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