Step Inside the Healing Touch Program
“Healing begins with the courage to care - for ourselves, for others, and for the world around us.”
- Lisa Gordon, CEO Healing Touch Program
Healing Touch Program is a global leader in energy medicine education, founded on the belief that healing is a natural human capacity. For more than 30 years, our evidence-informed curriculum, professional standards, and supportive community have helped individuals develop the skills, confidence, and ethical foundation needed to bring healing into everyday life.
Our students and practitioners come from diverse backgrounds - healthcare, wellness, education, corporate, caregiving, and more - but they share one intention: to make a positive, heart-centered impact in their own lives and the lives of others.
Healing Touch is more than a modality. It’s a path of growth, compassion, and service - and we’re honored to walk that path with you.
The Energy Behind Our Mission
Because healing changes lives, and healers change the world. Everything we do is rooted in supporting the people who feel called to this work.
OUR VISION
A world where every person understands their innate ability to heal, grow, and thrive — mind, body, and spirit.
OUR MISSION
To make Healing Touch accessible everywhere healing happens — in homes, hospitals, classrooms, and communities — through compassionate education, professional excellence, and heart-centered practice.
OUR CORE VALUES
A community guided by heart, integrity, and a shared commitment to healing.
Healing Touch Program exists because of a legacy rooted in compassion, integrity, and service. These values shaped Janet Mentgen’s vision, and they continue to guide how we teach, support, and show up for our global Healing Touch community.
Our core values express who we are as an organization and the kind of healing community we aspire to cultivate. They reflect the qualities we hope to inspire in every student, practitioner, instructor, staff member, and partner who walks this path with us.
Dedication
We are devoted to advancing Healing Touch and supporting everyone who feels called to this work. We show up with commitment, consistency, and heart - dedicated to serving our community and honoring the legacy of our founder.
Integrity & Honesty
We believe transparency builds trust. We communicate clearly, act ethically, keep our promises, and take responsibility for the impact of our choices. Integrity is the foundation of safe, ethical, heart-centered healing.
Curiosity & Growth
We value learning - for ourselves and for our community. We encourage thoughtful questions, innovation, and exploration. We honor both evidence-informed knowledge and intuitive wisdom as essential parts of the healing journey.
“Just Do the Work”
Janet Mentgen’s favorite phrase still guides us today. It means showing up consistently, practicing with intention, and letting the healing process take shape without forcing it.
Heart-Centered Leadership
Leadership is a quality we cultivate in everyone: students, practitioners, instructors, and staff. We strive to inspire by example, uplift one another, protect our community, and model the values we teach in every interaction.
Joy, Fun & Positive Energy
Healing thrives in warmth, kindness, and joy. We bring playfulness, humor, optimism, and gratitude into our work. We celebrate each other, honor progress, and create spaces where people feel welcomed, encouraged, and energized.
Our Commitment
Healing Touch for All
Healing belongs to everyone.
We are committed to fostering a community where every person feels welcomed, respected, valued, and safe. We focus on the whole person and accept each person without judgement in our mission to cultivate a healing environment.
We strive to ensure that every learner and every client has access to compassionate, ethical, and respectful care.
Our Beginnings…
A legacy born from compassion, intuition, and the belief that healing belongs to everyone.
Healing Touch began in 1989 with Janet Mentgen, RN, BSN, an energetically sensitive nurse, whose passion was simple but profound: to strengthen the connection between nurses and their patients, and to bring compassionate, heart-centered care back into healthcare.
Throughout her 43-year nursing career, from the U.S. Navy to emergency rooms to home health, Janet witnessed firsthand the healing power of presence and gentle, intentional energetic touch. She saw that patients responded not only to medical interventions, but to the energetic support, comfort, and connection created through mindful care.
Driven by this insight, she began teaching her methods to nurses at Red Rocks Community College and integrating energy techniques into her clinical practice. Her pioneering work, along with her research and private practice, earned her the American Holistic Nurses Association’s Holistic Nurse of the Year Award in 1988.
By 1990, the American Holistic Nurses Association formally sponsored Janet’s Healing Touch program as a certificate program, and continuing education approval through the Colorado Nurses Association soon followed. In 1993, practitioner certification began, administered through AHNA, creating a clear professional path for those called to this work.
From the beginning, Healing Touch grew not because of marketing, but through grassroots networking, community connection, and heart-to-heart sharing. Early students frequently said the same thing: “I feel I have come home.” Healing Touch touched lives deeply, reducing pain, alleviating stress, renewing purpose, and creating meaning.
