Therapeutic touch

Encyclopedia of Medicine, Apr 06, 2001 by Leonard C. Bruno

Therapeutic touch is a method that claims to assist the natural healing process by redirecting and rebalancing the energy fields within the body. A practitioner places his or her hands on or close to the body of the patient and redistributes the patient's energy or transmits his or her own energy as appropriate.

This technique is employed as a healing system and claims to be useful for reducing pain and anxiety, promoting relaxation, and stimulating the body's natural healing process.

Besides the danger of a seriously ill person choosing only therapeutic touch and excluding any other type of medicine, it is not recommended for conditions like cancer, in which increased blood flow may be harmful rather than healing.

Therapeutic touch can be regarded as a modern variation of the ancient "laying-on of hands." Stories of the use of touch as a healing method can be found in the Bible, in Greek mythology and Eastern philosophy, in Native American myths, and in the "royal touch" of the kings in medieval Europe. Therapeutic touch was developed and named in 1972 by Dolores Krieger, a nursing professor at New York University. Krieger had been inspired by the therapist and clairvoyant, Dora Kunz, who had been studying the laying on of hands and who worked with and observed the renowned Hungarian psychic healer, Oskar Estabany.

As developed by Krieger, therapeutic touch does not necessarily involve massage, bodywork, or even any actual touching. In fact, the practitioner's hands are usually placed an inch or two above the patient's body and may move or hover. This unusual technique is based on the Eastern notion that the body, like all living things, has a life-energy field that extends beyond or outside itself. It is argued that, in a state of health, this life energy flows freely and in a balanced manner in, through, and out of the body, and nourishes all of the body's organs. Disease occurs, it is thought, when the flow of energy is blocked, unbalanced, or depleted. Trained practitioners of therapeutic touch claim to be able to tune into or "feel" this energy field with their hands, and can sense when the flow is congested or disordered. The practitioner then manipulates this invisible energy field, smoothing out the "ruffled" field and channeling new energy into the ill person's body.

A therapeutic touch session involves the patient sitting or lying down while the practitioner moves his or her open palms over the patient's body, sensing the energy field, and making an assessment within a matter of minutes. Actual therapy begins with the practitioner placing his or her hands over certain areas of the body and moving them in a sweeping motion. Some people report a sensation of warmth or even a pleasant kind of vibration. The intent of the practitioner is considered essential to the therapy's effectiveness, and he or she must consciously will that the individual be healed. Dr. Krieger argues that there is nothing mystical about the healing that occurs, and says that her therapy somehow changes the blood's hemoglobin levels. She also explains the body's energy field as being an electromagnetic phenomenon. Critics say that no instruments have ever detected this field and claim that therapeutic touch is simply proof that there is such a phenomenon as the placebo effect (healing based on psychological factors). They also say that whatever relaxation or pain relief patients may experience is due to the fact that they believe in the therapy and want it to work. Although the American Medical Association takes no official position on therapeutic touch, it states that no scientific evidence exists to indicate that one person can actually transfer energy to another.

Since therapeutic touch is totally non-intrusive and seldom involves even touching the patient, it has no inherent complications or side effects.

Proponents claim that therapeutic touch strengthens and speeds the patient's own healing powers and that it is especially effective for the recuperative powers of hospital patients.

• Books
• Krieger, Dolores. Therapeutic Touch Inner Workbook. Santa Fe, NM: Bear & Company Publishing, 1996.
• Macrae, Janet. Therapeutic Touch: A Practical Guide. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1988.
• Sayre-Adams, Jean, and Steve Wright. The Theory and Practice of Therapeutic Touch. New York: Churchill Livingstone Inc., 1995. Periodicals
• Goodwin, Jan. "The Healer." Ladies' Home Journal (October 1997): 186-187, 229-230.
• Okie, Susan. " 'Therapeutic Touch' Flunks a Test." The Washington Post, Health Section (7 April 1998): 9, 19.
• Park, Robert L. "Alternative Medicine and the Laws of Physics." Skeptical Inquirer (September/October 1997): 24-28. Organizations
• Healing Touch International, Inc. 198 Union Blvd. Suite 202. Lakewood, CO 80228 (303) 989-7982.