Therapeutic Touch [Hardcover]

Bela Scheiber (Editor), Carla Selby (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2000

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a good example of solid investigation, including volumnous references." -- State Journal-Register, September 24, 2000

From the Inside Flap

Imagine - an unproven medical therapy being taught in more than 80 colleges and universities in the United States and in hospital and medical facilities in 65 foreign countries. Believe it -- it is really happening! What is Therapeutic Touch? How did this quasi-religious mystical belief get by the gatekeepers of medicine and science?

This book answers these questions and more. It is the first and only critical evaluation of Therapeutic Touch -- the history, ethics, personalities, battles, and central experiments are all examined in this engrossing and comprehensive volume. A must read for anyone in the healthcare profession and for consumers confronted with healthcare decisions.

Finally, a serious scientific inquiry into this mysterious yet commonplace practice!

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 360 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books; 1 edition (June 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573928046
• ISBN-13: 978-1573928045
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,795,383 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book yet on Therapeutic Touch, July 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Therapeutic Touch (Hardcover)

This is the first book to take a critical look at the claims of therapeutic touch (TT). The editors, along with all of the authors in this book, have become familiar with the best evidence (or lack thereof) for TT and do a good job of going over the history, ethical issues, whether it should be used and taught, and if it actually works. Solid investigation has gone into all of these chapters.

TT is probably one of the branches of alternative medicine that is most accepted in the medical establishment (especially by nurses). If you have an interest in alternative medicine, you should definitely read this book to see where the science and evidence lead.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hardly sloppy and certainly informative, May 29, 2004

By 

Will Cullen (Vancouver, British Columbia ,Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Therapeutic Touch (Hardcover)

Béla Scheiber and Carla Selby's text, Therapeutic Touch, published by Prometheus books, is an excellent introduction to the nether world of 'human energy healing' modalities like TT. This unfortunate practce is dubiously associated within the nursing profession conflicting with their stated goals to develop more 'evidence based research' in nursing.

This text covers TT's history and some of the hard fought battles to have this "modality" removed from institutions (as the authors themselves had embarked upon). It also provides several articles illustrating what is TT's greatest problem: the inability to explain how this phenomena works and, then, the fields further inability to reproduce any alleged results it had previously claimed to have made.

The only dissappointment I found rested in the fact that there are no in depth articles regarding the un-ethical aspect of health care professionals associating their professions with this unfounded phenomenon. Truly "extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof." But, as Béla Scheiber and Carla Selby's text clearly illustrates, TT and its proponents are woefully unable to do so.

In a nutshell the book is an easy an excellent read and resource.

1.0 out of 5 stars Amateurish Vendetta, April 5, 2003

By 

Reviewer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Therapeutic Touch (Hardcover)

The editors may have put this collection of essays together simply because they have an axe to grind with the authors of the JAMA TT study.

Emily Rosa's study was heavily peer-reviewed before JAMA agreed to public it. Yet even Ray Hyman, in the introduction, insults the JAMA authors, insinuating without grounds that they may have behaved like pseudoscientists.

Here's an example of the editors' manipulation of facts to make the JAMA study look bad: Selby and Scheiber attribute to the JAMA authors the claim made by JAMA editor George Lundberg that the study demonstrates that the "human energy field" doesn't exist. Not in the paper. They also claim to know that Emily did not contribute to the writing of the paper. Actually, she did contribute a section of the paper.

The Rebecca Long study is ludicrous, attempting to explain why Emily Rosa's subjects felt something when Emily's study clearly showed that her subjects couldn't reliably detect the presence of her hand.

No wonder JAMA withdrew permission for the editors to reprint the JAMA paper in this book.