Graduate Spotlight
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Victoria Porfilio, Ph.D. in Natural Health
“Building Bridges to Wellness”
As a nurse for more than 30 years, Victoria Porfilio has seen countless life–saving enhancements in hospital technology. While raising a family in Western N.Y. she observed, with professional curiosity, the differences and similarities of Canadian and American philosophies of wellness, illness, prevention and intervention.
But 10 years ago she became a patient. Suddenly, unexpectedly, Vicky had time on her hands to deeply ponder the meaning of health — and the view from her hospital bed was anything but reassuring.
“Inattention to habits and gradual loss of vitality will stop people in their tracks. Living with asthma had made me more prone to colds and flu, which worsened into pneumonia, bronchitis, and then tachycardia. With elevated cholesterol and high blood pressure, one day I realized I was taking nine prescriptions. Feeling sluggish, drained, losing my spark, my health was slipping out of balance. I had been operating on autopilot and something had to change.”
Always a voracious reader and constant learner, by this time Vicky already held four traditional undergraduate degrees — two in nursing, one in psychology and another in health and human services/community mental health.
After attending her first classes with motivational psychologist Wayne Dyer, Vicky fell in love with life again and decided to heal her career, her habits, and her thinking.
“Along with professional internship studies in Ayurveda with Deepak Chopra, M.D. and practicing the rebalancing power of mindfulness meditation with stress management guru Jon Kabat–Zinn, Ph.D., I began a self–paced metaphysics degree program which spoke to my heart and emotions. When I found the distance learning opportunities of Clayton College, my intuition affirmed that studying natural health would bring this all together for me.”
During the next decade she earned masters and doctoral degrees in the sciences and holistic philosophies of healing mind, body and spirit — four graduate degrees in all, including M.S. and Ph.D. degrees with CCNH.
Seeking additional certification as a parish nurse has helped Vicky bring prayer into her medical role, massage to many church congregations, Reiki and therapeutic touch into community school settings.
Her pioneering advocacy for holistic health and patient empowerment has earned Victoria Porfilio a “Nurse of Distinction” award from the NY state legislature. Truly a voice for changing the American healthcare paradigm, in recent years she founded the Bridge to Wellness Health Center.
“With more than a dozen all–day workshops, weekend retreats, night classes and support groups, topics include ‘Supermarket Adventure,’ described as three hours of label–reading; nutritional detox; natural strategies for chronic pain; heart health; smoking cessation; spiritual awakening through emotional healing; stress management…plus new offerings each year.”
Several news reporters now follow the progress of Vicky’s students. During her 12–week Radical Makeover series, two couples among the 100–plus attendees have stepped into the media spotlight to describe their success in losing 230 pounds. With sound methodologies and scientific documentation, for the last three years this holistic nurse educator has earned third party health insurance reimbursement for her life–changing Bridge to Wellness programs.
Vicky recently met several CCNH faculty members while attending combined sessions of the 2006 American Holistic Nursing Association (AHNA) and the American Holistic Medical Association (AHMA) annual conferences — “Building even more new bridges to holistic health,” she concludes.
For more information: www.holisticnursephd.com
This article was based on an interview with the graduate.
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