Therapeutic touch
Encyclopedia
Therapeutic touch also known as Non-Contact Therapeutic Touch (NCTT), is an energy therapy
which practitioners claim 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. 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. 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."
, a theosophy
promoter and one-time president (1975–1987) of the Theosophical Society in America
, and Dolores Krieger, a nursing educator at New York University
, developed therapeutic touch in the 1970s.
According to Dolores Krieger, practitioners say that therapeutic touch has roots in ancient healing practices, such as the laying on of hands, although it has no connection with religion or with 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".
Therapeutic touch originated within a larger movement in the nursing
community to move away from the scientific method
.
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.
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. 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."
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 ... fibromyalgia
syndrome." This study suffered from a small number of self-selected participants (15), unequal numbers in each experimental group, an inadequate control treatment which consisted of simply listening to an audiotape and was carried out by a TT practitioner. It also investigated a clinical condition about which there is little scientific consensus due to the lack of abnormalities on physical examination and the absence of objective diagnostic tests.
A 1999 review of the physics of complementary therapies states that the existence of a "bio-field" or "bio-energetic field" directly contradicts principles of physics
, chemistry
, and biology
. A systematic review on the effectiveness of various distance healing techniques concluded that "The methodologic limitations of several studies make it difficult to draw definitive conclusions about the efficacy of distant healing. However ... the evidence thus far merits further study."
examined nursing standards in California, where registered nurses taking classes in therapeutic touch are awarded continuing education units (CEUs) required for licensure renewal by the California Board of Registered Nursing (CBRN). Hammer and Underdown presented the Board with the scientific evidence refuting the validity of therapeutic touch as a legitimate treatment, but the Board did not change its policy. On July 13, 2009, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
replaced six of the seven appointed members of the CBRN.
Energy medicine
Energy medicine is one of five domains of "complementary and alternative medicine" identified by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the United States...
which practitioners claim 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. One highly cited study, designed by nine year old Emily Rosa
Emily Rosa
Emily Rosa is the youngest person to have a research paper published in a peer reviewed medical journal. At age nine Rosa conceived and executed a scientific study of therapeutic touch which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1998...
and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association
Journal of the American Medical Association
The Journal of the American Medical Association is a weekly, peer-reviewed, medical journal, published by the American Medical Association. Beginning in July 2011, the editor in chief will be Howard C. Bauchner, vice chairman of pediatrics at Boston University’s School of Medicine, replacing ...
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. Simon Singh
Simon Singh
Simon Lehna Singh, MBE is a British author who has specialised in writing about mathematical and scientific topics in an accessible manner....
and Edzard Ernst
Edzard Ernst
Edzard Ernst is the first Professor of Complementary Medicine in the world, at the University of Exeter, England....
concluded in their 2008 book Trick or Treatment
Trick or Treatment
Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial is a 2008 book about alternative medicine by Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst. Singh is a physicist and the writer of several popular science books...
that "the energy field was probably nothing more than a figment in the imaginations of the healers."
Origin
Dora KunzDora Van Gelder
Dora van Gelder Kunz was an American writer, psychic, alternative healer, occultist and leader in the Theosophical Society in America...
, a theosophy
Theosophy
Theosophy, in its modern presentation, is a spiritual philosophy developed since the late 19th century. Its major themes were originally described mainly by Helena Blavatsky , co-founder of the Theosophical Society...
promoter and one-time president (1975–1987) of the Theosophical Society in America
Theosophical Society in America
The Theosophical Society in America is a member-based nonprofit organization dedicated to the teaching of Theosophy and affiliated with the international Theosophical Society based in Adyar, Chennai, India. The name "Theosophical Society in America" was legally adopted by the American Theosophical...
, and Dolores Krieger, a nursing educator at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, developed therapeutic touch in the 1970s.
According to Dolores Krieger, practitioners say that therapeutic touch has roots in ancient healing practices, such as the laying on of hands, although it has no connection with religion or with faith healing
Faith healing
Faith healing is healing through spiritual means. The healing of a person is brought about by religious faith through prayer and/or rituals that, according to adherents, stimulate a divine presence and power toward correcting disease and disability. Belief in divine intervention in illness or...
. 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".
