The question I hear most often about long-distance energy healing is some version of: "How can that possibly work if you're not in the room?" It is a fair question. I asked it myself, years ago, before I had done a single distance session. This post is my honest answer, from three decades of doing this work in my Worthington office and, for a long time now, by phone and video with clients across Ohio, the United States, and Canada.

What "Distance" Means in Energy Work

In-person energy healing does not actually depend on my hands touching you. In a session at my office, my hands are often an inch or more off the body, and much of what I am doing is perceiving and working with the energy field around and through you. The hands help me focus, but the work itself happens in the field. The Brennan Healing Science training I spent eight years in teaches that the field is not limited to the few feet around your body, and that a trained practitioner can connect with it from anywhere once there is an agreement to do so.

That agreement is the key. I do not work on anyone who has not asked me to. A distance session begins with you and me, on the phone or on video, talking for a few minutes and setting the intention together. From that point I can perceive your field much as I would if you were on my table.

What a Virtual Session Looks Like

You are at home, somewhere you can lie down or sit comfortably without being interrupted. We connect by phone or video, whichever you prefer; I do not need to see you for the work to happen, and some clients like to turn the camera off and simply rest. We talk briefly about what you are bringing that day. Then I ask you to settle in, and I begin.

From my end, the session is nearly identical to an in-person one. I ground, I connect with your field, and I work with what I find: clearing, charging, restructuring, and supporting your system to reorganize, exactly as I describe in how energy healing works. I may say very little during the work, or I may check in. At the end we talk about what I noticed and what you felt, and about caring for yourself afterward. Sessions run 60 to 75 minutes.

If you are getting ready for your first session, I have written a practical guide to setting up at home: Your First Long-Distance Energy Healing Session: How to Prepare at Home.

What People Actually Feel

Clients describe the same range of experiences I see in the office. Warmth or tingling, often in the exact area I am working with before I have said a word about it. A sudden deep relaxation, sometimes falling asleep. Emotion rising, with no obvious trigger. A sense of lightness or spaciousness afterward. And, fairly often, surprise: "I didn't think I'd feel anything, and I did."

Some people feel little during the session and notice the change over the next day or two: sleeping better, a longer fuse, a knot in the chest that has quietly let go. That is also normal and does not mean less happened.

Does It Work as Well as In Person?

In my experience, yes. I was skeptical about this once, and what changed my mind was results: clients I had seen in person for years who moved away and kept working with me by phone, and told me the sessions were just as strong. Some say stronger, because they are already at home, with no drive afterward and nothing to do but rest and integrate.

There are a few things in-person work offers that distance work does not. If you want craniosacral therapy, that is hands-on and happens in my office. And some people simply prefer the ritual of coming somewhere. But for the energy work itself, distance has not been a limitation.

An Honest Word About Evidence

Energy healing, in person or at a distance, is a complementary practice. The mechanisms the Brennan model describes are not established by scientific research the way medical treatments are, and I will not tell you otherwise. What I can tell you is what clients consistently report, and that I have seen enough of it over thirty years to offer this work without hesitation. It sits well alongside your medical and mental-health care and is never a substitute for it.

Who Distance Sessions Are Good For

• People outside central Ohio who want to work with a Brennan-trained healer
• Clients in the Columbus area who are ill, grieving, exhausted, or caring for someone, and cannot easily get to an office
• Anyone who finds it easier to let go in their own space
• Clients who started with me in person and have moved away

Two situations where I often work at a distance are grief and loss and burnout, because in both, getting to an appointment can be one more thing a person cannot manage.

Working With Me

I offer distance energy healing by phone or video to clients anywhere in the United States and Canada, and in-person energy healing sessions at my office in Worthington, serving the Columbus area. Sessions are $150, with package options for ongoing work. If you are unsure whether distance work is right for you, call or text (614) 653-8111 for a free 15-minute consultation and we will talk it through.

