Chapter 59 Therapeutic Touch
OVERVIEW.
Therapeutic touch (TT) is a form of energy field work that is believed to access a patient’s energy field by having the practitioner’s hands placed over (above) the patient’s body. The practitioners attempt to direct some of their own energy (which they have an excess of) to the patient, who is viewed as having some less optimal level. The aim of TT is to treat health problems such as pain or anxiety, or to help the patient relax.1,2
Ironically, therapeutic touch does not involve touch. The technique involves five steps that includes (1) centering (getting into a meditative state); (2) assessing by tuning into the patient (with hands 5-15 cm above the patient’s body surface to detect energy fields); (3) clearing (facilitate the flow of energy in patient areas that are sluggish by sweeping the hands over the patient’s body from head to toe); (4) redirecting areas of accumulated tension to areas sensed as depleted; and then (5) evaluating the patient’s energy flow.1
CONTRAINDICATIONS AND PRECAUTIONS
F00-F99 MENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS
J00-J99 DISEASES OF THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
S00-T98 INJURY, POISONING, AND CERTAIN OTHER CONSEQUENCES OF EXTERNAL CAUSES
1 Childs A. Therapeutic touch. In: Charman RA, editor. Complementary therapies for physical therapists. Oxford: Butterworth, 2000.
2 Ramsey SM. Holistic manual therapy techniques. Primary Care. 1997;24(4):759-786.
3 Cownes D. A gift for healing: how you can use therapeutic touch. New York: Crown, 1996.
4 Cotter AC, Bartoli L, Schulman RA. An overview of massage and touch therapies. Phys Med Rehabil State Art Rev. 2000;14(1):43-64.
5 Krieger D. The therapeutic touch: how to use your hands to help or to heal. Englewood Cliffs (NJ): Prentice-Hall, 1979.
6 Wytias CA. Therapeutic touch in primary care. Nurs Pract Forum. 1994;5(2):91-97.
