Vancouver Energy Healing
ABOUT
Hi, I'm Mara Hägglund
I do this work because I believe that healing begins when we feel truly seen, safe, and supported. Holding space for others to reconnect with themselves—especially after trauma or burnout—is both a calling and an honour. As a former faculty member in Langara College’s Holistic Health Studies, I bring depth, compassion, and professional integrity to every session. I am a Certified Advanced Integrative Energy Healing practitioner and instructor. Additionally, I have certification in Transformative Wholistic Reintegration, Somatic and Trauma-Based Integrative Energy Healing, and over 14 years of experience supporting women and men through profound inner transformation. I was honoured with the Alexandra Marlene Integrative Energy Healing Scholarship for excellence in practice and contribution to healing education.
"I’ve been listening to energy since childhood—where presence is medicine, and the unseen is held with care."
—Mara
When I was a child, my sisters and I grew up near a mental health hospital where my mother was a psychiatric nurse for forty-two years. The experience planted the seeds for my healing work, teaching me that deep empathy, spiritual connection, and simple presence are at the heart of true healing.
I still remember the feeling of being on the grounds with the turn-of-the-century buildings. The energy was thick—layered with stories, sorrow, and silent prayers that still echo through the trees.
Even before then, as a young child, I could sense what others couldn’t—subtle shifts in energy, the presence of spirits. I didn’t have the language for it at the time, but I would often sit with animals in the neighbourhood, placing my hands on them in a heart-centred way when they were hurt or anxious. I just wanted them to feel safe, to feel loved.
Family's of staff would often attend hospital events and mingle with patients. One time, I remember a patient, in the hallway, a woman—time-worn, soft-eyed—looked straight at me, as though she could see right into me. And in that gaze, I felt a strange sense of recognition, like something in her reflected something in me. It stayed with me for years.
Mara Hagglund, Auroville, Southern India Internship
At times, I wondered if, as I grew into a teenager, I might find myself in a place like Riverview—not because I was afraid, but because I felt how easily our worlds could overlap. The line between “them” and “me” never felt fixed. There was no pretense in her presence. No need to say the right thing. Just raw humanity, meeting mine. And in that moment, I felt the veil between our minds dissolve.
It taught me about the strength in vulnerability. The wisdom in unconventional minds. The urgency of compassion. It reminded me that helping isn’t about fixing. It's about presence.
MY ENERGETIC JOURNEY
Early Roots in the Subtle and Sacred
My interest in esoteric knowledge—spiritualism, divination, and the occult sciences—began in childhood. I was fortunate to have access to a family library, where I spent countless hours exploring these subjects and talking with my mom who also was sensitive to energy. Experiences like psychic games, astral travel and other energetic encounters felt natural to me—part of a quiet, intuitive world I moved through without question. It was much later in life that I began to refine my healing art with formal training.
Academic Foundations in Integrative Energy Healing
I began my professional path in Langara College’s 3-year Integrative Energy Healing™ (IEH) Certificate Program—an academically rigorous and clinically grounded curriculum, the first of its kind in Canada. I had the privilege of studying under Linda Turner, RN, PhD, Director of Holistic Health Studies and co-founder of the program, and Melinda Conner, D.D., Ph.D., AMP, FAM. In addition, I had the privilege of studying a certificate course, Wholistic Health Easily & Effectively with Daniel Benor, MD. At the end of the first year, my dedication to the work was recognized with an award for contributions to education and excellence.
In my 'second year', the program evolved into the 2-year, Advanced Integrative Energy Healing™ (AIEH) Certificate Program, incorporating a specialization in Somatic and Trauma-based Integrative Energy Healing under Ruth Lamb, RN, MScN, BHS, PhD., the program coordinator and co-founder, and Melinda Conner, D.D., Ph.D., AMP, FAM. It was during my third and final year that two fellow students and I collaborated on a comprehensive nine-month project in partnership with Vancouver Coastal Health focused on eating disorder (ED) recovery. This initiative marked the first time patients in their program received energy healing as part of their care.
AIEH treatments were provided to outpatients in a qualitative study involving case studies, interviews, charting, and client feedback. Twenty-one clients were referred through the ED program to participate in AIEH clinics, highlighting the growing recognition of energy healing in this area. The outcomes showed significant improvements in clients’ stress and anxiety levels. I later presented the findings at the Wellspring Conference at St. Paul’s Hospital. This success led to further collaboration with ED clinics in Vancouver (2012–2017).
