What is Therapeutic Touch?

Therapeutic Touch is a form of energy medicine. Practitioners of energy medicine believe that there is a universal source of subtle energy that surrounds and penetrates every living thing. Practitioners of energy medicine attempt to manipulate this energy to encourage healing. The best known forms of energy medicine have their roots in Asia. Reiki, for example, is a well known example of energy healing that developed originally in Japan. Less well known is a form of energy medicine known as Therapeutic Touch.

Therapeutic Touch developed within the American nursing tradition in the 1970's and is now taught in hospitals throughout the world. According to Susan Wagner, MD., Therapeutic Touch has three basic beliefs at its foundation:

"First there is a universal healing energy, available to all that has order as its basis. Second, there is an underlying unity among life forms. Our interconnectedness allows one person to help another. Third, what we think and how we feel can affect our physical health." (Doctor's Guide to Therapeutic Touch, 1996, p.25)

Practitioners of Therapeutic Touch further assume that an individual's body, mind, and spirit form a complex energy field – a biofield -- that extends beyond the surface of the body. This energy "aura" can be detected and manipulated to the benefit of the person in need of healing.

According to proponents of Therapeutic Touch, level of health reflects the flow of energy and through the individual. In a healthy person there is a symmetrical and balanced flow of energy through the individual and in exchange with the environment. The flow of energy in this way nourishes the individual and promotes vitality. When illness occurs or an injury happens, the flow of energy becomes obstructed or constricted. It is the practitioner's task is to find the obstruction, clear it, and re-establish the free flow of energy. As the free flow of energy is balanced and restored, the person's natural healing processes are stimulated.