As interest grew, Janet founded The Colorado Center for Healing Touch (1993) to bring Healing Touch to a wider global community. A pivotal moment came in 1996 when AHNA and Janet mutually agreed to separate so each could follow its natural evolution - AHNA focusing on holistic nursing and Healing Touch expanding as an accessible energy-based modality for nurses, healthcare providers, and the public. From this transition, Janet founded Healing Touch International to become the certifying body for Healing Touch, ensuring the work could continue independently and grow globally.
She later established the Healing Touch Worldwide Foundation in 1997 to fund research, humanitarian projects, and support the growth of Healing Touch around the world. Within a few short years, Janet demonstrated that energy-based therapy and evidence-informed care could coexist, creating a more complete and compassionate approach to healing.
In 2005, Janet changed the legal name of the Colorado Center for Healing Touch to Healing Touch Program, recognizing the global expansion of Healing Touch in hospitals, communities, hospices, clinics, schools of nursing, and long-term care centers throughout North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Australia, Asia, and New Zealand. Later that same year, as Janet faced a breast cancer diagnosis, she began preparing her children to carry her work forward. Lisa, her youngest daughter, who had been part of the company since 1994, stepped into the role of CEO in September 2005 when Janet passed.
After her passing, Dr. Cynthia Hutchison began serving as Program Director and continued to expand Healing Touch education internationally until 2018, when she moved on to pursue her work in Body Prayer and Sacred Geometry. In the years that followed, Healing Touch Program continued to expand its reach and support structure. Energy Magazine was established in 2006 as a way to share education, research, practitioner stories, and inspiration with the wider energy-healing community.
In 2007, the Healing Touch Professional Association (HTPA) was founded to support students and practitioners with resources, networking, continuing education, and advocacy - strengthening the professional foundation Janet had envisioned. In 2009, HTPA expanded this support by establishing one of the first liability insurance programs specifically designed for Energy Healing practitioners, creating a new level of safety, professionalism, and legitimacy for the field.
In 2008, the certification process was moved to the Healing Touch Certification Board, whose purpose is to administer the Healing Touch certification process for Practitioners and Instructors.
Today, Janet’s legacy continues through thousands of Certified Practitioners, Instructors, students, and community members around the world who carry forward her belief: healing is possible, and every person has the capacity to support it.
Our Team
MEET THE PEOPLE BEHIND OUR COMPANY
We are here to guide, serve, and uplift our global Healing Touch community through every step of their healing and learning journey.
Lisa Gordon
CEO/Owner, Leadership Team Member
Lisa believes that Healing Touch, founded by her mother, Janet Mentgen, is a profound and significant gift to the world. Lisa is passionate about expanding, enhancing, and spreading this program. Her love lies in helping others to spread the work of Healing Touch to all. She is dedicated to awaken the idea of deliberate living, and to raise the vibration and quality of life worldwide through Healing Touch. Lisa began working with Janet in Healing Touch Program in 1993 and now as CEO continues to share her inner passion with everyone involved in helping to spread Healing Touch.
Chris Gordon
Strategic Manager/Owner, Leadership Team Member
Chris joined the Healing Touch Program team in 2008. Chris is the current Office Manager and Accountant, and is instrumental in handling the special projects that propel Healing Touch to new visibility and acceptance. Chris was the lead principle in the NCCA Accreditation for Healing Touch Program. He is also responsible for office systems, policies and procedures. Chris comes from an electrical engineering background and brings his skill of project planning, implementation and technical procedural writing to our organization.
Sue Walker
Education Director, Leadership Team Member
Sue has been part of the HTP team since 2010 and currently manages the Education Department. She is passionate about expanding access to Healing Touch within healthcare and the public. As a Healing Touch Certified Practitioner, Instructor, and Qualified Mentor, Sue brings both depth and experience to her work.
As Clinic Director for a nonprofit organization providing Healing Touch to veterans, she had the privilege of serving those who have served. Her background includes many years in corporate Information Technology, a degree in social work, and nonprofit experience, giving her a broad and unique perspective that enriches her leadership within HTP.
Ann Darmstetter
Director of Services, Leadership Team Member
Ann became part of the Healing Touch Program team in February 2010. Ann is the Certification Administrator who is responsible for handling all the certification packets, assisting with the Certification Panel, and is in charge of all notifications that involve the certification process. She is also our Insurance Administrator, responsible for processing applications, issuing reminders and generating certificates of insurance. Ann is also in charge of HTPA membership. She can assist you in joining or renewing your membership or making changes to your account. She is responsible for the reminder letters and membership kits. Her background is in education and wellness. She has lived in San Antonio since 1991 and stays busy with her two children, Devyn and Dylan.
