Heusted nominated as ASC "Women of the Year"

Valley Campus - by Margaret Sanderson

“Heal thyself first” epitomizes the life style and teaching of the dynamic Trinidad State Junior College Holistic Health/Massage Therapy Director and Instructor, Marcia Heusted, whose students appreciate the personal growth they experience in her life-changing program.

Before beginning her teaching career in the United States, Marcia taught the first health curriculum for the province of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. Additionally, she taught English as a Second Language at the elementary division of the International School of Milan in Italy, and in Belfast, Northern Ireland, she taught a special education class. After teaching for a decade and raising two daughters, Marcia left teaching to start a second career in naturopathy. She trained in alternative healing with a special emphasis in homeopathy from 1984-1986. She is also trained in massage therapy and energy work and has been practicing since 1989.

Before moving to Crestone in 1997 Marcia owned and operated one of our country’s first Integrative Medical Centers for ten years on scenic Cape Cod Bay in Massachusetts with a staff of 14 practitioners including MDs, acupuncturists, chiropractors, psychotherapists, massage therapists and herbalists.

A Motivational Speaker, Marcia uses the rich experiences from her youth when she grew up in foster homes to compose her speeches.

Marcia was a competing triathlete in New England from 1986-1997 and owned her own international distance triathlon race called the Cape Codder Triathlon.

For the past eight years she has been the Director of the Holistic Health and Massage Therapy Programs at TSJC where her program maintains close to a 90% retention rate. In 2007 Faculty Members selected Marcia as the TSJC Valley Campus Faculty Member of the Year. “If a student leaves the program more empowered than when they started,” Marcia said, “I feel that I’ve done my job.”

In addition to her role at TSJC she operates a Bed and Breakfast out of her home in Crestone as well as conducts a natural medicine practice there. In addition she has a private coaching practice which centers around new earth energy, earth changes, and the shifting paradym we live in. Well respected, many of Marcia’s colleagues have sought her advice.

In 2010 Marcia completed instruction to become a certified mediator and has used that skill to successfully mediate a number of internal issues at TSJC, thus promoting a healthier work environment. In fact, at my request, another colleague and I were her first TSJC clients and the results were highly effective.

Excerpts from a recent letter to Marcia from one of this year’s graduates reflects her impact on student lives. “I am so happy that I went into Massage therapy, I love it! I can’t picture doing anything else. I have you to thank. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you! You made it so interesting and said things that I needed to hear. I hope that I can be a big part of someone’s life like you are to me! No words can express my appreciation!”

The phenomenal and energetically gifted Marcia Heusted is dedicated to a life of healing and service. Her positive influence reaches well beyond the college into the lives of many who seek her healing expertise. I am one so blessed, not only with her encyclopedic healing knowledge, but her friendship.