Sharon Hartnett, CST-D
Energy healer and craniosacral therapist, Barbara Brennan School of Healing graduate
Lighten Up Therapies, 6797 N High Street Ste 333, Worthington, Ohio 43085

When someone books their first long-distance energy healing session with me, the question that usually follows is a practical one: "What do I actually do on my end?" Less than you might think. But a few small choices make the difference between a session you fit in around your day and one you can really sink into. Here is what I tell new clients.

Choose Your Spot

You need one thing: a place where you will not be interrupted for about an hour and a quarter. A bed, a couch, a reclining chair, a yoga mat on the floor; any of these is fine. Lying down is ideal because it lets the body let go most completely, but sitting works if that is more comfortable for you.

Close the door. Tell the people in your house that you are unavailable. Put pets in another room if they tend to climb on you. Silence everything on your phone except the call itself, and turn off notifications on whatever device we are using.

Phone or Video?

Either one. I do not need to see you for the work to happen; I am perceiving and working with your energy field, not watching your face. Some clients like video for the first session because it feels more connected, and then switch to phone once they trust the process. Others turn the camera off partway through so they can fully rest. There is no wrong choice, and you can change your mind mid-session.

If you choose video, prop the device somewhere stable so you are not holding it. If you choose the phone, speaker mode or earbuds, whichever lets you lie back. A headset is helpful but optional.

What to Wear, and What to Have Nearby

Comfortable, loose clothing; nothing tight at the waist or neck. Socks or a blanket, because body temperature often drops as the nervous system settles. A glass of water within reach. Tissues, because emotion sometimes moves and it is easier not to get up for them.

No crystals, candles, or music required. If those help you settle, use them; if they are one more thing to arrange, skip them.

How to Arrive

If you can, give yourself ten minutes before we start to stop doing. Finish the email, put the laundry down, and sit or lie quietly. Clients who come straight from a meeting into a session spend the first part of it just landing, and that is fine, but you get more from the hour if you have already begun to slow down.

You do not need to prepare anything to say. When we connect, I will ask what you are carrying that day, and whatever comes out is enough. "I don't know, I'm just tired" is a complete answer.

During the Session

After we talk briefly, I will ask you to settle in and close your eyes. From there your job is simply to rest and notice. You do not need to concentrate, visualize, breathe a certain way, or try to feel anything. I will tell you when I begin, and I may check in once or twice or stay quiet for long stretches. Both are normal.

Some people feel warmth, tingling, or movement, often in the area I am working with. Some feel a wave of relaxation and drift off. Some feel emotion rise. And some feel very little and notice the shift over the next day or two. I describe this more in Does Distance Energy Healing Work? and in how energy healing works. If anything feels like too much at any point, say so; we slow down or stop. You are in charge of the pace.

After We Hang Up

This is the part people most often skip, and it matters. Try not to go straight back to your day. Stay where you are for ten or fifteen minutes. Drink the water. Let yourself be quiet. If something came up that you want to remember, write a few lines.

For the rest of the day, go gently. Some people feel energized; many feel sleepy, and an early night is a good idea. Drink more water than usual. If you are able, keep the evening light on commitments. Shifts often continue to settle for a day or two after a session.

A Few Things Clients Ask

Can I do this on my lunch break? You can, and some clients do. It is better than not having a session. But if you can arrange a quieter window, the work goes deeper.

What if I fall asleep? That is fine, and common. The work continues. I will bring you back gently when we are near the end.

What if the call drops? I will call you back, or you call me. The field does not reset because the phone did; we simply pick up where we were.

Do I need to believe in it? No. Openness is enough, and skepticism is welcome. I trained eight years at the Barbara Brennan School of Healing and I still hold this work lightly; what I care about is what you notice.

Working With Me

I offer distance energy healing by phone or video to clients anywhere in the United States and Canada, and in-person energy healing sessions at my office in Worthington, serving the Columbus area. Sessions are 60 to 75 minutes at $150, with package options for ongoing work. If you have questions before your first session, call or text (614) 653-8111 for a free 15-minute consultation.