Jeannette Nienaber
Instructor Manager
Jeannette brings a rich and diverse background in both education and energy medicine. With over thirty-five years of experience as a teacher, athletics coach, and educational consultant, she has dedicated her life to helping others learn and grow. Naturally energy-sensitive, Jeannette’s passion for energy work was ignited nearly twenty years ago when she took her first Level 1 Healing Touch class. She has been a Certified Healing Touch Practitioner and Instructor (HTCP/I) for more than a decade and currently teaches Healing Touch Levels 1, 2, and 3, and the Anatomy for Healers® classes.
Ellen LaDieu
Accredited Provider Program Director
Ellen is a Registered Nurse, Advanced Holistic Nurse–Board Certified, Healing Touch Certified Practitioner, and Qualified Mentor. She brings decades of experience as a direct caregiver, nurse manager, and nurse educator, including over thirty years in collegiate nursing education and staff development. Ellen holds a Master of Science degree and currently serves as the HTP Accredited Provider Program Director (AP-PD), supporting class development and educational quality.
Ellen has worked with the New York State Nurses Association and currently collaborates with the American Holistic Nurses Association to develop and review nursing continuing professional development programs in alignment with American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) criteria.
Certified in Healing Touch since 2002, Ellen has primarily shared Healing Touch through hospital volunteer work and with nursing students. Her goal is to help those studying Healing Touch deepen their learning and enhance patient and client care through ANCC-associated professional development opportunities.
JoAnne Veith
Integrative Care Program Manager
JoAnne is a Registered Nurse, and a Healing Touch Certified Practitioner and Instructor. She has experience in both long-term care and rehabilitation nursing. JoAnne enjoyed a long career with the New York State Department of Health as a nurse auditor investigating Medicaid fraud and overseeing regulatory processes, quality assurance and risk management. She was the Director for the Center for Complementary Therapies at St. Mary’s Hospital in Amsterdam, NY and currently works part-time in a local hospital as an Integrative Care Coordinator providing Healing Touch treatment to Cancer patients and their families. JoAnne also maintains a private practice in Upstate New York. JoAnne is passionate about bringing Healing Touch and integrative care into mainstream healthcare.
Jennifer Lane
Class Manager
Jennifer is the HTP Class Manager. She manages class planning and logistics. She is the mother of two daughters, shares her life with an exceptionally cool canine, is an avid foodie who loves exploring the local farmers’ markets, and when you cannot find her there she is often found at museums or places of rich history. Jennifer brings a myriad of skills and believes strongly in the power of each individual and how it can affect everyone, therefore each day is a new chance to improve oneself and let go of yesterday’s shortcomings.
Jeanine Weise
Client Services Administrator
Jeanine joined the HTP team in 2023. As an avid barefooter and energy worker, Jeanine is passionate about connecting people and planet. With many years of experience in administrative services, she looks forward to working with students, instructors, coordinators, and the HTP community to grow and share Healing Touch with the world.
Jeanine spends as much time in nature as possible, and may often be found with a camera in hand trying to get that perfect shot! She lives to travel, especially to National Parks and anywhere with her family. She is blessed to be the mother of two great children, Janessa and Logan.
Walle Adams
Lead Mentor
Walle is the HTP Lead Mentor. She is a Healing Touch Certified Practitioner and Instructor, Qualified Mentor (QM) and active nurse. Walle was instrumental in designing and implementing the Healing Touch program at Nemours Children's Hospital in Wilmington, DE. She also serves as a QM and has an active mentoring program with mentees from coast to coast! Walle is proud to be part of the national Healing Touch Certification Review Panel, and serves as Chairperson for the HT Certification Governing Committee which establishes certification policies and procedures. She instructs HT Levels 1 through 5, Advanced Practice 1 and 2, and the Mentor Training. Walle loves sharing her energy and Healing Touch throughout the state of Delaware and beyond!
RaNae Wright
Ethics Advisor
RaNae Wright, Founder of Health Essentials Resources and Solutions, is a seasoned healthcare executive, consultant, and Healing Touch Certified Practitioner with over 30 years of healthcare leadership experience. She also serves as Vice President of the Healing Touch Worldwide Foundation and Ethics Advisor for the Healing Touch Program.
She specializes in creating hospital-based energy therapy volunteer programs to expand healing touch worldwide. She provides research, education, consulting and training to ensure all have access to the benefits of healing touch. Her Calling is to expand energy work globally to promote well-being and create space and opportunity for healing to thrive where all are empowered on their journey to optimal health.
