Great Graduates from SWIHA, SWINA & SOY

Published Author. Massage Therapist. Teacher. Spiritual Coach. Aromatherapist. Clinical Nurse. Holistic Entrepreneur. These are just some of the many titles Marci Cagen can put on her resume. A graduate of SWIHA’s Massage Therapy program, Marci’s interest in massage therapy and holistic health stemmed from her years of experience as a clinical nurse, and grew into a business that extends beyond one or two holistic modalities.

“I originally enrolled at SWIHA while I was working as a clinical nurse at Phoenix Children’s Hospital so I could learn some alternative therapies that would support the patients I worked with,” Marci explains. “They were in so much pain, and I wanted to be able to offer healing modalities that would complement the medications they were prescribed, alleviating associated side effects, while offering support to the mind, body, spirit and emotions.” Marci’s interest in reflexology guided her to massage therapy, and multiple other healing modalities followed. Once she completed her massage therapy program, Marci felt she needed to leave her nursing career to “answer the call of my soul.” During her time studying at SWIHA, she learned how to embrace her spiritual healing gifts, and upon graduating, Marci began to create a life of helping others tap into their spiritual gifts.

A spiritual alchemist, Aubrey Mohandessi’s work centers around transforming people, helping them move forward and empowering them to be their best selves. While the term alchemy or alchemist is often associated with chemistry and metals, the action of transforming or transmuting is the same, whether it's mineral based or with people. Aubrey’s business, Aubrey Mohandessi Life Coaching & Spiritual Coaching, offers life coaching, spiritual counseling, hypnotherapy and toe reading to people looking to discover the deeper meanings of life and truths within themselves.

As a graduate of the online Mind-Body Transformational Psychology program at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA), Aubrey developed a vast amount of skills and tools that prepared her to bring her spiritual gifts out into the world. “Everything I’ve learned while enrolled at SWIHA helped me to develop my own business as well as broaden my understanding of what it means to live a well-balanced life mentally, physically and spiritually,” Aubrey says.

By Nancy Jackson, Online Exit and Placement Specialist

An environmental science major turned holistic entrepreneur, Julie Conway has an interesting story about what brought her to Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA). Her journey started before she even heard of SWIHA, when she had to drop out of college as an environmental science major due to a debilitating illness. “Healing became a full-time job,” Julie writes on her website. She had every intention of finishing her degree, however, months and then years passed, and she was still physically unable to return to school. Eventually she gained enough strength to take online courses, but soon found herself overwhelmed and dropped her classes. She prayed, asking “what now?” She was nearly floored when she heard “a voice tell me to do nothing, just heal.” It was a huge leap of faith for her to trust that voice, and to put her goals on hold. She prayed that when the time was right for her to continue her education she would know it.

Having experienced personal healing using alternative therapies similar to what is taught at SWIHA, Julie became interested in learning more about those therapies. Searching online for holistic psychology degrees, she discovered the Mind-Body Transformational Psychology Online degree offered at SWIHA. “I contacted the school and instantly loved its energy. I felt like this was the sign I had been waiting for so I enrolled and was taking classes only a few weeks later. It was an excellent decision that has truly provided so much transformation.”