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Therapeutic Touch
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Therapeutic Touch is a process of energy exchange whereby the practioner uses their hands to facilitate healing. Therapeutic Touch (TT) has been derived from several ancient healing practices. It is based on the assumption that there is a Universal Energy Field that sustains all living organisms. Also that our human body, mind, emotions, and intuition form this energy field. Disease processes are associated with blockages, deficit or disorder to the energy pattern. Where as in health the dynamics of the energy field are order and balance.
Therapeutic Touch was developed in 1972 by Dolores Krieger, PhD, RN and Dora Van Gelder Kunz, a natural healer. Nurses were the first group to learn Therapeutic Touch given their understanding of the human body and natural compassion with patients. Today many hospitals and Nursing institutions in the U.S. and World offer and teach Therapeutic Touch. Currently, many health professionals (such as massage therapists, dentist, and mental health professionals etc) as well as lay people practice and can learn Therapeutic Touch. In 1992, the National Institute of Health (Office of Alternative Medicine) indicated that Therapeutic Touch had one of the strongest research bases of alternative modalities.
The primary goal of Therapeutic Touch is to restore harmony and balance to the individual. While this does not guarantee a cure, often patients heal in one manner or another. Another underlying assumption in Therapeutic Touch is the body has the innate capacity to heal and TT accelerates and assists with this process. The practice is non-invasive and since the Universal Energy Field extends beyond the skin, TT does not require actual touch. Often patients who have had TT report: feeling more relaxed, reduced stress and anxiety, pain reduction, and accelerated healing. It has also been shown to enhance the immune system and provides comfort for the dying.
For more information about TT or how you can find a practitioner near you, email Vicci Tibbetts (TT in California) at vtmb@earthlink.net. Or to find out more about the National Organization for Therapeutic Touch (and to find practitioners throughout the United States), you can contact "Nurse Healers Professional Associates International" at www.therapeutic-touch.org.
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