Healing Hands, by Robert Pope
The Art and Science of Therapeutic
Touch as a Spiritual Intervention
Rev. David Maginley
Spiritual Care, QEII Health Sciences Centre
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Objectives
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Define Therapeutic Touch
Review its history and present practice
Explore the concept of energy medicine
Review research and discuss challenges
Explore its application in spiritual care
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
2008 - $33.9 billion
85% of medical schools offer courses
National Center for Health Statistics, 2009.
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Therapeutic Touch
1. One of may expressions of subtle energy therapies
experienced as spiritual interventions
2. Represents a recovery and integration of ancient
healing arts
3. Transpersonal connection and consciousness that
extends beyond the physical
4. An experience that recontextualizes identity,
meaning and relationship - “who and what I am”
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Therapeutic Touch
 A five step process in which the practitioner modulates
energy through the hands to assist a person’s natural healing
 Both healer and healee are mutual expressions of a unified
therapeutic interaction through which both are made whole
 Based on Rogerian Nursing Theory
 Resonance: a continuous change exists from lower to
higher frequencies in the human and environmental energy
fields
 Helicity: These same fields progress to states of greater
diversity and order
 Integrality: Mutual interaction occurs between human and
environmental fields
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Therapeutic Touch
Physical Anatomy
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Biochemical, anatomical
Health is a state of complete physical well-being
Illness is impairment of normal physiological function
affecting part or all of an organism
Spiritual Anatomy
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Energetic, consisting of physical, mental, emotional and
spiritual fields
Health results when fields function with balance and
integration both within the individual and with the
environment
Illness results from dissonance in the fields which eventually
manifests in the body.
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
A new/ancient model
Traditional Mode
Integrative Model
Physics: Newtonian
Physics: Einstein & quantum
Human body: biochemical
physiological systems
Human being: open series of energy
systems, continuously interacting
Consciousness: by-product of the
brain’s electrical activity
Consciousness: emanates from the
mind-body-spirit connection
Emotions influence illness & pain
through neurohormonal connections
Emotions, thoughts & the spirit
influence illness & pain through
energetic & neurohormonal
connections
Focus: fixing
Focus: healing
Focus on problems
Focus on wellness
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
A new/ancient model
Non-Theistic
Theistic
Universal Field
God
Negentropic
Love
Healing is a natural human potential
Healing is a gift of the Spirit
Dependant on presence and
practice
Dependant on faith
A universal phenomenon
Restricted to a specific religious
tradition
Focus on compassion
Focus on Jesus
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Dr. Dolores Krieger
Dora Kunz
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
The Influence of an Unorthodox Method of
Treatment on Wound Healing in Mice
Grad, Bernard, Remi J. Cadoret, and G. I. Paul
 Oscar Estabany, Hungarian healer
 Double-blind experiment on wound healing in 300 mice
 100 in control group, 100 held by a healer, 100 held by students
Before treatment
14 days
Control
Healer
Students
International Journal of Parapsychology 3, no. 2 (1961)
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Therapeutic Touch
1. Centering: bringing the body and emotions into a quiet,
focused state of awareness
2. Assessment: using the hands to determine the nature of
the dynamic energy field
3. Clearing: facilitating symmetrical flow of energy
throughout the field
4. Evaluation: use of professional, informed and intuitive
judgment to determine when to end a session
5. Grounding: facilitating the flow of energy to the ground
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Evaluation
Grounding
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Centered Consciousness
 Rapid psychomotor quieting of the physical body
 A significant lessening of usually uncontrollable verbalizations in
the mind
 A sense of timelessness expands within one’s awareness
 A profound stillness and a sense of peace
 A reduction or shift of egocentric focus
 There is greater clarity in recognition of compassion as power
 An increase in self-confidence
 A strong grasp of intuitive insights and access to deep inquiry
 A tacit understanding of the power of effortless effort
 The awareness that the deeper one goes within oneself, the
easier it is to heal
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Effect of TT
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Deep relaxation
Relief from pain
Accelerated healing
Connection to non-physical sensation
Imparts a sense of calm, safety, wonder
Hope/awareness that the body is not all there is
Practical, compassionate tool for family members
Expands capacity for caring and prevents burnout
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Does the Human Energy Field Exist?
