Therapeutic touch

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Energy therapy - edit
NCCAM classifications
  1. Alternative Medical Systems
  2. Mind-Body Intervention
  3. Biologically Based Therapy
  4. Manipulative Methods
  5. Energy Therapy
See also

Therapeutic touch (commonly shortened to "TT"), also called Non-Contact Therapeutic Touch (NCTT), "Healing Touch," or Distance Healing,[1] is an energy therapy practitioners say promotes healing and reduces pain and anxiety. Practitioners of therapeutic touch state that by placing their hands on, or near, a patient, they are able to detect and manipulate the patient's energy field.[2] One highly cited study, designed by nine year old Emily Rosa and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that practitioners of therapeutic touch could not detect the presence or absence of a hand placed a few inches above theirs when their vision was obstructed.[3][4][5] Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst concluded in their 2008 book Trick or Treatment that "the energy field was probably nothing more than a figment in the imaginations of the healers."[6]

Origin

Dora Kunz, a theosophy promoter and one-time president (1975–1987) of the Theosophical Society in America, and Dolores Krieger, Ph.D., R.N., a nursing educator at New York University, developed therapeutic touch in the 1970s.[2][7][8]

According to Dr. Dolores Krieger, practitioners say that therapeutic touch has roots in ancient healing practices,[9] such as the laying on of hands, although it has no connection with religion or faith healing. Krieger states that, "in the final analysis, it is the healee (client) who heals himself. The healer or therapist, in this view, acts as a human energy support system until the healee's own immunological system is robust enough to take over".[10]

Therapeutic touch originated within a larger movement in the nursing community to move away from the scientific method.[11]

Scientific investigations

Researching therapeutic touch in 1996, the James Randi Educational Foundation and the Philadelphia Association for Critical Thinking (commonly referred to as PhACT) sent invitations to more than 60 nursing organizations and individuals, including Krieger, offering $742,000 to any practitioner who could prove their ability to detect "biofields." Only one practitioner responded, and the results were not statistically significant. PhACT acknowledged that one test on one practitioner is not grounds to dismiss the entire theory of therapeutic touch.[12]

Emily Rosa, at 9 years of age, conceived and executed a study on therapeutic touch. With the help of Stephen Barrett from Quackwatch, and with the assistance of her mother, Linda Rosa, RN, Emily became the youngest research team member to have a paper accepted by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) for her part in a study of therapeutic touch, which debunked the claims of therapeutic touch practitioners. Twenty-one practitioners of therapeutic touch participated in her study, and they attempted to detect her aura. The practitioners stood on one side of a cardboard screen, while Emily stood on the other. The practitioners then placed their hands through holes in the screen. Emily flipped a coin to determine which of the practitioner's hands she would place hers near (without, of course, touching the hand). The practitioners then were to indicate if they could sense her biofield, and where her hand was. Although all of the participants had asserted that they would be able to do this, the actual results did not support their assertions. After repeated trials the practitioners had succeeded in locating her hand at a rate not significantly different from chance.[4][5][7] JAMA editor George D. Lundberg, M.D, recommended that patients and insurance companies alike refuse to pay for therapeutic touch or at least question whether or not payment is appropriate "...until or unless additional honest experimentation demonstrates an actual effect." [7]

A study described by the author as a "pilot study" and published in Holistic nursing practice found that "therapeutic touch may be an effective treatment for relieving pain and improving quality of life in this specific population of persons with fibromyalgia syndrome."[13]

A 1999 review of the physics of complimentary therapies states that the existence of a "bio-field" or "bio-energetic field" directly contradicts principles of physics, chemistry, and biology.[14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Citation/CS1/Suggestions' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Bruno, Leonard C. (1999). "Therapeutic touch". Encyclopedia of Medicine. Gale Research. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g2601/is_0013/ai_2601001343. Retrieved 2007-07-07. 
  3. ↑ Therapeutic Touch Study Data
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Glazer, Sarah (2000). "Postmodern Nursing". The Public Interest. Retrieved 2007-07-07. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Citation/CS1/Suggestions' not found.
  6. ↑ Singh, S. and Ernst, E. (2008). Trick or Treatment. Corgi. p. 267-268. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Why Therapeutic Touch Should Be Considered Quackery by Stephen Barrett, M.D.
  8. ↑ Theos-Talk Archives (April 2005 Message tt00332)
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Citation/CS1/Suggestions' not found.
  10. ↑ Krieger, Dolores (April 1, 1993). Accepting Your Power to Heal: The Personal Practice of Therapeutic Touch. Bear & Company. p. 7. ISBN 1879181045. 
  11. ↑ Junkfood Science Special: Trusting nurses with our lives by Sandy Szwarc, BSN, RN, CCP. July 6, 2007.
  12. ↑ A Scientific test of TT done by PhACT Date: 14 November 96 by Bob Glickman, R.N.
  13. ↑ Denison B. (2004). "Touch the pain away: new research on therapeutic touch and persons with fibromyalgia syndrome". Holist Nurs Pract. 18 (3): 142–51. 
  14. ↑ [Stenger, Victor] (Spring/Summer 1999). "The Physics of 'Alternative Medicine' Bioenergetic Fields". The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine. 3 (1).  Check |author-link1= value (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

es:Toque terapéutico it:Tocco terapeutico he:הילינג ja:セラピューティック・タッチ fi:Parantava kosketus

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