Academy Founder Francesca McCartney, PhD

portrait of Francesca McCartney, PhD Energy Medicine
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July 2023 interview with Dr. Francesca McCartney on the Podcast “Awake to Love” with Alisha Das.

Dr. McCartney recently contributed Chapter 8 on Cognitive Bias vs. Intuition to the 2019 book Developing Informed Intuition for Decision-Making.

— C. Norman Shealy, MD, PhD

— Judith Orloff, MD

January 2001, Francesca published her debut book, Intuition Medicine: The Science of Energy.

As a supplement to her books, Francesca compiled eight hours of teachings and guided meditations that are available as CDs or downloadable mp3s.  Read more

Since 1976, Dr. McCartney has worked in the field of intuition as a medical intuitive in an integrative health clinic, a spiritual counselor, author, and educator.

In 1984, Francesca McCartney founded the Academy of Intuition Medicine® in Mill Valley, California USA.

Francesca synthesizes her decades of study in Eastern and Western spiritual and healing arts into an inclusive approach which respects both the inherent uniqueness of the individual and the commonalities that bind us all together. From her pastoral counseling and medical intuitive work with thousands of clients, Francesca developed the Intuition Medicine curriculum. Dr. McCartney is the inaugural recipient of a dual PhD in Intuition Medicine and Energy Medicine.


Background & History

In 1966, Francesca received Laboratory Technician (hematology) certification from St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, Michigan. From 1968 to 1973, she studied Eastern mysticism—Divine Science of the Soul with Kirpal Singh. She also studied the Western mystical traditions of Theosophy and the Rosicrucian Society. She has been a licensed nondenominational minister since 1976.

Francesca received her Montessori teaching credential at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1974. She directed three Montessori preschool programs in Northern California. In 2002 she received her doctorate degree with honors in Energy Medicine and Intuition Medicine® from Greenwich University.

In 1976, Francesca joined an alternative medicine clinic, the Academy of Eastern Medicine, in Walnut Creek, California where she was the meditation instructor and medical intuitive for seven years. Through her work there she became one of the first professional intuitives to practice an interdisciplinary modality combining Eastern and Western healing arts in a holistic system. In 1980, she was co-speaker with Dr. Alan Charles, MD on a talk entitled “The Effects of Energy and Color in Health and Behavior” at the International Academy of Preventive Medicine’s annual conference in Denver, Colorado, USA. During the conference, she led daily meditation workshops for the members. Her studies continued with training in Homeopathy, Radionics, Nutritional Therapy, Ayurvedic Medicine, Reiki, Qi Gong, and Huna Healing as well as the practices of Tai Chi and Yoga.

In 1984, the San Francisco Examiner newspaper interviewed Francesca for a story on predictions, and Gnosis magazine published a story about her intuitive healing work. In 1990 she was a founding member of the USA branch of the Kundalini Research Network and wrote a chapter on “Paranormal Experiences” for their international questionnaire. During this time, she was also a staff writer for Psychic Life magazine.

In 1990, Francesca published her own audiotape set — The Intuitive Development Series. In January of 2001, Francesca published her first book, Intuition Medicine: The Science of Energy, and recorded and published eight audiotapes that cover various aspects of Intuition Medicine: Grounding System, Aura/Life-Force and Earth Energy System, Energy Anatomy of the Chakra System, Kundalini Energy Anatomy System, Color Meditations, Prosperity, and Synchronicity, Creating Healthy Relationships, and Male/Female Energy Anatomy System.

In 1999, Francesca’s course in Intuition Healing was taught on-site to the staff of fifteen complementary care physicians at California Pacific Medical Center’s (CPMC) Health & Healing Clinic in San Francisco, California. She participated as a “healer” in a research project conducted by Dr. Elisabeth Targ, research director at CPMC. Dr. Targ received a National Institute of Health grant to study the “Efficacy of Distant Healing by Nurses and Healers.” Francesca and Pamela Bradley, PhD, a research psychologist at the University of California at Berkeley, are creating a research project utilizing the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). They plan to use the MBTI assessment information in researching what they have observed as the varied types of “intuitive personalities.” Francesca is also currently conducting research into the efficacy of long-distance healing with Reiki Energy (for a detailed report on this study see “Effects of Reiki and Body Magnets in Distant Healings of the Chakra System.”

