Salima Adelstein

From that, what I noticed about myself, and this is what the students would say to me, Salima, you have a way of healing a place inside of me that felt broken.

That's when I started to explore alternative healing and started to look more at what is this whole field of alternative healing.

Because basically what I was doing was just sharing love with them and helping them learn how to love themselves.

Does that make sense?

When I started the healing work?

When I started the school system, the challenges, because we were an alternative private school, there weren't as many challenges as you would expect.

The challenge was really working with the public schools and helping them relook the way that they see their students.

I lived in Massachusetts at the time.

And back then, there was a state law.

It was called Chapter 750.

To get a child into our school, the parents had to go to the governor of the state of Massachusetts, have their child declared emotionally disturbed.

Actually, a certificate from the governor.

I was so outraged.

I worked with a group of people to start what is now known as the federal law, Chapter 766, so that the children wouldn't have that kind of stigma attached and their parents wouldn't feel like, oh my God, what did I do so wrong that my child has to have this kind of stamp on them in order to just get a good education?

Our students have gone on to college and

You know, I met one of them, when was it, about three or four years ago.

And she just said to me, I can't believe I found you again.

You made such a difference in my life.

I'm married now.

I have kids.