Dora Lendvai
Research Advisor
Dr. Dora Lendvai is a second-degree nursing professional who has dedicated 14 years to serving veterans through the Veterans Administration in diverse roles including study coordinator, research nurse, and nurse facilitator. Her clinical and research expertise spans cardiovascular and metabolic disease management, substance use disorder, trauma and PTSD, chronic pain, and women’s health. A strong advocate for holistic patient care, Dr. Lendvai began studying Healing Touch in 2012 and became a Healing Touch Practitioner in 2025. In August 2023, she established two Healing Touch clinics at VA Connecticut, which have been well-received by staff and are in high demand among veterans. Committed to advancing integrative health approaches, Dr. Lendvai aims to expand the scientific foundation of biofield therapies like Healing Touch through rigorous scholarly investigation.
Nancy Lester
Curriculum Review Board Member
Nancy Lester, BSPA, HTCP/I, LMT brings to her work over 35 years of nursing experience, including trauma and critical care, hospice, home health, rehabilitation, and administration. She became certified in Holistic Nursing, Healing Touch and Therapeutic Massage in 1995, Founding Healing Arts, Inc. Nancy continues in private practice using her holistic nursing background providing Healing Touch, and Therapeutic Massage. She is a member of HTPA and a HTCI since 1998. She served on the Ethics Committee for the Healing Touch Program including vice chair and chair. Nancy teaches Anatomy for Healers Level 1, is a qualified mentor, teaches Healing Touch Levels 1-5 and is co-lead instructor for Levels 4/5.
Jean Pruett
Curriculum Review Board Member
Jean is a Charter Member of the Healing Touch Program Association (HTPA); Pastoral Psychotherapist; Healing Touch Certified Practitioner and Instructor, a Qualified Mentor; and Retired Administrative Staff Chaplain and Healing Touch Specialist from Carolinas HealthCare System. Jean holds a B.A. in Sociology from Winthrop University, an M.R.E. in Education and Social Work from New Orleans Theological Seminary, a M.Div. in Theology from Erskine Theological Seminary, and a D.Min. in Marriage and Family Studies from Erskine Theological Seminary. Jean currently has a private practice and teaches Levels 1-5 of Healing Touch at every opportunity.
Donna Ackerman
Curriculum Review Board Member
Donna is a Holistic Nurse – Board Certified and also holds certification as a Hospice and Palliative Nurse. She is a HTCP/I with over 23 years of energy medicine experience. Donna teaches Healing Touch Levels 1, 2, 3, and 6, and serves as a Supervising Instructor. She also serves on the HTWF Scholarship Committee. Donna is trained in Integrative Reflexology, Myofascial Release, Cranio-Sacral, Vibrational Sound Therapy and is a Mindfulness Meditation Teacher. She has a passion for incorporating energy medicine therapies as an integrative approach in conjunction with traditional medicine and holistic care. One of her greatest joys is to bring light to the world through teaching and sharing the gifts of energy medicine practices.
Christine Salas
HTPA Community Director
Christine has been the HTPA Community Director since April 2021. Christine is passionate about nurturing others to bring their best and brightest self forward and aspires to amplify the healing in this world through facilitating connection and support for Healing Touch students, mentees, and professionals. Christine currently lives in Portland, Oregon and enjoys spending time in nature with her family including hiking, gardening, and camping.
Anya Charles
Energy Magazine Editor-in-Chief
Anya was brought up in a home that put an emphasis on health and wellness, mixed with the cultural teachings of meditation and Ayurveda from her Indian heritage, the importance of well-being took root. Anya worked in the holistic health world for over six years. In this time, she expanded her knowledge about the vast, inspiring field, and often found herself leading loved ones to overcome their own health challenges. Anya is a passionate storyteller and an advocate for sharing insight and wisdom that bring happiness and healing. Needless to say, she is honored to be a part of the Energy Magazine team. Anya looks forward to serving this community with professionalism, integrity, and a little bit of fun!
Raymond Gordon
Store Manager
Raymond joined HTP in 2016 as our store manager. He manages our inventory and handles all the shipping and receiving for HTP. Raymond has a passion for building and flying model airplanes, programing video games, and has a black-belt in Taekwondo. Raymond is proudly supporting the family business.
Billy Courtney
Graphic Designer
Billy joined the Healing Touch Program office staff when the office moved to San Antonio in 2009. Billy was on the original team that founded and developed Energy Magazine in 2006. Her background in graphic design allows her to create beauty in everything she touches. Billy is responsible for the HTP regional conference logos, design, and layout of the HTP notebooks and other class room materials. Her touch is apparent on all of the HTP publications. ~ Billy believes that Healing Touch is changing the world!