Therapeutic Touch
What is Therapeutic Touch?
Therapeutic Touch is based on the belief that “energy fields” (also known as chi, qi, ki or prana) surround and penetrate the human body. Therapeutic Touch practitioners are taught that disease or disorder can be detected in the energy system and affected therapeutically by smoothing or relieving congested energy.
Therapeutic Touch
Source: CAM-CANCER
Therapeutic Touch is a type of hand-mediated “energy healing” technique.
Description
Therapeutic Touch is based on the belief that “energy fields” (also known as chi, qi, ki or prana) surround and penetrate the human body. Therapeutic Touch practitioners are taught that disease or disorder can be detected in the energy system and affected therapeutically by smoothing or relieving congested energy.
Components
Therapeutic Touch practitioners are trained to work with the alleged energy fields to facilitate healing and relaxation. Usually healers conceive energy as something they receive, or channel, from an external universal energy source and transfer through their hands to the patients.
Application and dosage
Therapeutic Touch is an individualised intervention guided by clues gained from assessing an individual’s alleged energy field. A Therapeutic Touch session typically involves three phases.
The initial phase involves a process whereby the practitioner adopts a meditative quiet state. The second phase is an assessment phase where the practitioner uses their hands to sense areas around the body that feel imbalanced. The practitioner then uses slow, symmetric movements of his/her hands over the energy field with the goal of ‘smoothing out’ or relieving energy congestion. Finally the practitioner evaluates the session. An intervention usually lasts between 10 and 20 minutes2. Several sessions may be recommended.
It has been estimated that 200,000 individuals have been trained to practise Therapeutic Touch since the 1970s, about 60% of whom are nurses. It is not known how many nurses are currently practising Therapeutic Touch.
Claims of efficacy/ alleged indication
It has been proposed that Therapeutic Touch can be effective in decreasing anxiety, decreasing stress, evoking a relaxation response, decreasing pain and promoting wound healing. People with cancer who receive Therapeutic Touch have described it as a fulfilling and multidimensional experience that facilitated personal growth5.
Is it safe?
Adverse events
Therapeutic Touch has not been associated with any safety concerns. No adverse events were reported in the studies included in this summary.
The Touch That Counts
Source: MD Anderson Cancer Center
By Bayan Raji
Sometimes a gentle touch is all it takes to remove our worries or pain.
When that touch comes from a trained professional who can pinpoint “energy zones” on our bodies, research suggests it may have positive effects as a supplemental treatment for the side effects of cancer and cancer treatment.
Healing touch therapy, developed by Colorado nurse Jane Mentgen in the 1980s, consists of light touching or near touching of these zones. People who practice healing touch believe the process cleanses the areas and helps hasten recovery.
It also is thought to help cancer patients better cope with pain from radiation therapy or to calm nerves. Studies suggest, at the very least, that during a healing touch session a patient can relax and rejuvenate.
Published Clinical Trials / Studies / Reviews
The Effect of Therapeutic Touch on Pain and Fatigue of Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy
Therapeutic massage and healing touch improve symptoms in cancer.
Therapeutic touch appears to reduce pain and fatigue in cancer patients
Therapeutic Massage and HealingTouch Improve Symptoms in Cancer
Updated September 2024