SWIHA Blog

What if the path to your most aligned, empowered, and meaningful career could begin right where you are… from your living room, a local coffee shop, or even a quiet corner of nature?

At Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA), our Online Integrative Healing Arts Practitioner Diploma is designed to do just that: to help you heal yourself first, and then support others on their healing journeys, all while building a career rooted in purpose, flexibility, and deep fulfillment.

At some point in life, many of us feel a deep inner calling—a whisper that says, “There’s more for you out there.” For Paulette Brown, a retired police officer with a lifelong passion for helping others, that call came with a desire for a new beginning. She knew she wanted to live a more meaningful life, one aligned with spiritual purpose and healing service. That calling led her straight to Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA), where she enrolled in the Integrative Healing Arts Practitioner (IHAP) program with the dream of becoming a Spiritual Life Coach.

Have you ever stopped to consider how our thoughts, behaviors, and patterns of thinking impact our well-being and day-to-day lives? Does our mindset jeopardize our future, the way we view ourselves and others, or even the way we feel? What aspects of our past impact the way we think? Can we simply change the way we think to change our reality? Let’s take a closer look.

Have you ever felt a quiet nudge from within… an inner knowing that you’re here for something more?

In 2025, more people than ever are answering that nudge. They’re waking up to the truth that fulfillment doesn’t just come from financial success or status. It comes from alignment. From purpose. From spiritual connection.

The Integrative Healing Arts Practitioner (IHAP) program at SWIHA offers an online option for those who are passionate about healing and empowering others through spiritual practices, energy work, and holistic modalities. Within this program, students have the opportunity to choose one of three transformative paths: Advanced Professional Hypnotherapy & Life Coaching, Spiritual Coach & Healing Botanicals & Earth Ceremonies, and Spiritual Coach & End of Life Doula. Each of these paths provides students with valuable tools to build a meaningful business that aligns with their unique passions. Let’s explore these modalities and how they can be applied to a thriving business after graduation.

Before discovering Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA), Katie Carl was already practicing as a massage therapist—doing meaningful work, yet sensing there was something deeper calling to her. She felt the limitations of focusing solely on the physical body and knew true healing required more than just technique; it needed heart, intuition, and a space where the emotional and spiritual could be held just as tenderly as the physical. Drawn to SWIHA’s soul-honoring, holistic approach, Katie found not only a school - she found a sacred catalyst for transformation. What began as a desire to deepen her Massage practice became a powerful journey of purpose, authenticity, and the creation of a healing space where softness meets shadow. Her story is one of courage, clarity, and calling—read on to see how Katie is redefining what it means to be a healer.

When Adriana Mosqueda walked into the hypnotherapy clinic at SWIHA, she was a mother navigating the uncertainty of a paused nursing career, feeling lost in the aftermath of the pandemic. What she didn’t know was that her first hypnotherapy session would unlock a floodgate of healing, purpose, and transformation. That moment sparked a journey of self-discovery and spiritual awakening that ultimately led her to the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts—and to a calling that now allows her to help others release their own inner blocks. From client to now graduate of the Integrative Healing Arts Practitioner Diploma Program, Adriana’s story is a powerful reminder that sometimes, the path we didn’t plan leads us exactly where we’re meant to be.

Meet Shannon Hogan, a proud graduate of the Integrative Healing Arts Practitioner program at the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA). Once feeling lost and disconnected, Shannon found her true calling through holistic healing and the power of integrative wellness. A single transformative session with a client confirmed she was on the right path—and she hasn’t looked back since. Now ordained and running her own healing practice, Shannon blends Reiki, sound therapy, and aromatherapy to help others find balance, purpose, and peace. Her journey is one of passion, growth, and the profound impact of following your heart.

At the heart of every healer is a calling—a gentle nudge, a sudden synchronicity, or a deep inner knowing that there’s more to life than what we can see with our eyes. For Nicole Santoro, that calling was never a singular, dramatic event. Instead, it was a series of divine nudges—a trail of synchronicities marked by resonant goosebumps, repeating numbers, and perfectly-timed encounters that let her know she was exactly where she was meant to be.

At the heart of healing lies a deep calling—one that whispers quietly at first and then grows into a powerful roar that can no longer be ignored. For Allivia Easley, that calling became undeniable when she found her way to the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA). As a recent graduate of the Integrative Healing Arts Practitioner (IHAP) program, with specializations in Hypnotherapy and Healing Botanical & Earth Ceremony Facilitation, Allivia is on a journey of transformation—for herself and the collective.