Therapeutic touch

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Therapeutic Touch (TT) is described by proponents as "an energy modality which encourages healing". TT practitioners say that by placing their hands near the patient they can detect and manipulate the patient's energy fields, which allows them to assist the natural healing process.[1] There is no scientific evidence proving this is possible.

Energy therapy - edit
NCCAM classifications
  1. Alternative Medical Systems
  2. Mind-Body Intervention
  3. Biologically Based Therapy
  4. Manipulative Methods
  5. Energy Therapy
See also

Contents

[edit] Origin

Dora Kunz and Dolores Krieger, Ph.D., R.N. developed Therapeutic Touch in the 1970s.[1] Initially, nurses learned Therapeutic Touch and used it as part of patient care. More recently, lay people began learning this therapy because Kunz and Krieger realized all human beings have the potential to heal and help.

Therapeutic Touch has roots in ancient healing practices,[2] although it has no connection with any religious beliefs. Dr. Krieger notes, "A basic recognition upon which Therapeutic Touch was developed initially was exactly that in the final analysis, it is the healee (client) who heals himself. The healer or therapist, in this view, acts as a human energy support system until the healee's own immunological system is robust enough to take over."[3]

[edit] Description

Although the word "touch" is part of the modality's name, physical touch is not necessary when Practitioners offer a treatment. Another name for Therapeutic Touch is Non-Contact Therapeutic Touch (NCTT), giving it the moniker 'Distance Healing'.[4]

The Therapeutic Touch Network of Ontario (TTNO) developed a list of assumptions underpinning Krieger-Kunz Therapeutic Touch.[citation needed] These assumptions are:

  • In a state of health, Life Energy flows freely in, through, and out of the field in an orderly manner.
  • Disease or injury affects, obstructs, disorders, or depletes the flow of energy.
  • Thereafter, Touch practitioners attempt to influence the energy flow to restore the integrity of the field and move it toward wholeness and health.

Always individualized, a session usually does not exceed 20 minutes. Practitioners can administer Therapeutic Touch while his client is in a sitting or lying position and, followed by a rest period.

[edit] Research

Research of Krieger-Kunz Therapeutic Touch finds that Therapeutic Touch reduces anxiety, regulates and supports the immune function, alters the perception of pain, and encourages general healing. In a study conducted by Dolores Krieger in 1975 the effect of Therapeutic Touch on hemoglobin levels was examined. Practitioners of Krieger-Kunz Therapeutic Touch trained nurses to offer this service to patients as part of general nursing care. The control group received the nursing care without Therapeutic Touch. The hemoglobin levels of patients who received Therapeutic Touch changed.[2] A 2004 study examined the effects of Therapeutic Touch on dementia. The findings of this study suggest that Therapeutic Touch decreases the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia.[5]


In 1998, Emily Rosa, at 11 years of age, became the youngest person to have a paper accepted by the Journal of the American Medical Association for her study of therapeutic touch, which debunked the claims of TT practitioners. Her study consisted of testing 21 practitioners of TT to determine their ability to detect the aura they claim surrounds everyone. The practitioners stood on one side of a cardboard screen, while Emily stood on the other. The practitioners then placed their hands through holes in the screen. Emily then flipped a coin to determine which of the practitioner's hands she would place hers near (without, of course, touching the hand). The practitioners then were to indicate if they could sense her biofield, and where her hand was. Although all of the participants had asserted that they would be able to do this, the actual results did not support their assertions. After repeated trials the practitioners had succeeded in locating her hand at a rate not significantly different from chance. They were right 44% of the time, slightly worse than chance.[6][7]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Bruno, Leonard C. (1999). "Therapeutic touch". Encyclopedia of Medicine. Gale Research. Retrieved on 2007-07-07. 
  2. ^ a b Krieger, Dolores (May 1975). "Therapeutic Touch: The Imprimatur of Nursing". The American Journal of Nursing 75 (5): 784-787. Retrieved on 2007-07-07.
  3. ^ Krieger, Dolores (April 1, 1993). Accepting Your Power to Heal: The Personal Practice of Therapeutic Touch. Bear & Company, 7. ISBN 1879181045. 
  4. ^ Astin, John A.; Harkness, Elaine; and Ernst, Edzard (June 6, 2000). "The Efficacy of "Distance Healing": A Systematic Review of Randomized Trials" (PDF). Annals of Internal Medicine 132 (11): 903-910. Retrieved on 2007-07-07.
  5. ^ Woods, D. L.; Rapp, C. G.; and Beck, C. (March 2004). "Escalation/de-escalation patterns of behavioral symptoms of persons with dementia". Aging and Mental Health 8 (2): 126-132.
  6. ^ Glazer, Sarah. "Postmodern Nursing", The Public Interest. Retrieved on 2007-07-07. 
  7. ^ Rosa, Linda; Rosa, Emily; Sarner, Larry; and Barrett, Stephen (April 1, 1998). "A Close Look at Therapeutic Touch". Jounal of the American Medical Association 279 (13): 1005-1010. Retrieved on 2007-07-07.

[edit] External links

es:Toque terapéutico ja:セラピューティック・タッチ

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