Therapeutic touch (commonly shortened to "TT"), known by some as Non-Contact Therapeutic Touch (NCTT), is an energy therapy which practitioners claim promotes healing and reduces pain and anxiety. Therapeutic TouchTM is a registered trademark in Canada for the "tructured and standardized healing practice performed by practitioners trained to be sensitive to the receiver's energy field that surrounds the body;...no touching is required." Practitioners of therapeutic touch state that by placing their hands on, or near, a patient, they are able to detect and manipulate the patient's energy field.
One highly cited study, designed by nine-year-old Emily Rosa and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that practitioners of therapeutic touch could not detect the presence or absence of a hand placed a few inches above theirs when their vision was obstructed. Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst concluded in their 2008 book Trick or Treatment that "the energy field was probably nothing more than a figment in the imaginations of the healers." The American Cancer Society has noted, "Available scientific evidence does not support any claims that TT can cure cancer or other diseases."
Read more about Therapeutic Touch: Origin, Scientific Investigations, Therapeutic Touch and Nursing Education
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