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Healing Touch

What is Healing Touch?

Healing Touch is an "energy therapy" that uses gentle hand techniques thought to help re-
pattern the patient's energy field and accelerate healing of the body, mind, and spirit.

Healing Touch is based on the belief that human beings are fields of energy that are in
constant interaction with others and the environment. The goal of Healing Touch is to
purposefully use the energetic interaction between the Healing Touch practitioner and the
patient to restore harmony to the patient's energy system.

In a Healing Touch session, the practitioner begins with a centering process to calm the mind,
access a sense of compassion, and become fully present with the patient. The practitioner
then focuses intention on the patient's highest good and places his or her hands lightly on the
patient's body or makes sweeping hands motions above the body.

Healing Touch practitioners believe that this process balances and realigns energy flow that
has been disrupted by stress, pain, or illness. The process eliminates blockages in the energy
field so that the patient is in an optimal state for healing to occur.

Healing Touch complements other healing techniques a patient may

already be using, including conventional medical practice in hospitals,
clinics and in-home care, or other body-mind oriented therapies such as

What are energy therapies?

According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative

Medicine (NCCAM), this category of complementary therapies
involves the use of various types of energy fields. In general, the goal of
energy therapies is to bring energy into the patient or balance the energy
within a patient.

There are many kinds of energy therapies, some which use treatments such as light, sound,
and magnets. These treatments are relatively easy to measure. Other kinds of energy
therapies, such as Healing Touch, Reiki, Qigong, and therapeutic touch, are "intended to
affect energy fields that purportedly surround and penetrate the human body." These
therapies cannot be as easily measured or researched.

Even though the results of these therapies have not been measured quantitatively in a reliable
way, some new instruments, such as the superconducting quantum interference device
(SQUID) are showing promise for research with energy therapies.

Moreover, and importantly, many of the techniques used in energy therapies come from
practices in shamanistic and Asian traditions with thousands of years of use. For example,
more than 2,000 years ago, Asian healers believed that the flow and balance of life energies
were important in maintaining health, and that illnesses were due to energy imbalances. They
developed therapies and practices, such as acupuncture, yoga, and Qigong to correct these
imbalances. Modern energy therapies such as Healing Touch are based on the same

Where does Healing Touch come from?

Healing Touch was developed as a touch therapy program by Janet

Mentgen, a nurse who has used energy-based care in her practice in
Colorado since 1980. Mentgen and some of her colleagues developed
a training program that incorporated the techniques of many well-
known healers, as well as concepts borrowed from ancient shamanic
and aboriginal healing traditions.

An evolving Healing Touch curriculum supports students in broadening and deepening their
skills as energy healers as they move from the beginner to advanced level.

Expert Contributor:
Marilyn Bach, MS, APRN, BC, CHTP
Therapeutic Touch

Related Pages

Healing Touch

Massage Therapy

Traditional Chinese Medicine



What is Therapeutic Touch?

In Therapeutic Touch, therapists place their hands on or near their patient's body with the
intention to help or heal. In doing so, therapists believe that they are consciously directing or
modulating an individual's energies by interacting with his or her energy field. The focus is
on balancing the energies of the total person and stimulating the body's own natural healing
ability rather than on the treatment of specific physical diseases.

Therapeutic Touch is based on the following assumptions:

The human being is an open energy system composed of layers of energy that are in
constant interaction with self, others, and the environment.
Illness is an imbalance in an individual's energy field.
Clearing or balancing the energy field promotes health.
All humans have natural abilities to heal and enhance the healing in others.

Therapeutic Touch is a contemporary interpretation of several ancient laying-on-of-hands

healing practices. Delores Krieger, PhD, RN, professor emeritus of Nursing at New York
University, and Dora Kunz, a gifted energy healer, developed and standardized the technique
in the 1970s. This standardization facilitates research and evaluation of treatment effects.

Therapeutic Touch, which is taught in many nursing schools, is categorized as a biofield

energy therapy by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
(NCCAM). Biofield therapies are techniques that intend to affect energy fields that surround
and penetrate the human body. NCAAM notes that, although scientists are studying these
phenomena, the existence of such fields has not yet been definitively proven.

Therapeutic Touch is not a substitute for medical treatment. It does complement conventional
medical care and supports the person's body to be in the best condition to heal. Therapeutic
Touch is beneficial with other therapies, such as acupressure, massage, imagery, biofeedback,
and psychotherapy.

What is a session like?

A typical session lasts approximately 15 to 30 minutes. You

will sit in a comfortable chair and lie down fully clothed. The
Therapeutic Touch practitioner will begin by discussing your
goals for healing. He or she will then use light touch and/or
sweeping hand motions above the skin surface to assess and
balance the energy in and around the body.

Therapeutic Touch practitioners generally follow these steps.

1. Center themselves in the present moment and bring themselves to a calm, quiet state of
2. Assess the client's energy field.
3. Clear and mobilize the client's energy field, direct energy to achieve wholeness, and balance
the field.
4. Evaluate and close the treatment.
5. Ask for feedback and answer client questions.

What is the difference between Therapeutic Touch and Healing Touch?

Therapeutic Touch is a specific energy technique developed by Delores Krieger. Healing

Touch is a collection of techniques developed and compiled by Janet Mentgen in the early
1980s. These techniques are taught through the Healing Touch program.

How might it benefit your health and wellbeing?

The goal of Therapeutic Touch is to assist the recipient in tapping into their own healing
process and to restore wholeness and wellbeing at the physical, emotional, mental, and
spiritual levels of the person.

Therapeutic Touch does not attempt to cure disease, but rather to stimulate the body's natural
healing process. According to Therapeutic Touch texts, the major effects of Therapeutic
Touch are a deep relaxation response, reduction of pain and anxiety, and faster wound

Practitioners believe that this therapy promotes health and wellbeing

and eases the dying process. Patients who are undergoing
chemotherapy or radiation have found it helpful in reducing side effects
of treatment, such as nausea, vomiting, weakness, or fatigue. Others
have seen reduced feelings of anxiety or grief.
Therapeutic Touch can benefit people of all ages and all states of health or illness, as well as
plants and animals.

This therapy is generally very safe, but precautions need to be taken with pregnant women
(since there is more than one energy field), and people with some forms of mental illness.
Experienced practitioners will take these factors into account.

What does the research show?

The popularity of Therapeutic Touch in the nursing profession has encouraged research in
this area. There have been more studies on Therapeutic Touch than other biofield energy
therapies (Reiki, Healing Touch). There is a large enough body of evidence to conduct
formalized analysis.

Early Therapeutic Touch studies reported by Heidt indicate efficacy in muscle relaxation and
stress and anxiety reduction. Later studies identify physiological effects (pulse amplitude,
blood pressure, pulse, and temperature) as well as subjective measures, such as stress, time
perception, and self-assessment of health.

Where can I find a practitioner?

The best way to choose a practitioner is to get a referral from a trusted source. Before you
visit, ask the practitioner about his or her educational preparation and experience. Make sure
the practitioner has completed three levels of training and a supervised mentorship. Explain
your specific needs and ask if he/she has worked with similar cases and if he/she can
confidently serve you.

You should feel comfortable working with the Therapeutic Touch practitioner