Therapeutic Touch PDF
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C>LongmanGroupLimited1995 e HarcourtPublishersLimited2001 C>ElsevierScienceLimited2003 ~PhotographicartworkJohnHoulihan CHURCI-ULLLIVINGSTONE AnimprintofElsevierScienceLimited TherightofJeanSayre-AdamsandStephenGWri~ttobeidentified as authorsofthis workhasbeenassertedby themillaccordancewith theCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct 1988 Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthis publicationmaybereproduced, storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmittedinanyform orby any means,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recordingor otherwise, withouteitherthe priorpermissionofthepublishersor alicence permittingrestrictedcopyingintheUnitedKingdomissuedby theCopyrightLicensingAgency,90TottenhamCourtRoad, LondonWIT4LP.Permissionsmaybesoughtdirectlyfrom Elsevier'sHealthSciences RightsDepartmentinPhiladelphia,USA: phone:(+1)2152387869,fax:(+1)2152382239, e-mail:[email protected] yourrequeston-linevia theElsevierScience homepage (http://www.elsevier.com).by selecting'CustomerSupport' andthen'ObtainingPermissions'. First published1995 Secondedition2001 Transferredtodigitalprinting2003 ISBN0443070822 BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData Acataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefrom the BritishUbrary LibraryofCongressCatalogingin PublicationData Acatalogrecordforthisbookisavailablefrom theLibraryof Congress Note Medicalknowledgeisconstantlychanging.Asnewinformation becomesavailable,changesintreatment,procedures,equipmentand theuseofdrugsbecomenecessary. Theauthorsandthe publishers havetakencaretoensurethattheinformationgiveninthistext is accurateandup todate.However,readersare stronglyadvisedto confirmthatthe information,espec1allywithregardtodrugusage, complieswiththe latestlegislationandstandardsofpractice. yoursourceforbooks, Journalsandmultimedia . . Inthehealthsciences Tht www.elHvlerhealth.com publl8he~. policylitoUH PlIPI'IIlIlIUIIcturId fromeultlllllbll'-" I Preface IfYOII don'tknoto what todo, Jllst putYOllr hands011 them andlove them Pannatier When words fail,therecanbenobetterwaytoconvey toanotherthat '1care' than by touch.However, thereare many waysoftouching,and even more ways inwhich othersmightrespond.In the modernworld of high-tech medicine and drugs, complex professional roles, attempts at cost control and higher through-put, people can often become more distant from, rather than closer to, those who seek to heal them. It cannotbe coincidence that, worldwide, millions of peoplehave turned tocomplementary therapistsfor help. Ifthese therapies have witnessed a growth boom in recent years, there has been an equally strong backlash. Sceptics, traditionalists, religious fundamentalists and many othershave conducted a rearguardaction to holdback the tide. Yet demands for access to complementary therapies escalate inexorably,perhaps because they offer an intimacy of contact that is lacking in many aspects ofhealthcare.Thecomplementarytherapies alltend tofocusonaclosehelpingrelationshipbetweentherapistand patient, and they offer comfort and sometimes healing when other measures have failed or are no longerappropriate. The complemen tary therapies also tend to focus on the individual, seeking to help the whole person and the many aspects of wellbeing, not just the disease process. Forsome, they may evenofferaspiritualdimension that could be lacking in their lives. Complementary therapies, compared to manyotherhealthcare techniques, are usuallypleasant toexperience and pain free- they are often used in conjunctionwith meditation, relaxation, music, guided imagery and so on. Thus the focus may frequently be on putting people in the best condition for self-healing to occur, rather than relying upon complex technical interventions. II X THERAPEUTIC TOUCH Many ofthe therapies alsoplace aheavyreliance upon touch, but whatsort oftouch? How does ordinarytouchdiffer from thatwhich is therapeutic? What is the difference between the touch used when washing someone's skin or helping them to move, and that which seeks to help and heal? Can such therapies work with conventional medicine or do they goagainst the grain? Onetechnique, TherapeuticTouch(TT),hasbeengainingincreased attentioninrecent years.Asdiscussedin Chapter1,we havereserva tionsaboutevenincludingTTas acomplementarytherapy. Tous itis a corequalityrelevanttoallhealingand healthcarepractices. TTrelies upon the belief that people are not just solid matter to which our everyday perceptions are accustomed; we do not end at our skin. As we discuss in Chapters 1 and 2, other perceptions of human beings are available to us - as consciousness, energy and so on. Through appropriate training, it is possible for us to become awareof this,andfor each ofus to tap intothatawareness. Thus we can workwith this new knowledge and participate in the healing of others - indeed,in this different worldview 'self'and 'other'merge. When this book was first published in 1995,we used Rogers' theory of Unitary Human Beings to underpin our approach to TT. As a model to understand what may be happeningin TT,it stillprovides us witha