Clinical and Teaching Experience
After graduating from the Advanced Integrative Energy Healing™ program, I apprenticed with Dr. Ruth Lamb (RN, MScN, PhD), Holistic Health Studies, Langara College. During this time, I was invited to participate in a nine-month field research initiative in partnership with Fraser Health Authority. Our focus was on supporting forensic nurses in an acute care hospital—those working closely with trauma survivors—through the use of Advanced Integrative Energy Healing. The aim was to address front-line caring professionals at risk for vicarious trauma and stress in high-pressure environments to attain personal resilience and connection to purpose.
This important work contributed to the development of the Strategic Resilience for First Responders (SRFR) program, offering frontline healthcare professionals practical, integrative tools for healing and regulation. The following year, SRFR was licensed by educational institutions in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. A parallel student internship helped shape a culturally responsive adaptation: Strategic Resilience for First Nations Communities (SRFNC), which respectfully incorporated traditional Indigenous beliefs and healing frameworks.
This journey laid the foundation for my seven-year tenure as faculty and lead instructor in the Holistic Health Studies Department at Langara College. There, I taught, mentored, and clinically supervised student practitioners in the Intensive Integrative Energy Healing and Advanced Integrative Energy Healing™ Programs, supporting experiential learning and helping to bridge evidence-informed clinical care with trauma-sensitive, heart-centered healing practices. During this time, I was also being trained to step into a leadership role as Clinical Coordinator—later renamed Program Coordinator—before the program was unexpectedly closed due to the pandemic. The closure was a profound loss, but it deepened my commitment to the integrity and future of this work. In response, I took initiative to organize and lead a dedicated team of certified practitioners to continue the Integrative Energy Healing™ (IEH) volunteer clinic program at Pacifica Treatment Centre, ensuring the lineage of healing and service would not be lost (since 1998). As Pacifica shared, “our community members greatly benefit from the holistic approach to wellness that IEH brings and thus stimulate their own body’s natural resources for transformative healing.”
ENERGY WORK HIGHLIGHTS
Dec 2020 - current - Volunteer: Currently runs a weekly Integrative Energy Healing volunteer energy healing wellness clinic at a local treatment centre in Vancouver, Canada.
Dec 2020- Award: Recognition for 6 years of service. Received the 5-year Milestone award, Langara College.
Sep 2016 - Clinical Supervisor: Ran an energy-based student wellness clinic for mental health program staff at St Paul's Hospital.
Oct 2015 - Presentation: "Using Integrative Energy Healing—Somatic Approaches to Healing Trauma", Integrative Energy Healing Program, Langara College.
2014 - Abstract: "Overcoming Eating Disorders Utilizing Advanced Integrative Energy Healing," Mara Hagglund and Vera Lagasse. 4th Biennial EDAC-ATAC Conference, “Innovation and Integration in Eating Disorders
Oct 2014 - Presentation: "Using Integrative Energy Healing—Somatic Approaches to Healing Trauma", Integrative Energy Program, Langara College.
Sep 2013 - Research intern: Working under Ruth Lamb, Ph.D., a research project at Surrey Memorial acute care hospital, providing nine months of Advanced Integrative Energy Healing for the forensic examiner team, treating vicarious trauma and stress management.
Oct 2013 - Poster Presentation "Encounters with Trauma, Hope, and Healing", Wellspring Conference, Vancouver, B.C. Jun 2013 - Apprenticeship: Teacher's assistant and unofficial faculty, in the Integrative Energy Healing™ Program, working with program coordinator, Dr. Ruth Lamb (RN, MScN, PhD), Holistic Health Studies, Langara College.
Oct 2012- Jun 2013 - Volunteer: Advanced Integrative Energy Healing student practitioner at Pacifica Treatment Centre, BC Women's Hospital, Friends for Life Society, Zoomer Show, Vancouver Coastal Health, and Fraser Health Eating Disorders programs.
Feb 2013 - Energy Healing Volunteer: One World Service–Tamil village women, Pondicherry, Southern India.
Jan 2013 - International Internship: 3-month, Biofield practicum teaching women and youth, Auroville, Tamil Nadu, Southern India.
Oct 2011- Jun 2012 - Volunteer: Advanced Integrative Energy Healing student practitioner at Pacifica Treatment Centre, BC Women's Hospital, Friends for Life Society, Zoomer Show.
Jul 2011 - Award: The Alexandra Marlene Integrative Energy Healing Scholarship for demonstrating outstanding practice and the principles of Integrative Energy Healing, and has contributed to the growth and learning of fellow students.
Oct 2010 - Jun 2011 - Volunteer: Integrative Energy Healing student practitioner at Pacifica Treatment Centre, BC Women's Hospital, Friends for Life Society, Zoomer Show.