Dr. Robert Becker
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Cells and tissues generate electrical fields that can be detected
on the skin surface
Meridians of currents mapped on the body
SQUID Magnetometer
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Superconducting Quantum Interference Device
All tissues produce biomagnetic fields from 0.3hz - 30hz.
Field from the heart and hands are strongest, and in the same
frequency range as brain waves. This may explain how the
hands are able to stimulate healing.
The direct current control system. A link between environment and organism. Becker Ro,
Bachman Ch, Friedman H. NY State J Med. 1962 Apr 15;62:1169-76.
SQUID Magnetometers: Uses in Medicine S.J. Swithenby 1987 Physics in Technology 18 17
Radiogenic metabolism: an alternative cellular energy source M. S. Benford. Medical
Hypotheses. 2001;56(1):33-39
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Does the Human Energy Field Exist?
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Fritz-Albert Popp
Theoretical biophysicist
University of Marburg, Germany
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Light Within the Body
“University of California
researchers find new lightsensing mechanism in neurons”
Science Journal, March 3, 2011
“New, wireless method of brain
stimulation has the potential to
activate specific regions of the
brain or restore function to
damaged or cut nerves”
March 16, 2009 Case Western Reserve University
Blue-light sensing arousal neurons (credit: UCI)
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Light in human consciousness
"Orchestrated Objective Reduction of Quantum Coherence in Brain Microtubules: The
'Orch OR' Model for Consciousness" by Stuart Hameroff and Roger Penrose
Dentrite
Dentrite Spine/Synaptic Receptor
Nucleus
Membrane
Axiom
Microtubule
Microtubule Associated Protein
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Therapeutic Touch
 “Fields alone are real, they are the substance of
the universe”
 Guillemin V: The Story of Quantum Mechanics, New York,
Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1968
 “The pattern and organization of any biological
system is established by a complex
electrodynamic field.”
 Burr HS, Northrop FS: The Electrodynamic Theory of Life Q
Rev Biol 1935;10:322-333
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Research
 anxiety,  pain,  relaxation response
(Boguslawski, 1980, 1990; Cox and Hayes,1997; Denison, 2004; Green, 1998;
Heidt, 1981,1990, 1991; Lionberger, 1985; Meehan 1991)
 the healing process (Wirth and Barrett, 1994)
 chemotherapy related side effects, improve several aspects
of immune function in patients with cancer (Caudell, 1996)
 hemoglobin levels (Kreiger, 1975, 1979)
 initiates changes in lymphocyte levels (Quinn & Strelkauskas, 1993)
 A review of studies to date suggests that TT promotes comfort,
calmness, and well-being among hospitalized patients (Newshan &
Schuller-Civitella, 2003).
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Therapeutic Touch affects DNA synthesis and
mineralization of human osteoblasts in culture.
Jhaveri A, Walsh SJ, Wang Y, McCarthy M, Gronowicz G
Objective: To determine if TT had any effect on osteoblast
proliferation, differentiation, and mineralization in vitro.
Method: TT performed twice a week for 10 min each on human
osteoblasts and on an osteosarcoma-derived cell line
Results: After four TT treatments in 2 weeks, TT significantly (p =
0.03) increased HOB DNA synthesis compared to controls. At 2
weeks in differentiation medium, TT significantly increased
mineralization in HOBs (p = 0.016) and decreased mineralization in
SaOs-2 (p = 0.0007), compared to controls.
J Orthop Res. 2008 Nov;26(11):1541-6.
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
The effect of therapeutic touch
on pain and anxiety in burn patients.
Turner JG, Clark AJ, Gauthier DK, Williams M.
Objective: Determine if TT versus placebo produce greater pain
relief as an adjunct to narcotic analgesia, a greater reduction in
anxiety, and alterations in plasma T-lymphocyte concentrations
among burn patients.
