Over the past several decades, silver nitrate eye drops have been administered to newborn babies to prevent bacterial infections. The drops that Andrew received when he was born were contaminated, causing damage to his eyes. This traumatic welcome into the world left Andrew with permanent blindness in his right eye.

Blindness, even in one eye, affects how the brain handles information. The science of neuroplasticity has shown us that when one sense is lost, another part of the brain is rewired to process that information. Unlike a totally blind person, where the entire visual cortex is taken over by other senses, such as hearing and touch, Andrew’s blindness only affected his right eye and therefore only his left hemisphere’s visual cortex. With darkness on the left, his right visual cortex was given a dominant advantage over his visual perceptions.

The right hemisphere of our brain is accepted as the source of our creativity, intuition and big-picture view of the world, which is why Andrew attributes his unique way of seeing to his blindness. For his entire life, Andrew has been gifted with powerful intuition and an ability to see energy patterns around people and all living things. This unique ability has posed both challenges and opportunities throughout his life.

As a young person, Andrew attracted mentors that helped him understand the world of energy that he experienced due to his visual handicap. His interest in parapsychology and the social sciences led him to Mount Royal University in Calgary, where he studied social work. Before completing his degree, Andrew was presented with the opportunity to travel extensively throughout western Canada and the United States, using his intuitive skills as a psychic.

Following several years of travel, Andrew settled in Edmonton, Alberta, where he opened Lightworks, a metaphysical bookstore and wholistic centre. Here he continued his career, using his intuition or psychic abilities, not to tell people’s futures, but to help people understand their behavioural patterns.

At Lightworks, Andrew facilitated courses and seminars in personal growth and creative visualization. During this time, Andrew was invited to work closely with several aboriginal communities in Alberta. This opportunity allowed him to experience the richness of aboriginal culture and integrate some of these teachings into his own life.

In 1994, Andrew returned to Ontario and embarked on a very different business path. Together with his wife, Elise, he established TriFocal Communications, a marketing company that specialized in creating educational programs for patients and the medical community. The TriFocal years provided an opportunity for Andrew to understand the shared relationship between the physical body, the mind and the spirit.

Although both Elise and Andrew enjoyed the educational aspect of their careers while working together in the corporate world, they wanted to apply their knowledge in a practical, holistic and patient-centered way. They recognized that by combining Elise’s artistic talent and medical knowledge with Andrew’s expertise as a facilitator, they envisioned the development of a unique program that would provide people with a better understanding of their mind-body connection.

Years earlier, while working with people at Lightworks, Andrew developed a method of visualization that not only helped reduce the pain he experienced from the damage to his eyes, but also helped others with challenges in their lives. It was these methods that Andrew combined with Elise’s medical knowledge to create The Will to Heal™ Technique, a Workbook to Relieve Pain that teaches people how to activate their mind-body connection. They combined their skills, utilizing medical art and visualization as a way of understanding illness and resolving pain.

Shortly after the release of The Will to Heal Technique, Andrew experienced a breakdown of his immune system. Five years earlier, he was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, but managed to heal this condition through the use of visualization techniques and dietary changes to the point where he was able to live a normal life. However, other factors transpired this time, which were disabling on a much greater scale. He experienced symptoms including full-body neuropathy, depression, anxiety and high blood pressure that would take a much longer time to heal and recover from. After months of tests and experimentation, a severe food sensitivity to grain proteins proved to be at the root of Andrew’s health problems. His compromised microbiome made him extremely vulnerable to environmental chemicals, and many foods including all grain products, artificial sweeteners, GMOs and processed foods.

During this time, Andrew was unable to conduct workshops or engage in the facilitation of The Will to Heal Technique. A novel he had started years earlier provided a much-needed focus to get him through the next four years while he recovered and healed his immune system. Forever is the Soul proved to be the tool for healing as well as an expansion into another aspect of Andrew’s talents. Throughout his healing process Andrew used the philosophy behind The Will to Heal – you are not your brain and body – as a way to manage the pain and discomfort he experienced.

Today, Andrew’s health has stabilized and he has expanded the concept of The Will to Heal Technique into The Will to Heal Project. The Project includes health insights for your mind and body as well as spiritual conversations based on Andrew’s novel Forever is the Soul.