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Therapeutic Touch

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In the mid-1970s a new type of therapy called 'therapeutic touch'(TT) was introduced into the practice of nursing. Its proponents claimed that an energy field surrounding the body could be manipulated by skilled practitioners to produce healing effects for a wide variety of illnesses. Despite the fact that there were no reliable controlled studies of TT, some nursing journals and nursing schools uncritically embraced this new direction in therapy. Today the number of nurses practising therapeutic touch is reported by proponents to be as high as 40,000. In light of the popularity of this new therapy, a rational, critical evaluation of its effectiveness is long overdue. This anthology of research articles illuminates every aspect of the subject, including the physics of the claimed 'human energy field', which is an essential component of the theory underlying TT and detailed discussions of the most recent research into the efficacy of TT. It provides an account of the origins and history of the practice, plus a separate review of sceptics' work to shine the light of reason on it; a discussion of how archaeology and feminism have become involved in TT; several reports that present the best case for this new therapy; a discussion of the way the media have handled the topic; and, a consideration of the ethical implications of this practice. Scholarly yet accessible to the lay person, this authoritative review of an important but controversial new therapy will make a valuable contribution to the libraries of nursing schools, universities, and hospitals, and should be of interest to anyone considering the use or practice of therapeutic touch.
Bela Scheiber is a systems engineer in the telecommunications industry and the president of Rocky Mountain Skeptics. Carla Selby is the CEO of a nonprofit corporation that develops innovative, high-tech tools for teaching science and critical thinking, and she is also the vice president of Rocky Mountain Skeptics. Both Scheiber and Selby are members of the Council for Scientific Medicine.
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