Therapeutic touch originated within a larger movement in the nursing
Nursing
Nursing is a healthcare profession focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life from conception to death....
community to move away from the scientific method
Scientific method
Scientific method refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of...
.
Scientific investigations
Researching therapeutic touch in 1996, the James Randi Educational FoundationJames Randi Educational Foundation
The James Randi Educational Foundation is a non-profit organization founded in 1996 by magician and skeptic James Randi. The JREF's mission includes educating the public and the media on the dangers of accepting unproven claims, and to support research into paranormal claims in controlled...
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
Statistical significance
In statistics, a result is called statistically significant if it is unlikely to have occurred by chance. The phrase test of significance was coined by Ronald Fisher....
. PhACT acknowledged that one test on one practitioner is not grounds to dismiss the entire theory of therapeutic touch.
Emily Rosa
Emily Rosa
Emily Rosa is the youngest person to have a research paper published in a peer reviewed medical journal. At age nine Rosa conceived and executed a scientific study of therapeutic touch which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1998...
, at 9 years of age, conceived and executed a study on therapeutic touch. With the help of Stephen Barrett
Stephen Barrett
Stephen Joel Barrett is a retired American psychiatrist, author, co-founder of the National Council Against Health Fraud , and the webmaster of Quackwatch. He runs a number of websites dealing with quackery and health fraud. He focuses on consumer protection, medical ethics, and scientific...
from Quackwatch
Quackwatch
Quackwatch is an American non-profit organization founded by Stephen Barrett with the stated aim being to "combat health-related frauds, myths, fads, fallacies, and misconduct" and with a primary focus on providing "quackery-related information that is difficult or impossible to get elsewhere."...
, 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
Journal of the American Medical Association
The Journal of the American Medical Association is a weekly, peer-reviewed, medical journal, published by the American Medical Association. Beginning in July 2011, the editor in chief will be Howard C. Bauchner, vice chairman of pediatrics at Boston University’s School of Medicine, replacing ...
(JAMA) for her part in a study of therapeutic touch, which debunked
Debunker
A debunker is an individual who attempts to discredit and contradict claims as being false, exaggerated or pretentious. The term is closely associated with skeptical investigation of, or in some cases irrational resistance to, controversial topics such as U.F.O.s, claimed paranormal phenomena,...
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. 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."
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 ... fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia is a medical disorder characterized by chronic widespread pain and allodynia, a heightened and painful response to pressure. It is an example of a diagnosis of exclusion...
syndrome." This study suffered from a small number of self-selected participants (15), unequal numbers in each experimental group, an inadequate control treatment which consisted of simply listening to an audiotape and was carried out by a TT practitioner. It also investigated a clinical condition about which there is little scientific consensus due to the lack of abnormalities on physical examination and the absence of objective diagnostic tests.
A 1999 review of the physics of complementary therapies states that the existence of a "bio-field" or "bio-energetic field" directly contradicts principles of physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
, and biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
. A systematic review on the effectiveness of various distance healing techniques concluded that "The methodologic limitations of several studies make it difficult to draw definitive conclusions about the efficacy of distant healing. However ... the evidence thus far merits further study."
Therapeutic touch and nursing education
Owen Hammer and James Underdown from the Independent Investigations GroupIndependent Investigations Group
The Independent Investigations Group is a volunteer-based organization founded by James Underdown in January 2000 at the Center for Inquiry-West in Hollywood, California...
examined nursing standards in California, where registered nurses taking classes in therapeutic touch are awarded continuing education units (CEUs) required for licensure renewal by the California Board of Registered Nursing (CBRN). Hammer and Underdown presented the Board with the scientific evidence refuting the validity of therapeutic touch as a legitimate treatment, but the Board did not change its policy. On July 13, 2009, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
replaced six of the seven appointed members of the CBRN.
External links
- Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine on Therapeutic Touch
- Skeptics Report investigation of Therapeutic Touch
- Therapeutic Touch at the Skeptic's DictionarySkeptic's DictionaryThe Skeptic's Dictionary is a collection of cross-referenced skeptical essays by Robert Todd Carroll, published on his website skepdic.com and in a printed book. The skepdic.com site was launched in 1994 and the book was published in 2003 with nearly 400 entries. As of January 2011 the website has...