A local Huntington business is offering alternative healing treatments for those in need of help, whether it be physically, mentally or spiritually.

“Being a psychic has a lot to do with energy and reading vibrations. It’s the act of receiving messages from a higher power, and is definitely intuitive,” said Jill Hughes, a holistic health practitioner at Light Touch Healing Arts in Huntington, West Virginia. “We all have intuitive abilities. The only difference between the average joe and a psychic is that we have learned to listen to energy and actually translate that into something that is understandable.”

Hughes worked 17 years for the state government as an office manager before she went through what she calls a “spiritual awakening,” prompting her to leave her job and offer healing of all kinds to those around her.

Her business, Light Touch Healing Arts, offers education and consultations on essential oils, reiki energy sessions and intuitive coaching. The business charges $60 for an hour session of reiki, and $100 for an hour of intuitive coaching, with free initial consultations for all services.

Preferring the term “lightworker,” which she says is someone who uses God’s light to help others, Hughes first started her practices through a Facebook group doing work for free, but soon her message reached beyond social media.

“I have done readings for people across all 50 states, and about 28 other countries, with no advertising, just through word of mouth,” Hughes said. “I didn’t even know that many countries knew English, but apparently they do.”

When asked if she has encountered skeptics while performing her services, Hughes said that overall most of her interactions with individuals have been positive.

“I understand being skeptical because there are people who do scams and things like that, which gives us light intuitives a bad name, but that just comes with the territory I guess,” Hughes said. “I’m never offended by it because there were many years before these abilities came to me that I was on the other side of the table, so I never judge anyone who is where I used to be.”

Light Touch Healing Arts is also focused on looking at how early holistic practices can be intertwined with modern advances in medicine.

“There have been hospitals all over the country who are starting to bring these treatments into their practices because they realize there is a benefit to it,” Hughes said. “We have actually been called by the veterans hospital, who are considering using oils in their practice there, and I know that even the Cleveland Clinic has begun offering reiki treatments.”

Hughes said she believes part of the reason these practices are not being used as frequently in the United States is due to the power of the pharmaceutical industry in the country.

“When you get talking to various individuals in medicine, most of them are not opposed to these treatments,” Hughes said. “It’s when you get into the “big pharma” perspective of things where you find the most criticism. Essential oils are tremendously cheaper and not as heavily regulated by the government, so I think the pharmaceutical companies are more against them than the actual doctors.”

In addition to this, Hughes also claims that doctors and nurses in the United States are not given proper training in regard to essential oils and various alternative treatments.

“They aren’t really trained that well in herbs and oils and how they affect the body, and there truly is a science to all of this,” she said.

Hughes said that her mission is not to convince anyone of her abilities, but to simply help those who come to her for help.

“Early on through the awakening I had, I realized that I did not have to prove anything to anyone; it’s not what the gifts are for, it’s not what we are here for and it’s not part of the plan,” Hughes said. “The plan is to help the people who need it, and the people who need it will come to us for help. I’m not in business to prove anything to anybody.”

Light Touch Healing Arts is located at 715 Third Avenue in Huntington and can also be reached through email at [email protected]. 

Blake Newhouse can be contacted at [email protected].