Method: Single-blinded randomized clinical trial. 99 subjects, 15-68
yrs hospitalized for severe burns received either TT or placebo once
a day for 5 days. Blood drawn on days 1 and 6 for lymphocyte
subset analysis. Medication usage for pain were recorded.
Results: Subjects who received TT reported significantly greater
reduction in pain than did those who received placebo.  CD8 +
lymphocyte concentration for TT group.
J Adv Nurs. 1998 Jul;28(1):10-20.
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
The effects of therapeutic touch on patients
with osteoarthritis of the knee
Gordon A, Merenstein JH, D’Amico F, Hudgens D
Objective: Determine if TT is effective in the treatment of
osteoarthritis of the knee.
Method: 25 patients, 40-80 yrs received TT, placebo and no
treatment. Qualitative and quantitative evaluation. All patients
had a diagnosis of osteoarthritis of at least 1 knee, had not had
a knee replacement, and had no other connective tissue
disease. Both the TT group and the placebo group received a
treatment once weekly for 6 weeks.
Results: Statistically significant improvements with TT.
J Fam Pract.1998;47(4):271–277
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
The effects of therapeutic touch on patients
with osteoarthritis of the knee
Gordon A, Merenstein JH, D’Amico F, Hudgens D
 pain  function
 arthritis at week 7 (P = .05) and the number of tender joints
(P = .02).
 energy (P = .02),
 frustrations (P = .02),
 mood (P = .04)
 pain over time in the TT treatment group than in the
placebo group.
 analgesics for their arthritis pain, delayed steroid injections,
and being able to walk further without swelling or pain at 7
weeks post Tx.
J Fam Pract.1998;47(4):271–277.
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Effect of therapeutic touch on the
well-being of persons with terminal cancer
Giasson M, Bouchard L.
Objective: Examine the effect of three TT treatments on the well-being of
20 persons with terminal cancer in palliative care.
Method: Experimental group (n = 10) received three noncontact TT
treatments for 15 to 20 minutes. Control group (n = 10) participated in three
rest periods.
Well-being measured at pre-intervention time and immediately postintervention time using the Well-Being Scale, a visual analogue scale
measuring pain, nausea, depression, anxiety, shortness of breath, activity,
appetite, relaxation, and inner peace.
Results: The results of the study support the hypothesis that three
noncontact TT treatments increase sensation of well-being in persons with
terminal cancer.
J Holist Nurs. 1998 Sep;16(3):383-98.
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Research
Weaknesses
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Inconsistencies in methodology
Lack of studies on larger populations
Difficult to isolate the effect of intention influencing outcomes
Unable to observe or quantify the energy field due to limited funding or lack of
knowledge of available technology.
The scientific method is not well designed to address healing intention.
Science demands repetition, but that very demand compromises the effect.
Strengths
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Demonstrated decrease in the amount of pain medications required and
increases in the time span between dosages
In vitro studies demonstrate energetic effects on cells
Induces the relaxation response
Improved well-being
Energy Healing and Pain: A Review of the Literature Dolores L. Fazzino, DNP, RN, FNP-BC,
CRNFA, Mary T. Quinn Griffin, PhD, RN, Sister Rita McNulty, DNP, RN, APRN-BC, Joyce J.
Fitzpatrick, PhD, MBA, RN, FAAN Holist.Nurs.Pract. 2010 24(2) 79-88
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Sunshine Room – 368 patients
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Therapeutic Touch & Spiritual Care
 Referrals
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TT in a Clinical Unit
40% Patient referral from a nurse
30% Chaplain’s visit
20% Patient request (patients sharing information with each other)
10% Doctor referral
Referrals are verbal or noted in progress notes
 Positive and consistent benefits in alleviating:
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Anticipatory nausea and vomiting (ANV)
Pain management
Intractable NV
Anxiety
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Therapeutic Touch & Spiritual Care
 In following 10 patients through their course of ABVD at
MDU, TT was given before and during direct infusion.
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All patients experienced a decrease in ANV,
Better able to tolerate the protocols.
Nausea in two cases was debilitating and extreme.
Deep relaxation experienced
Chemotherapy well tolerated
Strength, appetite and energy improved the rest of the day
and through the week.
