Those who cannot find relief from ailments using traditional methods now have another choice with a new business that specializes in alternative healing: TLC Connection.

The business was expanding so much at its previous location at Thunder Ridge Mall that it has now moved to a new location on Clay Street.

TLC Connection celebrated their grand opening at this new location on Friday, Nov. 11.

The new location will include Creery’s Lotus Boutique, a gift shop that will feature items for sale such as Young Living essential oils and diffusers.

There will also be a room for workshops, a meditation room and a room where owner Laurie Creery performs therapeutic healing services.

Creery has received a grant that allows her to treat eight to 16 college-age students per month at no cost to them. If demand is high, Creery said she is willing to work with students even if numbers exceed.

“I want students to know that they have a place to go,” Creery said. “And whether they come to me once a month for life coaching, or they want to go back into the meditation studio other times and just sit and have peace and quiet because everything is so busy around them, this is a safe haven.

“TLC Connection is not for tender loving care even though that’s what’s here. It’s for Troy my husband, Laurie myself, and Chris my son,” Creery said. “It all started because of my family. I want people to know that there are people out there that truly do understand and that want to help.”

Creery was inspired to start up the business when her son was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

“The reason that I actually got into this […] was that my son was physically assaulted on the University of Iowa campus four years ago in January,” Creery said. “It changed his life forever, and it changed my husband and I’s life forever.”

Creery’s son was diagnosed with PTSD, high anxiety and depression and suffered from low self-esteem due to the trauma he experienced from the assault. He took a semester off of school and moved back home to Cedar Falls.

“Basically, doctors wanted to put him on medications – sleeping pills, anxiety pills, depression pills – and that was making him lethargic,” Creery said. “And he just really couldn’t function.”

Creery said she began to research alternative medicine for mental health issues and came across Young Living essential oils. She purchased 10 different oils for her son and a diffuser to see if it would help.

“Little by little they started to make a big difference,” Creery said.

After that, Creery began to research holistic medicine, a form of healing that concerns the entire person in mind, body and spirit.

The first type of holistic medicine Creery explored was Reiki. Creery became certified as a Reiki master teacher. Reiki is a Japanese technique that promotes healing, peace and relief from pain and anxiety. Reiki helps to restore the natural flow of the body, mind and spirit by releasing negative energy or blockages that cause pain.

“So, because it had such an effect on people because it replenishes with positive energy – it allows the body to relax, rejuvenate, restore – I thought […] ‘I’m going to work on my son with this,’” Creery said. “I did Reiki on him too, because his mind is always racing with the anxiety. That started to show some positive side effects.”

Creery continued to get trained in multiple services, becoming certified in five more techniques through a program that Young Living oils offers.

The services that TLC Connection offers include: Angel Reading, Animal Reiki, Aromatherapy, Chakra Balancing, Emotional Release Technique, Life Coaching, Raindrop Technique, Reiki Energy Healing, Spiritual One-on- One Guidance, ThetaHealing and Vita Flex Technique.

In addition to these holistic services, Creery became certified as a life coach so that she could help her son. As a result of these treatments, her son’s mental health has greatly improved, and he now attends University of Colorado-Boulder.

“In life coaching, we develop a plan together,” Creery said. “It’s an hour for that person to really vent and have somebody listen. Because a lot of the time, you don’t get someone who listens to you.”

During life coaching sessions, stressors are identified, and a plan is formulated to establish direction and to help fulfill a person’s hopes and dreams and life purpose.

Creery offered some words of advice her son wanted to share with people suffering from mental illness.

“Most of all, when you feel like you just can’t go on, think about the people that love you, and those you love. And how you can personally change their lives,” Creery explained. “Because there are so many people out there that don’t realize the things they have to give to this world.”