useful approachand ishelpful tobeginnersin providinga structure for learningthe theoryand practice of TT. However, as we discuss at several points in the book, describing such models as Rogers' as useful is all that is needed. Anyone who has deepened their knowledgeandpracticeinTTlearnsthatno model,no theory,is adequate to describe what is taking place. There are so many unknowns and mysteries that may one day be discovered. On the other hand, perhaps being mysterious, as with many other approaches tohealing, ispartofwhatmakes it 'work'. Itispossible, through the practice ofTT,to helpand heal another by holding the context in which relaxation and maximum health can occur. The TT practitioner does not simply transfer healing energy to another, but participates in a highlyintricate and complex process, with the intention ofputting the personin the best position forself-healing to takeplace. TTdoes not require people to reject established health care tech niques, rather it seeks to work with them in a complementary and supportive way, and indeed we may come to see in time that it is central toany healingandhealthcarework. II PREFACE xi Many healthcareworkersfind themselvesideally placed toincor porateITinto their everyday practice, as the manyexamples in this text will illustrate. It is relatively easy to learn, requires no special equipmentor drugsandcostslittlemore thanthe practitioner'stime. It seems to help many people while also being safe - the worst that canhappenisnothingat all. Wehave compiled this book in response to the growing demand formore information. Itwillexplore the background, research, prac ticeand education ofIT. Weare grateful to all the contributors who have given much time and effort to this project - enabling us to produce what will be a guide for those who seek to develop the practice of IT themselves. Through the work of the Sacred Space Foundation, a charity dedicated to the teaching and development of ITintheUK,manythousandsofhealthcareworkersandothershave now learnedofthebenefits ofIT,bothfor themselves and others. IT opens a gateway into healing that is available to all of us. Wehope this book will provide you with the insights and opportunities, and incentive, to take a step through and journeyalong the healing path foryourself. JeanSayre-AdamsandSteveWright Cumbria Authors' note As IT is relevant toa wide range ofthose who work in healing and health care,we have sought to make our ideas relevant to all, while drawinguponournursingbackgroundandtheleadingworkdoneon IT in nursing. Throughout the text, for simplicity, when we have referred tonurses this isin the generic sense and includesmidwives and health visitors. Carers and other health care workers practising IT need only change the word 'nurse' to their own preferred title. Again,forsimplicity,we have used theword'patient'whenreferring to someone 'receiving' IT, although this is done with some reserva tions, asoutlinedinChapter1. Acknowledgements Weare grateful toJanet Venn,Carol Horrigan,Ann Mills, JillFawke and Barbro Perkins for providing material used as case studies in parts of the text. Felicity Rankin, whose story appears on page 92 drew thepictureon theback cover. II 1 An introduction and background to Therapeutic Touch JeanSayre-Adams Steve Wright Recentthinking on the natureofenergy Conceptsofhuman energy TheemergenceofTherapeuticTouch Thechallenge ofscepticism Atheoretical background Why us? 2 THERAPEUTIC TOUCH • The real voyageofdiscovery consists notinseekingnew lands but inseeingwith neweyes. MARCEL PROUST II AN INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 3 Therapeutic Touch (TT)is a modem version of one of the oldest of therapies- the use oftouch as ameansofcomfortandhealing.At the same time the understandingofwhy it has lasted down through the centuriesisat thecuttingedgeofmanymodemscientific disciplines, quantumphysicsfor example. Thischapterwillgive ageneraloverviewofTT,whichtracessome of the history of the laying on of hands. Although Chapter 2 will explore the research on TT, some historical background is also included tooffersome additionaldimensions. Evidence of the use of touchas a methodofhealing can be traced back 15 000 years to drawings found on the walls of caves. Early Eastern philosophical and religious literature, Greek mythology, ancient Egyptian artefacts, native American myths, all contain some mention of touch as a means used to heal. Evidence for the use of layingon ofhands toheal humanillness in ancientEgyptisfound in the Ebers Papyrus dated 1552 BC. Four centuries before Christ, the Greeks used touch therapyin their Asklepian templesfor healing the sick.ThewritingsofAristophanesdetailthe use oflayingonofhands inAthenstorestoreablindman'ssightandreturnfertilitytoabarren woman. Hippocrates (460-377 BC) recorded, 'It has often appeared, while I have been soothing my patients that there was a singular propertyin myhandstopullanddrawawayfrom the affected parts, aches and diverse impuritiesby laying my hand upon the place and by extendingmyfingers toward it' (cited in MacManaway & Turcan 1983). The Bible has many references to laying on of hands for both medical and spiritual applications (see Chapter 