Spiritual Healing with Children with Special Needs

Abstract

My purpose in writing this book is to share my observations and experi ences of giving spiritual healing, through the laying-on of hands, to some children and youngpeoplewhohavespecialeducational needs. I hopethat in doing so the possible benefits of offering spiritual healing to such ‘special children’ may befurther, and sensitively, explored by those whoare concerned with helping to alleviate their various disabilities and to reduce their inner frustrations, fears, and anxieties. I am not aware of any other publication which has specifically described giving spiritual healing to children and young people with special needs. From a certain point of view I see this book as a complement and sequel to myprevious volume,SpiritHealing, published in 2004, in which I attempted to examine spiritual healing from an anthroposophical per spective, and also included numerous practical examples of giving healing, mainly to adults. I did not, however, refer in Spirit Healing to my ongoing practice in offering healing to children with special needs, as I felt that this would go beyond the remit of what I wished to address at that time. That remit wasessentially to ask, and to try toanswer, theques tions: ‘Does spiritual healing work?’ and ‘How can we understand this form of healing?’ It is of course one thing to give spiritual healing to adults who ask for this, and who are also then able to tell the healer what they experience and, in particular, if they feel they have derived some benefit and help from it, and it is quite another thing to give healing to children and young peoplewithspecial needs whoareusually notableto verbally articulate their experiences. Instead of such direct verbal feedback, careful observation of how anindividual childis responding to receiving healing is called for as well as a very sensitive feeling and respect for the real, spiritual, being of the child.