Shamanic healing – Services include retrieval of power animals or allies, transfer of power, extraction of spiritual intrusion (this is not depossession), soul retrieval, divination, psychopomp, which is assistance with death and dying. My training and methods are based in Core Shamanism, as taught by the Foundation for Shamanic Studies. Core shamanism is a substance free experience for both the practitioner and client. People might wonder, or question the integrity, of an allopathic trained psychiatrist, trained at an institution built on an incredibly solid reputation in psychopharmacology, for pursuing this path. Hear is why:
When I was eight years old, I first asked my mom if I could be a shaman and was told that wasn’t possible. Of course not, you don’t belong to a tribe, Kerri! This was after I learned about my grandmother, Winona Chamberlain, of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, and the Kanienʼkehá꞉ka (Mohawk Nation), who married my grandfather, John Chamberlain, in 1783 in Vermont. This is eight generations back in my heritage, but my family has cherished, not banished, this vital part of our history. I started reading encyclopedias and checking out books during our twice a month trips to the town library about the Iroquois, the name that I was taught at the time. This time in my life also coincided with health problems beginning, including severe allergies, rashes, wearing glasses, missing weeks of school due to pneumonia, and vomiting attacks at school that were blamed on anxiety. Interesting if only coincidental.
Brains became cool to me in middle school, so I subscribed to Psychology Today in 7th grade. At that time, I thought maybe I would become a neurosurgeon and FIX brains. But the more I read, I kept my interest in psychobiology, and majored in that in college, with the plan to practice medicine. When I was told psychiatrists would just prescribe meds all day, and not really help patients FIX problems, I decided I would pursue Ob/Gyn, because I have always been aligned with treating women and children, and admittedly, they do a LOT of Psychiatry, whether they want to or not. It didn’t really resonate with me; I just didn’t love it when I rotated there. Amazingly, my next rotation was in Psychiatry, and within a week my rotations and advisers were all moved over to where I belonged. Training continued, then moonlighting in rural Iowa, then serving rural Iowa as a part of the National Health Service Corp, then moving into private practice at Cedar Centre Psychiatric Group, and finally my solo practive, Vitality Psychiatry, P.C. Psychiatric work is still in part medication management, but lifestyle and alternative treatments, all supported by data, had started entering my practice after moonlighting and residency were complete in 2002. Nothing too on the fringe, like Omega 3, SAMe, St. John’s Wort, light therapy, then other herbs that are Rx in other countries but OTC here, and simple strategies to optimize sleep wake cycling without meds. Then I added extensive training working with the unconsious using energy psychology and hypnotherapy and other amazing methods. I still greatly enjoy part of my week in a lifestyle supported psychiatric practice.
But health issues continued: viral and bacterial infections, a year of bedrest from an antibiotic reaction, inflammation, hormonal issues, weight fluctuations just kept piling up. Add to these two parents in our family having and since dying of cancer. I was already trained in Functional Medicine at this point (put the oxygen on yourself first, right?) and my husband had learned multiple specific types of diets (SCD, Paleo, AIP, WFPBD, Wahls, etc.) to each bring to the table a level of relief for me, and then family members. I would get better, then a new thing would kick in (like Lyme, or EBV, or COVID), and while struggling with a goiter, it finally dawned on me: I need to start Core Shamanism training. I had looked at it and tossed it around for years. But now it was time. So, in 2018, I started my training, and progressed rapidly, bring rapid relief from chronic and acute conditions for clients, building my spirit helper connections, and for those dying, guiding them and their family before, during, and after they have passed. Yes, I had to learn to use this on my family first, and this was NOT something they took to out of anything but necessity. This kind of woo woo was not in their wheelhouse, before they experienced the benefits firsthand.
Unknown to me previously, I had always had an ability to sense the divine but didn’t know what it was. Both my parents have always been easily tearful, especially related to talking of those who have passed on, and both have strong faiths. I resented that easy tearfulness, because I got a big dose of it. I stopped attending funerals at all for over 20 years. It was too much to go into churches, Even practicing for cross country by running through or near a cemetery I would find myself crying. I even took an antidepressant for 17 years because I couldn’t be side swiped by the tears during an emotionally charged session with a patient. It wasn’t until I started Healing Touch training that I could recognize what I was seeing were angels along with all the dogs and animals connected to me during this life joining me when I would work with clients, that I finally understood where the tears came from. They were beautiful and power filled tears after all. The tears are much better controlled now, but they return while I am doing Healing Touch or Core Shamanism, or psychopomping a spirit (roadkill, a pet, or a human, a plant), and sometimes as a client has an emotional tearful release in coaching. And they are my spirit’s response to the divine.
So here I am, part of my life I wear my medical doctor hat, prescribing and making treatment recommendations. Part of my life is also non-medical care, working with clients as a core shamanic practitioner, an entirely spiritual practice where spirit helpers (think benevolent, loving spirits such as angels, animals, plants, ancestors, ascended masters, teachers) work through me (either in person or from a distance) to address spiritual aspects of whatever concern you are bringing to the table. If work is done in person, light touch over your fully clothed body may be necessary. You would typically relax on a massage table during the session. In a distance session you would be resting comfortably in your location, being open to letting go of that which is no longer serving you, as well as being open to restoration and empowerment of your spirit. A belief that you may benefit is all that is required, no specific faith or religion required. Since core shamanism is thought to go back in human history as far as 100,000 years, and there is a logical belief that we have all descended from tribes and groups of people who used this method to treat dis-ease of any type. This is hard to prove as this has been, and currently is, an oral tradition, taught exclusively experientially, however it is established that shamanic history is found in my German, Welsh, English, Norwegian, and Swedish background as well.
Session lengths and fees are as follows. Please check our specials page for package discounts:
50 min (60 minute time slot) $155
80 min (90 minute time slot) $195
Please call 866-425-8066, option 2 for a free 15 minute consultation to determine how our office can best support your goals.
* Please note
Although Kerri Husman is a licensed physician in the State of Iowa, she only offers her services as a Shamanic and Healing Touch Practitioner and Health Coach through Mammoth Hills Coaching & Wellness, LLC and her services are not part of her medical practice. She will not advise, diagnose, treat, or manage your medical conditions or psychological disorders. Dr. Husman provides psychiatric care and psychotherapy in a separate practice at Vitality Psychiatry, P.C. If you are a resident of Iowa and interested in Dr. Husman’s psychiatric/psychotherapy services, you can call Eastwind Healing Center to schedule at 319-337-3313. She does not provide services to past, present, or future psychiatric patients at her healing practice or vice versa, and will refer out to individuals she knows and trusts, from either practice, as the need arises.