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Dear NHI,
I attended NHI from October 1988 to June 1989 and was part of Group 9. Before and after graduation, I worked at the Oakland Athletic Club on Webster St. in downtown Oakland until October '89 and then was hired on the spot at Caesars Tahoe where I worked until 1992. After that I had predominantly private clients and worked for various chiropractors, etc. Sixteen years later I still do 3-4 massages a month for clients. NHI was the source of my becoming a healer, and I have since gone on to obtain my B.Sc. degree in Alcohol and Drug Abuse Studies with a minor in Disaster and Trauma Psychology at the University of South Dakota. After my degree I applied and was accepted into The Wright Institute in Berkeley pursuing a doctorate in clinical psychology. I am about to start my 2nd Year there. I am writing my dissertation on Somatic Psychotherapy in an American Indian population, doing research on the Rez back home in South Dakota.
NHI was instrumental and seminal in my path to where I am presently and for the rest of my life. I was headed to law school, and probably would have ended up rich and very unhappy. It taught me to sense, to listen, to be empathic, to observe the somatic and energetic aspects of a client/patient. Although these skills are not specifically taught in traditional Western Psychology, they are coming in very handy in my clinical work now working in my Native community at The Native American Health Center (Oakland) and American Indian Friendship House (San Francisco). Needless to say, it will also be important later as a clinical psychologist working back home on the Rez.
I remember the flexibility of NHI to listen to our noisy and garroulous class as we did our best to improve and change the school. It changed us for the better, I know that and I would not change the philosophy of that training, "To Have Work You Love", the best basic training in this country.
Thank you NHI!
Ken Chiancone
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