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Therapeutic Touch & Spiritual Care
 Phantom limb pain
 Palliative care
 Allergy to antiemetics
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Spiritual Issues
 History of healing brought under the church’s control
 Hostility to women continuing traditional practice
 Context and language of treatment can be
challenging to conservative theology
 Occult influence, identification of Eastern concepts
with demonic deception
 Fear, misunderstanding of mysticism, meditation, and
it’s deep roots in Christianity
 Resistance to reducing healing to scientific terms
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Spiritual Issues
 John 14:13-14
 To pray in the name of Jesus is to act in the same
character and relationship to God as Jesus.
 Reference of identification that manifests in character,
not doctrine or formula of authorization.
 TT can also be upsetting to scientific world view
 Nurse witnessing treatment becomes upset
 Spiritual care is rooted in psychosocial models
 energetic interventions limited to CAM
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Demonstration
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Therapeutic Touch in Canada
BC Cancer Agency
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Vancouver Cancer Centre
Fraser Valley Cancer Centre
Abbotsford Centre
Kelowna
Ontario
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Toronto East General
Casey House AIDS Hospice
Wellspring London/Toronto/
Sunnybrook/Niagra/Bramptom
Alberta
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Wellspring Edmonton
Wellspring Calgary
Nova Scotia
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QEII Health Sciences Centre
NS Environmental Clinic
Marguerite Centre
CCS Lodge that Gives
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Therapeutic Touch Worldwide
 Over 50 doctoral dissertations
 Taught to over 200,000 in 104 countries
 First healing method taught at the doctoral level
 An extension of nursing professional nursing skills
 Most extensively researched (over 1000 studies and articles)
 Taught at over 70 universities in North America
 Practiced in over 50 medical centres.
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Credentialing
Practitioner
 Three levels are each taught in full day workshops
 Repeat levels with a different teacher
 Complete workbook with 60 case studies and 15 supervised
treatments
 Practice Group
 An Advanced workshop
 Membership in the Therapeutic Touch Network
 Signed statement of ethics and conduct
Teacher
 Practiced Therapeutic Touch regularly
 One year teaching mentorship with a Qualified TT teacher
 Signed statement of ethics and conduct
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
A Vision for the Future
 Changing landscape of professional Spiritual Care
 SC working collaboratively in developing true integrative
practice: mind, body, spirit
 Leading the disciplines in the field of subtle energetics
 Thought, intention and compassion in medical staff
understood as central energetic interventions
 e.g. How the poor delivery of bad news affects outcomes
 Fusion of ancient and modern practices
High tech, high touch
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Resources:
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Therapeutic touch Network of Ontario: http://www.therapeutictouchontario.org
Detecting cellular light:
http://www.tohtech.ac.jp/~elecs/ca/kobayashilab_hp/NewScientist.html
DNA emits light: http://viewzone2.com/dna.html
Light sensing mechanisms in neurons:
http://www.today.uci.edu/briefs/2011/03/nb_holmes_110303.php
Imaging brain connections: http://www.kurzweilai.net/102187
Wireless brain stimulation: http://www.physorg.com/news156443682.html
The "Orch OR" Model for Consciousness:
http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/penrose-hameroff/orchor.html
Global Consciousness Project: http://noosphere.princeton.edu/index.html
Primary Perception: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/science/the-secret-life-ofplants-29564.html
International society for the study of subtle energy and energy medicine:
http://www.issseem.org
The Intention Experiment: http://www.theintentionexperiment.com/the-field.htm
Institute for Noetic Sciences: http://www.noetic.org
Institute of HeartMath: http://www.heartmath.org
Abrams, Donald and Weil, Andrew. Integrative Oncology, Oxford University Press
2009
Gerber, Richard. A Practical Guide to Vibrational Medicine, Harper Collins 2000
Gordon, James. Manifesto for a New Medicine, Harper Collins 1996
Harper, Tom. The Uncommon Touch, McClelland & Stewart 1994
Dossey, Larry. Healing Words, Harper Collins 1993
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre
Healing Hands, by Robert Pope
Thank You!
David Maginley, QEII Health Sciences Centre