2). Healing was consideredas muchpartof the earlyChristianministryas preaching or administering the sacraments. In some European countries, membersofroyal familieswerethoughttohealwiththe 'royaltouch'. This belief lasted until the reign of William IV and, some would argue, was continued in the life and work of the already near legendary Princess Diana. Many of these earlier attempts at healing werebased uponabeliefin the powerofJesus, the kingor a particu lar healer. Even now, many healersact in the nameof a spiritguide, particular guru (dead or alive) or believing they have a special dispensationfrom God. InEuropefromthe fifteenth tothenineteenth • 4 THERAPEUTIC TOUCH century, doctors and occultists such as Paracelsus and Fludd, and healerssuchasMesmer, theorlsedaboutthelikelymagneticnatureof 'energies' instead of believing that they were tapping into 'powers' belongingtoothers. Touching as a part of the healing act was widely used by both shamansand traditionalpractitionersuntilthe riseofPuritanculture inWestern Europeduringthe 16008.At thattimetoo,therewasashift away from what came to be seen as 'primitive' healing to modem scientific medicine (Baldwin 1986,Jahnke 1985).Achterberg (1990) writes that: Puritan cultureequatedtouchwithsex,which wasassociatedwith originalsin. Religiousandscientificviews, which rejectedtraditional practices,gavesuccourtoamovement thatsought toexterminatethose whopersistedinusingthem. Millions ofpeople,especiallywomen,acting as healerswerecaughtupingeneral persecutionsandexterminationsof thoseinvolvedinpracticeswhich werelittleunderstoodandoftendrawn within thesamenetaswitchcraft. Because of the rise of scientific medicine and the strong puritanical ethic, all unnecessary touch was discouraged. It was not until the 19505thattouchas a therapeuticinterventionbeganto be researched (Dossey 1988). Allcultureshavedeveloped theirowncustomsand taboos around touching. Ithasbeensuggestedthat British/Americancultureis one of the most touch-deprived in the world. Jourard (1964) watched pairsofpeopleengagedincoffeeshopsin PuertoRico,Paris, Florida and London. He counted the number of times one person touched anotherduringonehour. InPuertoRicotheaveragewas180,inParis 110,butin Floridaitwasonly2andLondonO. It is important to note here that not all patients, because of their culturalupbringing,wanttobetouchedor feel comfortablein being touchedby allpeople.Therefore,beforeanykindoftouchingis initi atedwithpatientsitis necessary to takeintoconsiderationthesocial context andculturaldifferencesconcerningtouch. Forexample,there may be differences relating to different parts of the body that it is consideredacceptableto touch. Touchthatis acceptablebetweentwo women may be inappropriate when offered between men and II AN INTRODlICTION AND BACKGROllND 5 women. Similarly,levels ofacceptable touch between men may also differ.Additional dimensions are brought in through religious and other culturaleffects.ItisusuallyinappropriateforaMuslim woman toreceivehands-onnursingfroma male nurse,andsoon. At the same time, everyone needs touch. Infants cannot survive withoutit,andstudiesshow that the needfor touch does not dimin ish as people grow older. Indeed, older people may suffer most acutely from lack of touch because of separation from, or loss of, family and friends. They are also affected by various social stigmas and expectations of how older people should behave, such as assumptions that theyshouldno longer needor desire closephysical contact (Marr &:Kershaw 1998).Yettouch also functions as an effec tivecommunicationchannelfortheolderpersonatatimeoflifewhen other formsofcommunicationmaybe lessacute (Baldwin 1986). Touchisprobably one of the most highly used senses. The skin is the largest sense organ of the body, and touch is the first sense to develop in the humanembryo, the one most vital forsurvival. Much oftheinfant'sfirstinformationabouttheworldisgainedfromtheway he orsheistouched during thebirthingprocess,and touch continues tobe used tolearn about our environment. Itisthrough theskin that knowledge about the external world is communicated to the brain, and in tumpeople conveyto others informationabout themselves.A piece of skin the size of a small coin such as a penny or a quarter containsmore than 3millioncells,12feetofnerves, 100sweat glands, 50nerve endingsand 3feetofblood vessels.Itisestimated that there are about 50 receptors over 100square centimetres, a total of about 900000sensory receptorsper person (Montague &:Matson 1979). Touchinghas always been an integral part of the work of health care,butitisthe way we touch that determineswhetheritwillbe an act of healing or a mechanistic procedural act. Many health care professionals move forward intuitivelytohold ahand or totouch an arm asagestureofreassurance. Handholdinghas been described as a positive means of communication and one that seems to break down barriers (Knable1981). Through the mechanism of touch, one can convey feelings of caring and understanding to the patient (Schmahl 1964). Other feelings, intentionally or unintentionally, can alsobeconveyed. Forexample, judgementalattitudesare revealed in
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