Sharon Hartnett, CST-D
Energy healer and craniosacral therapist, Barbara Brennan School of Healing graduate
Lighten Up Therapies, 6797 N High Street Ste 333, Worthington, Ohio 43085

Burnout is not laziness and it is not weakness. It is a nervous system that has been running on high alert for so long it has forgotten how to come down. People describe it as being tired but wired: exhausted all day, unable to rest at night, irritable, foggy, going through the motions, and quietly afraid that something is wrong with them. Nothing is wrong with you. Your system is doing exactly what it was built to do under sustained pressure; it just hasn't been given a reason to stop.

Much of my work as an energy healer in Worthington, serving Columbus, is with people in this state: nurses, teachers, caregivers, people running businesses or households or both. This post explains what burnout looks like from where I sit, and how energy work can help a nervous system remember how to switch off.

What Burnout Looks Like in the Body

By the time someone books a session, the signs are usually physical as well as emotional:

• Exhaustion that sleep doesn't fix, and sleep that is shallow or broken
• A jaw, neck, and shoulders that never fully let go
• Shallow breathing, held high in the chest
• Brain fog, trouble concentrating, forgetting simple things
• Feeling numb or detached, or crying easily over small things
• Getting sick more often, or digestive trouble that comes and goes
• A sense of dread about ordinary tasks

In the language of the nervous system, this is a person stuck between fight-or-flight and shutdown, cycling between the two without ever reaching rest-and-digest, the state where the body actually repairs itself.

Why Rest Alone Often Isn't Enough

People in burnout are usually told to rest. Many have tried. The problem is that a nervous system locked in high alert does not rest just because you lie down; it keeps scanning. A weekend off, or even a vacation, can leave someone feeling exactly as depleted on Monday. The system needs help finding the off switch, not just time.

How Energy Healing Helps

Energy work meets the nervous system where it is instead of asking it to think its way to calm. In the Brennan Healing Science tradition I trained in, burnout shows up as a field that is depleted and ungrounded at the same time: charge runs high and scattered in the upper body and head, and the lower body and legs are under-charged and disconnected. The work is to bring the charge down and in, and to rebuild from the ground up.

In practice a burnout session tends to include:

• Grounding first. Work with the feet, legs, and lower body, so the system has somewhere to land. Clients often feel their breath drop lower within the first few minutes.
• Settling the head and jaw. Light work around the head, often drawing on my craniosacral training, to help the constant mental running quiet down.
• Recharging the field. Burnout is a deficit. Part of the session is simply restoring energy so you have something to meet your week with.
• Letting the body finish what it's holding. Sometimes a long-held brace finally releases, with a deep sigh, a shake, tears, or a wave of warmth. We let that happen at your pace.

Sessions are 60 to 75 minutes. You stay fully clothed, usually lying on a treatment table. Many burnout clients fall into a deep rest during the session, sometimes the first real rest they have had in months. I describe what a session involves in more detail in how energy healing works, and sessions are also available by phone or video if getting to an office is one more thing you cannot face.

What Clients Notice

Experiences vary, and I make no promises. What people most often report after a few sessions is sleeping more deeply, a longer fuse, breathing that sits lower in the body without effort, and a sense of having more room inside. Several have told me the biggest change was noticing, for the first time in a long while, that they felt like themselves.

Burnout often has a loss underneath it: a role, a relationship, a version of life that ended. If that sounds familiar, I have written separately about energy healing for grief and loss.

Energy Work Alongside Everything Else

Burnout usually has real causes in a person's life, and energy healing does not change a job, a workload, or a family situation. It can give your nervous system enough ground and reserve to make those decisions from a steadier place. This is complementary care, and it sits well alongside therapy, medical care, and the practical changes you may need to make. If you are experiencing severe depression or thoughts of harming yourself, please contact your doctor or a crisis line first; energy work is not a substitute for that help.

Working With Me

I see clients at my office in Worthington, serving the Columbus area, and by phone or video anywhere in the United States and Canada. Sessions are $150, with package options for weekly support while you rebuild. Call or text (614) 653-8111 for a free 15-minute consultation; you don't need to have it all figured out before you call.

Sharon Hartnett, CST-D
Energy healer and craniosacral therapist, Barbara Brennan School of Healing graduate
Lighten Up Therapies, 6797 N High Street Ste 333, Worthington, Ohio 43085