Thursday, 14 May 2020 09:45

How Laura Snyder Became a Healer... In Every Sense of the Word

By Ann Hauprich | News

Laura Snyder’s wardrobe does NOT include any t-shirts imprinted with the words “I help bodies – and spirits – grow stronger in broken places.”

But perhaps it should!

from debilitating accidents and/or orthopedic surgeries -- Snyder has assisted during her 26 years as a Physical Therapist (PT). The array of braces, canes, crutches, walkers and wheelchairs she has seen supporting new arrivals at LaMarco Physical Therapy, PC in Saratoga Springs could easily fill a prop room for a major motion picture about Lourdes. But one needn’t rely upon faith to believe healings are taking place as painstakingly achieved restorative progress can typically be seen in improved flexibility and mobility. Sometimes it can also be measured (quite literally by degrees) and/or documented via medical imaging devices. 

On the other hand, are those who seek out Snyder’s services as a Healing Touch Certified Practitioner (HTCP). Although the “breaks” and “blockages” that lead such souls to her private practice are rarely the kind that show up on x-rays, ultrasounds, CT scans or MRIs, the suffering linked to them is very real indeed. Whether mourning a personal loss or battling post-operative pains, Snyder can genuinely empathize as she strives to holistically restore balance and harmony in the human energy system, placing the client in a position to self-heal.

The therapeutic scents and sounds that fill the sanctuary where Healing Touch sessions unfold contrast sharply with the sweat and tears that occasionally accompany PT sessions during which temporary pain must be endured in the interest of long-term fitness and function. Those who protest PT regimens with arguments like ‘It’s easy for you … you don’t know what I’m going through’ would, in fact, be hard-pressed to find another health care provider whose medical history includes a broken jaw, a knee that required an orthopedic surgery and several abdominal operations.

“The first real test of how tough I was came at age 21 when I broke my jaw in two places while playing soccer during my senior year at Springfield College in Massachusetts,” recalls Snyder. “It took six months for my jaw to fully recover, starting with having my mouth wired shut for eight weeks with hardware that resembled a horseshoe with hooks and wires as well as 30 or so rubber bands that pulled the jaw in the direction necessary to realign it at the front and sides. All nourishment came via a liquid diet.” Although she had been an athlete her whole life and suffered her share of sports injuries, the broken jaw was different. “I often say it was far more painful to repair the broken jaw than to break it,” muses Snyder, who succeeded in earning degrees in Health Fitness/Athletic Training from Springfield in 1986 before receiving her Physical Therapy degree from Russell Sage in 1993.

It was while recovering from her broken jaw that Snyder first resolved to test a theory she had, about self-directed pain control and healing. “They couldn’t put me under anesthesia while wiring my mouth shut and so 30-something injections were administered during the process. Now THAT was torture! When the time came to cut the wires and remove the braces, I resolved to use the power of my own mind to get through the procedure without any numbing injections. I put myself into a meditative state and visualized a positive outcome.”

Memories of that experience ultimately catapulted Snyder to her current two-pronged career path. “Being a Physical Therapist and a Healing Touch Certified Practitioner may seem worlds apart, but both involve helping people heal,” muses Snyder, who has long modeled the truth of adages like “Doing a good deed is a good feeling.”

“I feel fortunate both in my work at LaMarco, PC (on Geyser Road in Ballston Spa) and in my private practice (in the former Benedict Memorial Hospital on nearby Rowland Street) to feel as if I’m doing good deeds all day long,” she beams. 

And while she’d never wish to endure “the second test of how tough I was” a second time, Snyder believes the anguish she endured just prior to and following the births of her now college-aged sons, Garrett and Kason, strengthened her own powers of self-healing and the empathy she has for others. 

 “Although I’m a very private person, I’m also intuitive by nature and I do occasionally share lessons learned from my own personal health challenges with clients when I feel they may be helped by the experience,” reflects Snyder. This includes not only the broken jaw, but also a series of abdominal surgeries she endured and the resulting sometimes debilitating “Phantom Pains” that lingered during the years when her sons were preschoolers. (One needn’t suffer the amputation of a limb to experience such suffering, as nerves severed during accidents and/or during surgical procedures, often continue to perceive the pain and send related messages to the brain.)

“It was during the 1990s that I learned to appreciate with certainty that no two individuals experience pain in precisely the same way and that no two patients can ever be treated in precisely the same way. Perhaps most important, I also discovered through my own wellness journey that if a pain is real to a patient, then it is real enough to require the attention of a health care practitioner, even if the source of the pain isn’t visible. The most important thing is to listen, really listen.”

Snyder awards credit to schoolteacher husband Rick (with whom she tied the knot three decades ago) and her parents Jeanne and Vic Ferrante (both now retired educators), with being the wind beneath her wings. The support of these family members also proved to be a blessing following an orthopedic surgery in 2008. By this time, Snyder had added the initials HTCP to her credentials.

Both vocational paths served Snyder well while preparing her body, mind and spirit for – and following – the orthopedic surgery, which entailed weeks of long and arduous PT sessions, to repair and restore function of her right knee. “It was a very complicated procedure that involved significant reconstruction --including the need for needing two new ligaments. It definitely helped that I was able to apply what I’d learned in Healing Touch to help open up the energy flow in my knee to foster acceptance of the new ligaments. Healing Touch also helped me cope with surgical swelling and pain. Even so, it sometimes seemed like I’d been walking on crutches forever. And nothing but PT would ensure total restoration of function. This was when I sometimes had to remind myself: ‘Just because you’re in pain doesn’t mean you have to be a pain.’ I really had to practice what I’d been preaching!”

To learn more, please email Laura at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

How meeting Sister Rita Jean DuBrey changed Laura's life...

It was a desire to spend as much time as possible with sons Garrett and Kason during their pre-school years that led devoted mom Laura Snyder to limit her hours as a Physical Therapist to part-time. But after both lads became full-time students, Snyder decided to respond to a newspaper ad seeking Healing Touch Buddies for breast cancer survivors to be trained by Sister Rita Jean DuBrey, RN, MSN, HTCP/I at St. Mary’s Hospital in Amsterdam.

“Even as a child, I’d known I wanted to go into some kind of medical healing profession, but in hindsight I think I was too busy caring for my kids to really think about how I might pursue a related vocation. After meeting Sister Rita Jean and learning everything I could about how to become a Healing Touch Certified Practitioner (HTCP), I resolved to do just that. Once I started the program in 2005, it felt like I’d been doing it my whole life.” 

After three years of attending classes, studying and mentorship experiences in addition to her part-time PT position at LaMarco Physical Therapy, Snyder was ready to open a private practice. A major beneficiary of some of her earliest Healing Touch treatments was her beloved brother James Ferrante, who passed away at age 49 in January 2012. 

“Jim’s prolonged and valiant battle with kidney disease ultimately involved dialysis and multiple surgeries, including two valve replacements and a partial artificial heart. Although there were many times when I felt helpless to medically assist him, I could always provide comfort and relief through energy healing. Jim’s wellness journey was a tremendous inspiration for me to earn my Healing Touch certification; you might say I take him with me in every treatment because our experiences together left an indelible impression on my mind and spirit,” reflects Snyder. “I’ve since worked with many patients who are struggling with major health challenges and it warms my heart when they tell me that Healing Touch can give them what medicine alone cannot.”

Those too infirm to travel to the peaceful Rowland Street practice Snyder now shares with Christina Slade, PT, HTCP, CCA, may book house calls. In addition, many a Healing Touch treatment has taken place in Saratoga County hospitals and Hospice/palliative settings. 

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