Young Oak Park healer maps out college and career

HEALING HANDS- Katie Pedeflous, second from right, is surrounded by associates. From left, Audrey Philpot, host of "The Naked Salon"; Andreea Petruse, light resonance practitioner; Cory Herter, creator of L.O.V.E. Technologies; Pedeflous; and Mark Appleman, co-host of "The Naked Salon." Katie Pedeflous, 18, has had an inkling of what her life's calling would be since she was 4 years old. Pedeflous, a holistic healer, said that when she was in preschool she would heal herself through light energy.

"(Whenever) I was sick, I would imagine white light and, the next day, whatever I had would be gone," Pedeflous said.

By sixth grade Pedeflous had begun a regimen of yoga, and by the age of 14 she'd launched a course of study with a healer's group in Sedona, Ariz. She graduated from the advanced program a year later with the distinction of being the youngest healer ever to complete it.

Set to graduate from Oak Park High School today, Pedeflous has gotten another leg up on her career by working with the Healing Tree in Thousand Oaks as a "quantum energetic healer."

Quantum energetic healing is therapeutic because "it is the essence of everything," Pedeflous said, clarifying that her techniques are not based in religion. Quantum healing is a holistic approach to balancing the body, mind and spirit, according to experts.

"Once you change your perspective from an energetic perspective things change instantly," Pedeflous said. She said the natural methods improve many facets of life, reducing stress and boosting spiritual, emotional, physical and mental awareness and wellbeing in order to reach goals.

"Everything becomes one, and that unity creates endless possibilities," she said.

Pedeflous has been trained in several holistic healing methods. "Chi gong" allows the practioner to receive "universal energy" within her body and transmit it to others, she said. Much of Pedeflous' therapeutic techniques involve "bodywork," a term used by holistic healers to explain how energy travels through "meridians" and "chakras," channels within the body. Bodywork leads to overall wellness.

Quantum healing takes the view that everything is energy and is separate from the physical reality.

Pedeflous hopes to build her clientele in the healing arts while attending the International Professional School of Bodywork in San Diego. She is certified in the field but upon graduation will be licensed as a holistic healthcare practitioner.

Pedeflous has been so successful in the field that she was selected for an interview on "The Naked Salon," a live Internet program on GotWebTV.com. She also periodically hosts lectures at the Healing Tree, extolling the virtues of holistic healthcare over traditional medicine.

Noel Philpot, a 62-year-old Agoura Hills resident, was "amazed" at how quickly Pedeflous' therapy cured his migraine headaches, which he'd experienced for many years. Within two sessions the migraines ceased, he said.

"I don't suffer from them anymore because she healed them," Philpot said. He said she has a way of unblocking old patterns to create new paths to wellness. "She's an amazing young woman- she's just been a savior."