Dear colleagues,
It's discouraging to think that I can have an impact on students'
critical thinking, when "educated" administrators make decisions to
"buy into" such precariously supported "therapy".
Feeling like I'm swimming upstream against a torrent sometimes,
-S
On Aug 30, 2005, at 12:20 PM, Jean-Marc Perreault wrote:
Hi Everyone,
I'm trying to make up my mind on a small situation at the College
where I teach. This upcoming term, the Counselling Centre (which is
under "Student Services") is offering free Healing Touch (HT) sessions
for everyone. Volunteers from the community, who practice Healing
touch, will be coming in once a week to do the sessions.
During Orientation week, there will be HT reps to give out info.
Here's what has been distributed to staff in terms of information so
far (it's a bit long, sorry...). I imagine similar info will be handed
out to students during orientation week:
*What is Healing Touch?*
*Adapted from Donald Stouffer, Phd, CHTP, Professor of Aerospace
Engineering, U of Cincinnati, and*
*Barbara Brennan, PhD, D.Th, M. Sc, Atmospheric Physics*
* *
Your body has the ability to heal itself. Illness and disease are
often caused by restrictions of energy flow in the body./ /When you
are ill, fatigued or under stress, your body produces symptoms, which
is how we know that it has recognized a problem and is actively
working to heal itself. This natural regulator works to keep your body
in balance. Healing Touch is a therapeutic method that works with the
energy of the client to promote the body’s natural healing process.
*How does it work?*
A model for a scientific basis of the physiological changes developed
by a Healing Touch treatment can be extracted from acupuncture
research. In acupuncture, healing is stimulated by the insertion of
fine needles at special points on meridians that are usually activated
with a tiny current. This current stimulates the flow of Qi or pulses
of electrical energy that travel along the meridians and neurological
pathways to the cells. Pomeranz (1) showed that this current
stimulates the release of endorphins, and the secretion of hormones,
serotonin and other chemicals at the cellular level. This chemical
change produces effects like relaxation and reduction of pain. It is
reasonable to expect the same results from Healing Touch (2).
Modern science tells us that humans are not just a physical structure
made of molecules, but that, like everything else, we are also
composed of energy fields. Scientists are learning to measure these
energy fields related to our bodies and to measure their frequencies.
They measure electrical currents from the heart with the
electrocardiogram (ECG). They measure electrical currents from the
brain with the electroencephalogram (EEG). The lie detector measures
the electropotential of the skin. They can now even measure
electromagnetic fields around the body with a sensitive device called
the SQUID (the superconducting quantum interference device). This
device does not even touch the body when measuring the magnetic fields
around it (3). A magnetic field detector would show that your energy
field is pulsating at 7.8 to 8 Hz. This is a natural energy state for
everyone (4). As medicine relies more and more upon these
sophisticated instruments that measure impulses from the body, health
and disease are slowly being redefined in terms of energy impulses and
patterns.
Maxwell’s Law (5), a well documented effect in physics, states that
the flow of electrical charges creates both an electrical field and a
magnetic field, and Maxwell’s equations show how these effects are
related. Thus the human energy system is a bioelectromagnetic field
(6). The flow felt between a person’s two hands is a biomagnetic field
flow. The aura is a subtle biomagnetic field.
During a Healing Touch treatment the practitioner’s biomagnetic field
interacts with the client’s biomagnetic field and changes occur in the
client’s electrical field. This produces a change in the client’s
chemical balance at the cellular level, chemicals are released and
physiological changes result. The cell’s structure and function are
changed. This process can be summarized in the following diagram:
Practitioners Client’s Electrical Chemical Cell Structure
Magnetic Field <=> Magnetic Field <=> Field <=> Balance <=> & Function
Healing Touch is not magic. It is based on biology, chemistry, and
physics. The effect of the modality is similar to acupuncture. It can
be thought of as a bioelectromagnetic massage to stimulate
bioelectromagnetic and physiological changes in the client at the
cellular level to promote healing.
* *
(1) Pomeranz, B. (1986). Scientific Basis of Acupuncture. Stux &
Pomeranz eds., _Acupuncture: Textbook and Atlas_, Springer Verlag,
Berlin.
(2)/ /Donald Stouffer, /Why does Healing Touch Work?/ Colorado Center
for Healing Touch, Healing Touch Newsletter, March 1999.
(3) Brennan, B.A. (1987). _Hands of light: A guide to healing through
the human energy field._ New York: Bantam Books. Pp 19-20.
(4) Brennan, B.A. (1993). _Light emerging: The journey of personal
healing._/ /New York: Bantam Books. P. 5.
(5) Paul, R.C., K.W. Whites and S.A Nasar. (1998). _Introduction to
Electromagnet Fields_, WCB/McGraw-Hill, 3^rd Ed., Cambridge
Massachusetts.
(6) Tiller, W.A. (1997). _Science and Human Transformation, Subtle
Energies, Intentionality and Consciousness_, Pavior Pub., Walnut Creek
California,.
*What do practitioners say to skeptics of healing touch?* It's good to
have a healthy amount of skepticism; we need to question whether a
procedure or therapy is legitimate. Many clients see the benefits of
healing touch by participating in a session and feeling changes within
themselves.
* *
*Research*
Although progress has been substantial, we are still in the very early
stages of understanding what happens with HT work. Healing Touch
originated from Therapeutic Touch, therefore most research has been
done on the latter. Research completed on HT has been in the following
areas: Patient Satisfaction, Pain, Orthopedic Pain, Cancer,
Endocrine/Immune/HIV, Cardiovascular, the Elderly, Psychiatrics,
Pediatrics, Post-Operative, Spiritual Development in Practitioners.
