendulum shows a round, clockwise rotation, that part of energy anatomy is in balance. If it displays any other pattern, there is some type of compromise in that particular piece of anatomy. The pendulum can also answer yes/no questions which can help narrow down a choice of essential oils to use with a session, or to help identify a culprit part of energy anatomy that’s causing a problem. Pendulum use has been described to me as a means of communicating with one’s higher self.
As a side note, years ago when I first came across methods like Reiki and pendulum use, I was a non-believer and very skeptical. I have a very strong sense of logic and had no knowledge of the subtleties like energy — it simply wasn’t on my radar. Eventually I was open enough to try Reiki, had a very convincing experience, and was strongly drawn and guided to learn it and share it with others. That led me to HTA, HT, essential oils, and assessing with pendulums. This path has been such a blessing in my life and I enjoy the greater sense of balance I have — still having my strong logic, yet being open and sensitive to subtle, essential things like energy that can make a tremendous difference in one’s well-being.
Healing Touch for Animals Case Study
By Dawn LaPointe of
AwakenedHarmony, LLC / Paws for Joy
As a young Border Collie, “Bella” had challenges with anxiety, typically triggered by unanticipated noises and thunderstorms. She is a healthy, loved, and well-cared for companion and performance animal. Bella and her guardian were training and competing in obedience and agility, and her sensitivity was increasingly causing challenges in the ring. Even in her familiar home environment, she would exhibit outward signs of her anxiety through pacing, hiding, panting, shaking, and a very nervous expression on her face.
A visit to Bella’s veterinarian confirmed there was not a physical issue causing her sensitivity. Like many animal guardians, Bella’s person was searching for gentle, effective solutions before resorting to the use of sedatives or other drugs for her anxiety.
My initial assessment of Bella’s energy anatomy showed that her Hara Line was open. This is desirable because the Hara Line is an important foundation of our energy anatomy. However, the assessment showed that all of her seven major energy centers, or “chakras”, were compromised and her energy field contained moderate “debris”. Simply stated, her energy systems were not balanced and functioning optimally. I found it curious that the layers of her energy field, or “aura”, were an atypical shape and did not appear to surround her physical body in a supportive and protective way. Based on the assessment results, I determined that various Healing Touch for Animals techniques could assist Bella in restoring balance to her energy systems, which would help provide the support she needed and hopefully decrease her hypersensitivity to noises.
On and off, Bella was cautious during her session as she was releasing what no longer served her and was gaining energetic balance and a sense of calmness. Throughout her session, I used several Healing Touch for Animals techniques to restore balance and openness in each of her major chakras, and also to restore her energy field to a normal, supportive shape and size. Since Bella had been so fearful and had many compromises in her energy centers, with her person’s permission I also offered her a blend of Young Living essential oils called “Valor”, which she inhaled from a distance. At the conclusion of her first session, Bella appeared much calmer, more at peace, and visibly more comfortable in her own skin.
One week later, Bella’s follow-up assessment showed that her Hara Line was still open and functioning properly, and only two of her seven major energy centers were compromised. Her energy field was still a normal supportive shape and size, with only minor debris. This was a significant improvement over my initial assessment of Bella the prior week.
Her guardian eagerly reported the noticeable improvement in Bella’s confidence during the week since her first session. While Bella and her family were away at their cabin, a severe thunderstorm went through the area. Her guardian awoke to find Bella calmly lying in bed during the loud storm. This was a significant and welcome shift from her previous reaction of pacing, hiding, panting and shaking. Her guardian also noted that overall Bella exhibited less pacing at the cabin and was less reactive with passersby.
Bella was receptive and appreciative during much of her second session. I offered her HTA techniques that would help fine-tune the frequencies of her chakras and help her feel more grounded and focused. I also enhanced her session with Young Living’s Grounding essential oil blend which she inhaled at a distance. In addition, I offered a behavior modification technique and communicated to her that she was safe, supported, and loved.
A couple weeks after her second session, Bella and her guardian competed in an agility trial with a loud roller-coaster nearby, a location whose noises created many problems for them the prior year. Although Bella briefly displayed a nervous expression, she quickly remembered she was safe and supported, and Team Bella enjoyed many successful runs that weekend. This was a remarkable shift from her behavior and reactions to noise sensitivity just a few weeks earlier. Many people and animals experience a feeling of centeredness, peace, and self-confidence as a benefit of energy work.
Although most of us do not reliably “see” energy, our energy systems play a critical role in our overall well-being of mind, body, and spirit. Our energy anatomy surrounds and permeates our physical bodies, so when our energy systems are balanced and functioning properly, they can help to support our body’s innate healing ability, as well as offer support and protection from outside influences.
To learn more about Healing Touch for Animals, please visit the HTA website.
