Wellness Services/Practitioners

Wellness Services/Practitioners

The Center for Wellness and Spirituality offers the following Wellness services through affiliated practitioners.

Spiritual Counseling/Direction

Spiritual counseling is reflective listening and faith-filled prayer, that helps remind an individual that God is present in every situation and can guide us in what needs to be healed or learned. While listening, your spiritual counselor will ask you gentle questions and reflect thoughts back to you. This will help you clarify in your own mind the issues before you. It is a safe and confidential environment.

The Rev. Kathy Guin is following her call of dedicating more time for supporting others on their spiritual journey. Her focus is to help others grow in their awareness of all the countless ways of seeing and knowing God at work in their lives.

Kathy is a retired Episcopal priest and is a spiritual director at the National Cathedral and Virginia Theological Seminary. Previously, she served as the Rector of St Margaret’s, Woodbridge, a vibrant diverse church with a loving community where they worked together to rebuild. Prior to this call, she served at St. Peter’s in the Woods in Fairfax Station, where she learned so much about fostering growth and vitality in a church. She received her Masters in Divinity from Virginia Theological Seminary, served on the Committee of Priesthood for the Diocese of Virginia and recently served as the Dean for the Potomac region. She is certified from the Bon Secours Retreat Center Spiritual Direction Program and received Family Systems training through a two-year clergy track program.

Tamera Siminow takes an interactive approach while serving as a companion to those who are discerning the presence of God in their lives and engaging in practices that promote their spiritual awareness and growth. She believes in the power of sacred listening and the dignity of each person’s spiritual path.

Tamera has attended Church of the Holy Comforter for just over a decade. She is a graduate of the RUAH School of Spiritual Guidance at Richmond Hill retreat center and the University of the South’s Education for Ministry program. She is also a member of Spiritual Directors International. In addition, Tamera serves as a spiritual director at St. Paul’s Episcopal in Alexandria and is on the roster for spiritual direction at VTS. Tamera holds a bachelor’s degree in public administration and master’s degrees in political science and counseling psychology. She works in Oakton as a neurofeedback specialist and lives in Vienna with her husband and three children.

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.

Gestalt Pastoral Care

Alexandra McCracken offers Gestalt Pastoral Care which is a model of healing ministry that integrates Gestalt growth work with Spiritual companioning and healing prayer. Gestalt Pastoral 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 Pastoral 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 Pastoral 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.

Alexandra McCracken