Terry Ann Sparks, J.D., M.Div., CHTP/I

I am a Staff Chaplain at the Oklahoma City Veterans Affairs Medical Center, currently working with psychiatric, substance abuse and chronic pain patients.  My goal is to teach Healing Touch within the VA system.  I have a B.S. from Texas Christian University, 1977, a J.D. from Baylor Law School, 1980, and an M.Div. from Brite Divinity School (TCU), 1987.  I am a licensed attorney in Texas, and was an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Houston from 1980-1983.  I have been an Elder in the United Methodist church since 1989, and a VA Chaplain since 1997.  I worked at the Amarillo, Texas VA hospital from 1997-2006, where I ran a Complementary Medicine Pain Clinic from 2001-2006.  I won a Best Practices Award for the Clinic from the National Center for Excellence in VA Chaplaincy.  I began the HT community in Amarillo.

I want to be on the Board of HTI because I have experience in thinking about organizations as systems, both from working in the VA, and from being a pastor. Three ideas would guide my work on the Board:

1. HTI needs to think big.  HTI thinks in terms of health care integration within individual hospitals, but we need to approach whole industries and whole segments of the population with the healing possibilities of HT.

2. HTI can become a living connectional network, rather than just a professional organization.  HTI can make opportunities for members to give service to the organization, and can better support practitioners at the local level.

3. HTI can adapt to a new and changing situation.  I am an attorney, I have been a pastor, and I chaired the Amarillo VA’s Ethics Advisory Committee for 5 ½ years.  I have experience in helping organizations adapt to new situations in a creative, yet sound, manner.