What Is Healing Touch Therapy?

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsSimilar Types of TherapiesWhat to Expect From a Healing Touch SessionTechniquesWhat HT Therapy Can Help WithThings to Consider

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Similar Types of Therapies

What to Expect From a Healing Touch Session

Techniques

What HT Therapy Can Help With

Things to Consider

Close

Healing touch (HT) is an energy therapy that uses light touch or close-to-the-body touch to support and facilitate physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health.

HT does not serve as a solo treatment method but is an alternative healing option that may be incorporated with other approaches as part of an overall treatment program.

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Some Asian approaches similarly focus on energy and maintaining a body’s harmony and equilibrium. These other modalities include acupuncture, qigong, jin shin jyutsu, andreiki.

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HT is a biofield (energy field) therapy that practitioners claim may promote calm and relaxation. Similar to the setting for a massage, it is commonly administered while the client lies on a massage table. In some locations, patients sit in a chair.

In all treatments, clients are fully clothed. Sometimes music is played. HT practitioners will always get your permission if they plan to use direct touch.

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Techniques of Healing Touch Therapy

Once they’ve finished scanning, they will choose a technique that would most benefit you. Two techniques are used in HT, as outlined below.

The Chakras Technique

One technique involves your chakras, often called energy points in the body. The American Psychological Association dictionary defines chakra as “one of the seven energy centers in the body” in Eastern philosophy.

Using this technique, the practitioner places hands on your feet and moves up the body, focusing on perceived areas of stagnation or atypical energy.

The Magnetic Passes Technique

The Magnetic Passes technique offers another option. This technique involves the practitioner’s fingers combing or brushing over the patient’s energy field. Actual physical contact is not made.

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What Healing Touch Therapy Can Help With

More research is needed to support HT’s claims of efficacy but there are some studies suggesting HT may have promising benefits.

May Relieve Pain

Pain management in newborns poses special challenges for healthcare teams that care for these infants. A University of Cincinnati team recently published a study exploring the impact of massage and HT on neonatal pain.

The study focused on 186 infants, and 62% of them received both massage and HT. Focusing on pre- and post-therapy reactions, they found significant improvements in these infants' heart rates. Researchers concluded that massage and HT could be useful therapies in improving comfort and reducing pain in neonates.

Recent research conducted on cancer pain relief also showed the value of HT. The study was conducted on 572 cancer patients' pain and concluded that HT provided immediate pain relief.

May Reduce Anxiety

In another small study from a nursing school in Chester, Pennsylvania, researchers investigated if an HT session could lower anxiety in junior nursing students. The results showed a statistically significant reduction in the anxiety scores of the nurses as a result of the effects of the HT session.

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While research has proven that massage has healing benefits, non-contact therapies such as HT and TT are more controversial. Scientists aren’t sure exactly why or how it works. Some think it’s due to the placebo effect.

As they study more about the mechanisms that make HT effective, patient reports tell of improved quality of life. So while there isn’t much empirical evidence available yet, recent scientific studies show promise.

As there is no downside to adding this complementary treatment, it may be a valued adjunct therapy, especially for patients who are grappling with chronic pain within long-term care facilities.

Nowadays, hospitals are incorporating HT into their programs to calm and relax patients before they go in for procedures. HT is also being used for patients with anxiety andsleep disturbances.

Summary

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7 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Healing Touch Program.What Is Healing Touch?American Psychological Association.APA Dictionary of Psychology - Chakra.Hathaway EE, Luberto CM, Bogenschutz LH, Geiss S, Wasson RS, Cotton S.Integrative Care Therapies and Physiological and Pain-related Outcomes in Hospitalized Infants.Glob Adv Health Med. 2015;4(4):32-37. doi:10.7453/gahmj.2015.029Gentile D, Boselli D, O’Neill G, Yaguda S, Bailey-Dorton C, Eaton TA.Cancer Pain Relief After Healing Touch and Massage.J Altern Complement Med. 2018;24(9-10):968-973. doi:10.1089/acm.2018.0192Klein GJ.Using healing touch to help junior nursing students with their anxiety. In: STTI; 2014Wardell DW, Decker SA, Engebretson JC.Healing touch for older adults with persistent pain.Holist Nurs Pract. 2012;26(4):194-202. doi:10.1097/HNP.0b013e318258528dFalvey G.Using healing touch in a hospital setting to relieve pain, anxiety, and assist with sleep.Pain Management Nursing. 2021;22(2):240. doi:10.1016/j.pmn.2021.02.049

