Wellness Services/Practitioners
The Center for Wellness and Spirituality offers the following Wellness services through affiliated practitioners.
Gestalt Soul Care
Alexandra McCracken offers Gestalt Soul Care which is a model of healing ministry that integrates Gestalt growth work with Spiritual companioning and healing prayer. Gestalt Soul Care rests on the belief that God’s healing Grace is available to us, and that God desires to heal holistically—body, mind, spirit, emotions and social context—in a way that is unique to each person. It can help us resolve past conflicts and become more present. When you move beyond the past, you can find peace in the present and enrich your interactions in the world around you. Individual sessions for healing, growth and transformation are available.
As a Lay Minister of Gestalt Soul Care commissioned by the Church of the Holy Comforter, Alexandra MacCracken is part of the lay pastoral care team at Holy Comforter. In addition to offering Gestalt Soul Care retreats and individual sessions, she also is the leader of the Healing Prayer Team, the Addiction Recovery Care committee, and the Relationship Recovery group for women healing from divorce. Alexandra is available for individual work, and for leading Opening to Grace Retreats locally and nationally. She can be reached at [email protected] for further information.
Spiritual Counseling/Direction
Spiritual direction or companionship helps us to discern God’s presence in the everyday aspects of our lives as well as in extraordinary or challenging times, as we seek to be more fully present in the world. Where do we find God to be present, and where might we feel God to be absent? How do we discern what God might want for us in our particular life circumstances, and how do we live that out? Our relationship with God changes throughout our lives, as we ourselves change over time. In many ways, spiritual companioning is grounded in the “one another” verses of the New Testament: love one another, encourage one another, pray for one another, build up one another, and comfort one another (among many more).
Anna Wallich, M.S.W., M. has served as a Spiritual Director and Companion since 2012 and is a member of Spiritual Directors International. She was raised in the Episcopal Church, and has been active in church ministries throughout her life: first as a regular volunteer and later working as a Ministry Associate or Pastoral Assistant, heading up Stephen Ministry, bereavement and Bible study programs. Before having children, Anna worked as a clinical social worker and, while her children were in school, she worked as a Title I Reading Instructor in the local elementary schools. As her children grew older, she decided to return to her original sense of vocation, and so she obtained a Master of Theology in Pastoral Care from Boston College’s Clough School of Theology and Ministry in 2012. During that time, she received training in Spiritual Direction through the Jesuit Collaborative in Massachusetts.
After moving back to this area in 2016, she worked part-time as the Assistant for Adult Faith Formation at St. Luke’s until retiring in the summer of 2023, and she’s been a member of Holy Comforter since February 2023. She has three grown children and two grandchildren who she loves to spend time with, and otherwise she enjoys reading, cooking, knitting, teaching, gardening, singing, and above all, the blessings of friendship and family! If you are interested in contacting Anna for spiritual companionship, please email her at [email protected].
Reiki Relaxation/Healing Sessions
Patti Boerger offers Reiki—an ancient Japanese form of energy/spiritual healing that involves the transfer of universal energy (in this case God’s energy) from the practitioner’s palms to their participant. Reiki means God’s wisdom or higher power. Ki means spiritually guided life force energy. Today, more hospitals are offering it to their patients to calm them, reduce stress, release blocked energy flow in the body and help them heal both mentally and physically. During a 30–45 minutes session, you will lie fully clothed on a massage table or sit in a comfortable chair. The lights are dimmed, candles are lit and soothing music is played. The Reiki Master’s hands are placed on the various parts of the body to deliver healing energy. If you prefer a no touch method, then the hands are held several inches away from the body. Participants typically experience deep relaxation and feel refreshed. Sometimes they even fall asleep.
While these sessions are normally done in person, during this time of physical distancing, Patti Boerger will offer 10 free 20-minute remote sessions per week for the next few weeks. The Reiki Master visualizes the person at the designated time and sends the energy to them with the intent of healing and relaxation. Appointments as late as 9 p.m. are available in case you want to lie in bed and perhaps fall asleep during the treatment.
Patti is a certified Reiki Master as well as the director of childcare at Holy Comforter. Contact Patti at [email protected] for more information and to schedule a session.
