What Therapeutic Touch Claims To Do & How It's Said To Work

"Therapeutic touch" is a method of healing where practitioners claim to manipulate an energy field that surrounds the human body. Practitioners of therapeutic touch typically work with their hands at a short distance from the body or by lightly touching the patient. They believe that by doing so, they can promote healing and reduce pain.

Therapeutic touch is based on the idea that human beings are fields of energy that are in constant interaction with the environment. The practice was initially inspired by the laying-on of hands, which has historical roots in many cultures as a way to convey comfort and healing. It is similar to faith healing in that both involve belief in healing through non-physical means, but it doesn't require any belief in religion.

Therapeutic touch is based more on a notion from Eastern philosophies that places great importance on a vital energy or life force within all of us. It's more aligned with holistic and alternative medicine practices than with explicitly religious rituals.

The other way the therapeutic touch differs from faith healing is that healing is not typically described as being instant or spontaneous. Instead, it's considered a complementary therapy that is said to aid natural healing. Patients often require ongoing sessions to achieve the full benefits purported by practitioners.

Therapeutic touch involves the practitioner affecting the patient's health without direct physical contact. This form of influence over physical systems without contact is similar to other paranormal phenomena, such as psychokinesis, where the mind is said to influence physical objects or conditions directly.

This likeness means that therapeutic touch could be loosely considered a psychic skill. However, practitioners typically do not claim to have psychic abilities. They believe in a skill that can be learned and applied through practice and intention. Despite the distinctions practitioners claim, the practices bear similarities to those described as "psychic surgery." Psychic surgery also involves a practitioner healing with their hands, but in a more extreme form where the healer supposedly removes diseased tissues from the body without using conventional surgical techniques.

The assumption is that health is a state of perfect energetic balance and that disease represents a disruption in this energy field, so treatment involves organising or clearing the patient's energy field. The treatment often begins with a process called "centring," where the practitioner prepares mentally to channel healing energy. They will then use their hands to hover above the patient. They may feel heat, cold, tingling, or resistance, which they interpret as indications of energy imbalances. Next, they make sweeping hand motions over the body, known as "unruffling," which involves hand motions believed to "smooth" the energy field so that the field is flowing evenly and without obstruction. Then, "modulation," where they address imbalances by moving their hands in specific patterns with the intention of directing or dispersing energy to balance the patient's energy field.

The mechanism by which these steps are said to work lacks any supporting scientific evidence. For example, Emily Rosa conducted an experiment in 1998 to test the ability of therapeutic touch practitioners to detect a human energy field when deprived of visual and other sensory cues. The study found that practitioners could not reliably sense the field, casting doubt on one of the foundational claims of therapeutic touch.

The concept of manipulating "energy fields" is vague and not supported by any scientific understanding of energy as defined by physics. Many skeptics argue that any benefits felt from therapeutic touch are due to the placebo effect. This occurs in many medical settings when a patient experiences a real improvement in symptoms, not because the treatment itself is effective but because they believe it will be effective. While the placebo effect is a powerful therapeutic tool, that does not mean therapeutic touch itself is working.

Although therapeutic touch is controversial and highly debated, it is generally considered harmless and is used in some healthcare settings, especially for stress reduction and in palliative care.