7 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Healing Touch Program.What Is Healing Touch?American Psychological Association.APA Dictionary of Psychology - Chakra.Hathaway EE, Luberto CM, Bogenschutz LH, Geiss S, Wasson RS, Cotton S.Integrative Care Therapies and Physiological and Pain-related Outcomes in Hospitalized Infants.Glob Adv Health Med. 2015;4(4):32-37. doi:10.7453/gahmj.2015.029Gentile D, Boselli D, O’Neill G, Yaguda S, Bailey-Dorton C, Eaton TA.Cancer Pain Relief After Healing Touch and Massage.J Altern Complement Med. 2018;24(9-10):968-973. doi:10.1089/acm.2018.0192Klein GJ.Using healing touch to help junior nursing students with their anxiety. In: STTI; 2014Wardell DW, Decker SA, Engebretson JC.Healing touch for older adults with persistent pain.Holist Nurs Pract. 2012;26(4):194-202. doi:10.1097/HNP.0b013e318258528dFalvey G.Using healing touch in a hospital setting to relieve pain, anxiety, and assist with sleep.Pain Management Nursing. 2021;22(2):240. doi:10.1016/j.pmn.2021.02.049

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Healing Touch Program.What Is Healing Touch?American Psychological Association.APA Dictionary of Psychology - Chakra.Hathaway EE, Luberto CM, Bogenschutz LH, Geiss S, Wasson RS, Cotton S.Integrative Care Therapies and Physiological and Pain-related Outcomes in Hospitalized Infants.Glob Adv Health Med. 2015;4(4):32-37. doi:10.7453/gahmj.2015.029Gentile D, Boselli D, O’Neill G, Yaguda S, Bailey-Dorton C, Eaton TA.Cancer Pain Relief After Healing Touch and Massage.J Altern Complement Med. 2018;24(9-10):968-973. doi:10.1089/acm.2018.0192Klein GJ.Using healing touch to help junior nursing students with their anxiety. In: STTI; 2014Wardell DW, Decker SA, Engebretson JC.Healing touch for older adults with persistent pain.Holist Nurs Pract. 2012;26(4):194-202. doi:10.1097/HNP.0b013e318258528dFalvey G.Using healing touch in a hospital setting to relieve pain, anxiety, and assist with sleep.Pain Management Nursing. 2021;22(2):240. doi:10.1016/j.pmn.2021.02.049

Healing Touch Program.What Is Healing Touch?

American Psychological Association.APA Dictionary of Psychology - Chakra.

Hathaway EE, Luberto CM, Bogenschutz LH, Geiss S, Wasson RS, Cotton S.Integrative Care Therapies and Physiological and Pain-related Outcomes in Hospitalized Infants.Glob Adv Health Med. 2015;4(4):32-37. doi:10.7453/gahmj.2015.029

Gentile D, Boselli D, O’Neill G, Yaguda S, Bailey-Dorton C, Eaton TA.Cancer Pain Relief After Healing Touch and Massage.J Altern Complement Med. 2018;24(9-10):968-973. doi:10.1089/acm.2018.0192

Klein GJ.Using healing touch to help junior nursing students with their anxiety. In: STTI; 2014

Wardell DW, Decker SA, Engebretson JC.Healing touch for older adults with persistent pain.Holist Nurs Pract. 2012;26(4):194-202. doi:10.1097/HNP.0b013e318258528d

Falvey G.Using healing touch in a hospital setting to relieve pain, anxiety, and assist with sleep.Pain Management Nursing. 2021;22(2):240. doi:10.1016/j.pmn.2021.02.049

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