Assistant Editor
"We know the healing power of touch by Jesus' actions in the Gospel. We know it by the comfort it gives to a sick child," says Sister June Baker, OP. "My hands are prayer as I touch a client. I call forth God's power to use me as an instrument."
After 20 years as a teacher and more than 17 as chaplain at Ellis Hospital in Schenectady, the Dominican Sister of Hope now hangs different certificates on her office walls. They announce that she's certified in reiki, aromatherapy and other techniques that fall under the umbrella of "complementary therapies."
Today, Sister June spends her days doing such "body work," massage and spiritual direction, at A Peaceful Place Wellness Center in Clifton Park.
Life's purpose
She told The Evangelist that her job is the culmination of a lifetime of experiences.
Back when she was teaching junior high, said Sister June, "I realized I was not using some of the gifts I had for working one-on-one." She found working with troubled children and their families more fulfilling than the classroom, particularly as more and more children came from families where both parents worked outside the home.
She turned to chaplaincy, getting her certification in clinical-pastoral education and "loving every minute" of her time at Ellis Hospital. But after nearly two decades, she said, the work became draining, and she needed some time to recuperate.
Another way
At the same time, Sister June got interested in alternative therapies, particularly aromatherapy. She was fascinated by the way she saw essential oils used to influence a person's emotional and physical state.
"I more and more realized the healing power of touch, so I took reiki," she added. Now a reiki master -- the highest of three levels of training in the technique -- Sister June is also being trained in healing touch.
Sister June is quick to defend her new field of study. "This is not hocus-pocus," she stated. "This is science. There are instruments created by NASA that are sensitive enough to pick up the human aura; that's a fact."
Body at rest
A typical day may find Sister June choosing oils to use in massage to boost a depressed client's mood and doing reiki on another client who suffers from panic attacks. The treatment rooms at A Peaceful Place (where about 15 therapists work) are softly lit, decorated in a simple Victorian style and dominated by large massage tables.
Sister June also does spiritual direction, sometimes combining it with alternative therapies.
"This has to do with spirituality in general," she said of her work. "What we work with is that universal life-force, which is God's own creative energy. We are all in existence because of that creative energy of God."
Body and soul
When she works with Catholic clients, Sister June tries to bring a new enthusiasm to their spiritual lives.
"This is not taking away from any religious practices," she cautioned. "This is to help people come to grips with their spiritual searchings and longings."
In fact, the spiritual director said some clients find faith through counseling.
"Sometimes, people say, `I don't have faith any more,'" she said. "I say, `That's okay for now. God is still here, waiting, and will be there if and when you're ready to turn back. God has never promised us everything will be wonderful. God has promised to be with us."
Grief
Never has that been more evident than in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the U.S., the consequent war with Afghanistan and the recent anthrax scares.
"People have come in grieving," said Sister June. "I have had some clients who had family [in New York City] who have lost jobs, who fear living in the city. I've had people who are afraid to fly. Some people surprised me, because they said they felt very guilty because they could not go down [to Ground Zero] and help."
Sister June has talked with several clients about concrete ways they could help from home, and the center also invited local firefighters and police units to come in for free massages.
Finding acceptance
When she started her work, Sister June said that many people didn't want to hear about the use of alternative therapies. Some even compared them to Satanism. Today, she said, she even travels to her community's motherhouse in Newburgh to do body work on the retired sisters there.
She noted: "It's becoming more and more seen as healing and an opportunity for an encounter with God."
(Contact A Peaceful Place Wellness Center at 371-2225.)