Therapeutic Touch, or TT, is a noninvasive method of healing that came from an ancient technique that involves laying-on of hands in order to re-balance the patient’s energy field. This is done through an energy transfer that moves from the hands of the practitioner to the patient.

The major effects of TT are relaxation, pain reduction, accelerated healing, and alleviation of psychosomatic symptoms. TT is reported to have a positive effect on the immune system and thus accelerates the healing of wounds.

Therapeutic Touch was developed in 1972 by Dora Kunz, a healer, and Dolores Krieger, Ph.D., R.N, a nurse and professor of nursing at New York University. The year before, in 1971, when Krieger was working as a registered nurse in a hospital, she became very frustrated when one of her patients, a 30-year-old female, lay dying from a gallbladder condition. In desperation, she tried what she was learning from Kunz. Within one treatment, the patient’s condition began to improved and she lived, surprising the other hospital staff. Krieger and Kunz met during the study of Oskar Estebany, a world—renowned healer. During her research of ancient healing methods, Krieger concluded that the energy transfer between the healer and the healee that takes place in a TT session is prana, an Eastern Indian concept representing energy, vitality, and vigor. Krieger then combined her research with Kunz’s techniques to create TT.

The TT session generally lasts about 30-40 minutes. Although the name is therapeutic touch, there is generally no touching of the physical body, only the energetic body or field. It is usually performed on fully clothed patients who are either lying down on a flat surface or sitting up in a chair. Therapeutic Touch treats the whole person: relaxes the mind, heals the body, and soothes the spirit. The principle behind it is that it does not stop at the skin. The human body extends an energy field, or aura, several inches to several feet from the body. When illness occurs, it creates a disturbance or blockage in the vital energy field. The TT practitioner uses the hands to assess the patient’s energy field, to release areas where the free flow of energy is blocked, and to balance the patient’s energy, by transferring energy from a universal life energy force to the patient. In a series of gentle strokes, the healer removes the disturbance and re-balances the energy to restore health.

Therapeutic Touch is performed in many different locations, including healing centers, delivery rooms, hospitals, hospice settings, accident scenes, homes, and schools.