Information is available at
http://www.healingtouch.net/research/index.shtml. It is possible to
download the 60 page document or to contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> to receive the current Research
Survey. For a summary of HTI research updated to February 2005,
contact Jo Lukawitski at 667-7804.
*Research literature*
Gagne, D., & Toye, R.C. (1994). The effects of therapeutic touch and
relaxation therapy in reducing anxiety. /Archives of Psychiatric
Nursing/, VIII(3), 184-189.
Heidt, P.R. (1981). Effect of therapeutic touch on the anxiety level
of hospitalized patients. /Nursing Research/, 30 (1), 32-37.
Heidt, P.R. (1991). Helping patients to rest: Clinical studies in
therapeutic touch. /Holistic Nursing Practice/, 5 (4), 57-66.
Keller,E., & Bzdek, V.M. (1986). Effects of therapeutic touch on
tension headache pain. /Nursing Research/, 35 (2), 101-106.
Meehan, T.C. (1993). Therapeutic touch and postoperative pain: A
Rogerian research study. /Nursing Science Quarterly/ 6 (2), 69-78.
Peck, S.D.E. (1997). The effectiveness of therapeutic touch for
decreasing pain in elders with degenerative arthritis. /Journal of
Holistic Nursing/, 15 (2), 176-198.
Peters, R.M. (1999). The effectiveness of therapeutic touch: A
meta-analytic review. /Nursing Science Quarterly/, 2 (2), 79-87.
Quinn J.F. (1984). Therapeutic touch as energy exchange: Testing the
theory/. Advances in Nursing Science/, 6 (2), 42-49.
Quinn, J.F., & Strelkauskas, A.J. (1993). Psychoimmunologic effects of
therapeutic touch on practitioners and recently bereaved recipients: A
pilot study. /Advances in Nursing Science/, 15 (4), 13-26.
Turner, J.G., Clark, A.J., Gauthier, D.K., & Williams, M. (1998). The
effect of therapeutic touch on pain and anxiety in burn patients.
/Journal of Advanced Nursing/, 28 (1), 10-20.
Wirth, D.T. (1990). The effect of non-contact therapeutic touch on the
healing rate of full thickness dermal wounds. /Subtle Energies/, 1
(1), 1-20.
***Further Reading*
* *
Hover-Kramer, Dorothea. (2002). /Healing Touch – A Guidebook for
Practitioners/. 2^nd Edition. Delmar Thompson Learning.
Brennan, B.A. (1987). /Hands of light: A guide to healing through the
human energy field/. New York: Bantam Books.
Brennan, B.A. (1993). /Light emerging: The journey of personal
healing/. New York: Bantam Books.
Bruyere, R.L. (1994). /Wheels of Light/. Fireside Simon & Schuster.
Dossey, L. (1999). /Reinventing Medicine/. Harper SanFransisco.
Joy, W.B. (1979). /Joy’s Way: A map for the transformational journey/.
Tarcher Putnam.
Judith, A. (1996). /Eastern Body Western Mind/. Berkley California,
Celestial Arts
Sheldrake, R. (2003). /The sense of being stared at/. Three Rivers
Press.
*Recent Articles*
*“The Integration of Healing Touch with Conventional Care at the
Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine”.* /Explore Magazine, The
Journal of Science and Healing./ March 2005. By Rauni Prittinen King.
*"The Touch That Heals"* /Experience Life magazine./ December, 2004.
By Jenifer Pedalty. This article includes a brief description of
Healing Touch for the layperson and also some nice personal stories.
*"Healing Touch and Quality of Life in Women Receiving Radiation
Treatment for Cancer: A Randomized Controlled Trial."* /Alternative
Therapies in Health and Medicine./ May/June 2004. By Cynthia Loveland
Cook PhD, RN ACSW, Joanne F. Guerrerio, RN, MSN, CHTP, HNC, Victoria
E. Slater PhD, RN, CHTI, HNC. This research was performed at
Barnes-Jewish Hospital in ST. Louis, MO. Reprints available by email-
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
*"High-Tech & Healing Touch"* /Spirituality & Health./ March/April
2004. By Stephen Kiesling. This article features the Scripps Center
for Integrative Medicine in La Jolla, CA., Mimi Guarneri, MD, CHTP and
Raunie King, RN CHTP/I use Healing Touch in the cardiac intensive care
unit.
**"A Review of Healing Touch Studies"* /Journal of Nursing
Scholarship./ June 2004. By Diane Wind Wardell. This article organizes
and reviews over thirty Healing Touch studies in a professional
nursing journal.
*Weblinks **(all sites as of August 11, 2005)*
* *
www.therapeutictouch.org <http://www.therapeutictouch.org>
www.healingtouch.net/research/index.shtml
<http://www.healingtouch.net/research/index.shtml>
www.healtheast.org/HealthInfo/3_Health_and_Wellness/
FullArticle_healingtouch.cfm
<http://www.healtheast.org/HealthInfo/3_Health_and_Wellness/
FullArticle_healingtouch.cfm>
I'm debating what to think about the fact that the College is
sponsering this. On the one hand, I think it's great to provide
exposure to students. The College should not be so different from the
real world that they are sheltered to the point of not having to be
critical about what is offered to them. On the other hand, I have a
hunch that for many students, a College-sponsored activity (ok, no
money is being paid, but the college is supporting it) must be
legitimate, thus taking away the need for critical thinking.
What are some of your thoughts about such a situation?
Looking forward to reading your reactions.
Cheers!
Jean-Marc
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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171
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