T
Therapeutic Touch
Deblina Roy and Sujita Kumar Kar
Department of Psychiatry, King George’s Medical
University, Lucknow, UP, India
Synonyms
Biofield therapies
Definition
An alternative therapeutic intervention, which
purports to manipulates the energy field of the
client through a non-touch technique for relieving
the distress
Introduction
Therapeutic touch is a therapeutic procedure that
has been in use for the past few decades. It is a
therapy from the alternative system of medicine
(O’Mathúna 2016). This technique was developed by Dolores Krieger and Dora Kunz
(Straneva 2000). During the “therapeutic touch”
procedure, the therapist move his/her hand over
the body of the patient to manipulate the energy
field and restore the balance of the surface energy
field (O’Mathúna 2016). The word “therapeutic
touch” is a misnomer, as, during the procedure,
there is no actual skin to skin (body to body)
contact between the therapist and the client; however, there occurs contact between energy fields of
the therapist and client. It is also known as an
energy-based treatment modality. It has been considered as an important intervention modality
intended to provide holistic care in nursing practice (Hanley et al. 2017). Therapeutic touch is
often used for facilitating subjective well-being,
comfort, and relaxation to patients with various
illnesses (Engebretson and Wardell 2007; Meehan
1998). It has been recognized as a complementary
therapy by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
Basis of Therapeutic Touch
Existing evidence explaining the mechanism of
action of “therapeutic touch” is not well understood by the current scientific knowledge. Explanations and claims regarding “therapeutic touch”
by the therapists and clients still remain controversial due to its nonscientific nature (Meehan
1998). The theoretical explanations about therapeutic touch center around manipulation of
energy field of the body of the client by the therapist (Umphred 2013). As per the existing explanatory models, the human body has an open energy
field, which remains balanced in state in a healthy
individual due to equal distribution in a biological
symmetrical body. From this perspective, any
imbalance in the body’s energy field results in
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
T. K. Shackelford, V. A. Weekes-Shackelford (eds.), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_784-1
2
Therapeutic Touch
development of illness/disease (Umphred 2013).
The ancient Indian as well as Chinese system of
medicine emphasizes the existence of a body
energy system and its relevance in maintaining
the healthy body and mind. On this basis, therapeutic touch technique was founded and gained its
popularity.
its efficacy (Robinson et al. 2007). Nevertheless,
some evidence suggests that therapeutic touch has
been effective in alleviating the mood symptoms
and emotional problems among otherwise healthy
women with respect to objective standardized
inventories
and
biomarkers
(Lafreniere
et al. 1999).
Clinical Use of “Therapeutic Touch”
Process of Therapeutic Touch
The therapeutic touch technique has been used in
treatment of various physical illnesses, ranging
from wound care to pain, cardiovascular diseases,
cancer treatment, as well as terminal illnesses
(Monroe 2009; O’Mathúna 2016; Snyder 1997;
Tabatabaee et al. 2016; Umphred 2013). In pain
management, therapeutic touch was found to be
effective, and as there are no risks associated with
it, it may be considered as a useful therapeutic
intervention in pain management (Monroe 2009).
This therapy has been found effective for symptom relief and is hypothesized to work upon the
immune system and improve the immune functioning although it is important to note that the
evidence for such an effect is not very concrete
(Jain et al. 2015).
Similarly, therapeutic touch has been studied in
patients with anxiety disorder. A Cochrane database review revealed that the existing evidence in
support of therapeutic touch is not sufficient and
emphasized that extensive research with sound
methodology is necessary to provide evidence of
The process of “therapeutic touch” is a soft, noninvasive general and sophisticated approach. It is
individualized to meet the needs of the healing
partner (client in need of healing). The process of
how the therapeutic touch intervention is purported to occur is by transferring of the energies
(field of energies that normally surround bodies of
living organisms) (Fig. 1). The therapist, who is
trained and certified to perform the therapeutic
touch, performs this therapy. They attempt to
alter the paradigm of their consciousness to enable
their hands to pattern the energies of the sick or
painful body part. The procedure requires the
healer to stand or sit and the client to lie down or
sit in relaxed state. The therapist first assesses the
energy patterns by moving his/her hands over the
receiver from 2 to 6 inches away from the body.
Then, the therapist makes hand movements for
correcting the imbalance in energy fields so that
the energy can flow freely and heal the person
internally (Umphred 2013). During the process,
the therapist (healer) sweeps the energy over the
Therapeutic Touch,
Fig. 1 Depiction of a
typical “touch therapy”
session
Therapeutic Touch
body from the area where it is congested. This
particular activity is known as “unruffling the
energy field” (Umphred 2013). These therapies
usually last 20 to 30 minutes followed by a period
of rest. By therapeutic touch procedure, the therapist creates a conducive environment which
facilitates the process of healing.
Phases of Touch Therapy
The procedure of touch therapy encompasses of
the following phases:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Centring
Assessing
Intervention balancing and rebalancing
Evaluation and closure
Centring: To bring one’s energy awareness by
meditation, guided breathing, imagery, and changing their energy fields to bring a conscious change.
Assessing: Here the therapist assesses the
changes in the pattern of the energies by moving
his/her hands in 2–6 inches above the body from
the head to feet following a rhythm and symmetrical manner. Therapists have reported the feeling of
warmth, tingling, and presence of blockade,
pulling, and coolness during assessment of clients,
which purportedly indicates that deviations in the
energy systems are present.
Intervention balancing and rebalancing: In
this phase the therapist balances the energy fields
as per assessment and balances the excess energies and restores lost energy. They make sweeping
movements over the areas affected.
Evaluation/closure: The therapist intuitively
decides (using their professional expertise) when
to terminate the session. The ongoing assessment
of the energy fields and continuous feedback from
the individuals determine the end of the therapy
(Koopsen and Young 2009).
Conclusion
Therapeutic touch is one of the important interventions practiced by nurses as a part of the
3
holistic therapies. It considers individuals as a
whole and as having potent ability to heal oneself.
Although there is lack of strong scientific evidence on the mechanism of action of the therapy,
it has shown promising results in managing pain
and promoting healing. There is need of extensive
research to understand the basis of this therapy.
Cross-References
▶ Bodywork
▶ Energy Based Therapeutic Intervention
▶ Healing Touch
References
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