In 2002, the Institute of Noetic Sciences funded a seed grant and gave Francesca permission to conduct research in their Ganzfeld laboratory on the topic of Distance Healing. In July, Dr. McCartney presented her research paper “Distance Education: Utilizing Intentional Intuition in the Curriculum of a Distance Learning Model of Energy Medicine” at the L’Aquila, Italy IPSI Scientific Forum.

In 2003, Dr. McCartney had three articles published in Vision Magazine. They were: “Anima & Animus, Our Inner Female and Male Persona,” “The Gift of a Peaceful Death” and “Intuition – Your Sixth Sense.”

In December 2003, Dr. McCartney’s paper — “The Conscious Internet: An Empirical Study of the Transmission of Healing Energy via Email” — was published in Dynamical Psychology – An International, Interdisciplinary Journal of Complex Mental Processes.

In May 2004, Dr. McCartney presented a research paper on Distant Healing at the annual conference of the Society for Scientific Exploration. In June 2004, Francesca presented the Distant Healing research at a session during the annual conference of the International Society for the Study of Subtle Energy & Energy Medicine. As well, the Distant Healing research study was published in The International Journal of Healing & Caring.

In October 2004 Dr. McCartney was the invited speaker at the annual dinner of Sigma Theta Tau International, Lambda Gamma Chapter at Sonoma State University Nursing Department, presenting her work on “Intuition and Distant Healing.”

In 2005, another book on her model of Intuition Medicine, energy and healing – Body of Health: The Science of Intuition Medicine was published by New World Library. She is also at work on a book of intuitive development stories for children and their parents.

In 2006, Dr. McCartney expanded the Academy and founded Energy Medicine University. EMU is a distance-learning university granting PhD and MS degrees in Integrative Holistic Health.

In 2007, Dr. McCartney was invited to teach a five-day, hands-on training at Omega Institute of Holistic Studies in Rhinebeck, New York, where she returned to teach again in 2008 and 2009.

In 2008, the ISSSEEM Journal published Dr. McCartney's peer-reviewed research report on distance healing and intuition. 

In 2011, Dr. McCartney was a featured speaker at the Society for Scientific Exploration Conference: SSE at the Forefront of Science, in Boulder, Colorado.

In 2013, Francesca was interviewed in the magazine Spirituality & Health on the topic of Energy Medicine. The title of the article is Reclaiming Energy Medicine: Making The Science of Energy a Twenty-First Century Respectable Health Care Choice.

In 2017 Francesca was a presenter in the Sounds True Energy Healing Summit and also in the IONS Energy Medicine Healing Summit on the topic of “Kundalini: A Western Approach – Four Decades of Research and Practice on the Biological Basis and Energy Medicine Applications.”

In 2017 Dr. McCartney created the Academy of Intuition Medicine® Online school.

Dr. McCartney recently contributed Chapter 8 on Cognitive Bias vs. Intuition to the 2019 book Developing Informed Intuition for Decision-Making.

Upcoming Academy Orientation (In-Person or via Zoom)

In-Person or via Zoom

Monday, July 15 2024
7:00 to 8:30 pm PST
RSVP required.

ATTEND

Meet faculty and students, experience a guided meditation, and learn detailed information about the Academy curriculum and courses. The Orientation is where all your questions are answered.

The next course, Intuition Medicine: Healing 1, begins Tuesday, Sept 10 2024 and attendance at one of these Orientation dates is mandatory for new students. Join us for the Academy Orientation, and bring your friends! While attending live is best so that your questions can be answered in real-time — if that’s not possible, it’s essential that you watch this video of a recent Orientation.

  2021 Academy Catalog

  Compare Academy (AIM) Program vs Academy Online (AIMO) Program

  Academy Admissions Info & Checklist

*These take place twice a year: usually July and November.