Therapeutic touch

{{bronze}}[[Image:AddTT.gif|thumb|right|165px|Helping the Hopeless]]{{altmed}}
'''Therapeutic touch''' (abbreviated '''TT''') is a type of "healing" not uncommonly taught at nursing schools. Like [[faith healing]], [[prayer]], and other non-traditional healing methods, it relies on [[hypotheses]] that have no [[scientific method|scientific]] basis and are easily disproved. It operates on [[Protoscience|pre-scientific beliefs]], which include a [[life force]] that separates the living from the nonliving, similar to [[qi]] or [[Pranic healing|prana]]. TT purports that certain "sensitive" individuals have the ability to sense other individuals' "Body Energy Field". These people, whose talent can be groomed, can manipulate this energy by making particular hand movements over the client. These movements are intended to channel the healer's own [[energy]] to the patient or otherwise attempt to reduce blockage, "imbalance", or other energy disturbances so the client can heal. According to the Nurse Healers Professional Therapeutic Touch Manual, "people with psychiatric disorders, the elderly and/or debilitated are more sensitive to the interaction."<ref>http://www.therapeutic-touch.org/newsarticle.php?newsID=6</ref>

Therapeutic touch is another in a long line of "bunk" medical treatments that sound too good to be true. It carries just enough of an air of plausibility to fool many lay-people and has vocal supporters. These supporters attack those who call into question their "science", typical of those that follow [[pseudoscience]]. They have been successful at inserting their ideas into mainstream nursing colleges, where TT is tightly embedded. As with many [[Alternative medicine|"alternative" medical]] techniques, practitioners are unregulated and not required to prove the efficacy or safety of their techniques. Based on this alone, the need for improved rigor in scientific nursing education is clear, so that compassionate nurses do not waste their patients' time and money (or their own) with "patent cures".

==History==
Various types of healing-at-a-distance have been used for many, endless millennia. Such theories as "mesmerism" and "animal magnetism" have existed for over a century, and are completely discredited. Therapeutic Touch was popularized in the early 1970s as an outgrowth of [[aura]]-theory, [[ESP]], and other [[New Age]] ideas. The current ideas of TT were developed by Dolores Krieger, Ph.D., R.N., of New York University's Division of Nursing<ref>http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/tt.html</ref> and by Dora Kunz, of the American [[Theosophical Society]]. Since it is taught in many mainstream nursing schools, it has undergone a special level of scrutiny rather than [[WOMBAT|being dismissed out of hand]].

[[Image:TherTouch.jpg|thumb|Therapeutic touch in action]]

==Efficacy==
TT is scientifically implausible, especially since these supposed "energy fields" cannot be detected with any instrument and otherwise not very strictly defined. It has been formally studied, however. The most famous study to date was published in the ''Journal of the American Medical Association''.<ref>L. Rosa, E. Rosa, L. Sarner and S. Barrett, [http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/279/13/1005.full A close look at therapeutic touch]. ''JAMA'' 279 (1998), pp. 1004–1010. Conclusions.— Twenty-one experienced TT practitioners were unable to detect the investigator's "energy field." Their failure to substantiate TT's most fundamental claim is unrefuted evidence that the claims of TT are groundless and that further professional use is unjustified.</ref> This study failed to show any ability to detect "human energy fields", the proclaimed prerequisite to TT. There was significant backlash among "practitioners",<ref>http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/ttresponse.html</ref><ref>Tall FD. A close look at "A close look at therapeutic touch". [Review] [17 refs] [Journal Article. Review] ''Nursing Outlook''. 51(3):126-9, 2003 May-Jun</ref> none of whom offered up refuting evidence in support of therapeutic touch.<ref>"Healing touch" by J. L. Mentgen (2001) ''Nursing Clinics of North America'' 36(1):143-58. "This article explores how nurses can use energetic principles and Healing Touch to enhance the healing of their patients, for their own personal healing and growth, for improving job satisfaction, and for identifying educational resources available for more intense study."</ref> It is 
notable
 downright fucking impressive that the lead investigator on this study, Emily Rosa,<ref>{{wpa|Emily Rosa}}</ref> was '''nine years old''' at the time. She holds a Guinness World Record for being the youngest individual to be published in a professional medical journal, and was featured on an episode of [[Penn & Teller]]'s ''[[Bullshit#Bullshit!|Bullshit!]]''.

Studies have also been published in ''Lancet''<ref>Krucoff MW. Crater SW. Gallup D. Blankenship JC. Cuffe M. Guarneri M. Krieger RA. Kshettry VR. Morris K. Oz M. Pichard A. Sketch MH Jr. Koenig HG. Mark D. Lee KL. Music, imagery, touch, and prayer as adjuncts to interventional cardiac care: the Monitoring and Actualisation of Noetic Trainings (MANTRA) II randomised study. ''Lancet''. 366(9481):211-7, 2005 Jul 16-22. "The primary study endpoint in this 2×2 randomized controlled trial was a composite of in-hospital major cardiovascular events, death, or readmission within the next 6 months. Neither prayer nor music, imagery, or touch produced any effect on this outcome."</ref> and other reputable medical journals.

Despite all this (or maybe because of it, [[woo]] advocates being what they are), the Pumpkin Hollow Retreat Center (which also seems to be connected to [[Theosophy]] in some way) both funds and promotes TT. Not only did this get them a 2013 Pigasus Award from the [[James Randi Educational Foundation]],<ref>[http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/jref-news/2074-jrefs-pigasus-awards-honors-dubious-peddlers-of-woo.html JREF's Pigasus Awards “Honors” Dubious Peddlers of “Woo”,] JREF web site</ref> but it ''also'' got them an additional booby prize in the form of a recent [[Million-dollar challenge|One Million Dollar Challenge]] for the claims they made concerning its medical efficacy.<ref>[http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/2052-jref-and-phact-issue-challenge-to-qtherapeutic-touchq-practitioners.html JREF and PhACT Issue Challenge to "Therapeutic Touch" Practitioners,] JREF web site</ref>

==External links==
*{{wpa|Therapeutic touch}}
*http://skepdic.com/tt.html
*http://www.therapeutic-touch.org/newsarticle.php?newsID=1
*http://www.phact.org/articles/altmed/tt.php
*http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/tt.html

==See also==
*[[Neurolink]]
*[[Pranic healing]]
*[[Qi]]
*[[Reiki]]

==References==
{{reflist|2|90%}}

{{altmedbox}}
[[Category:Alternative medicine]]
[[Category:Energy therapy]]

Categories: Alternative medicine, Energy therapy