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Therapeutic Touch
Since the inception of medicine as a science, individuals have sought alternative therapies to be used in addition to or in conjunction with conventional medical healing treatments. Therapeutic Touch is one such alternative which seeks to heal using the body's own complex pattern of energy fields. The concept of the human body as the source of an energy field is not a new one. The belief that the human body contains and emanates it's own energy field has been documented for many centuries. In 1972, Delores Krieger PhD., RN. developed the technique of Therapeutic Touch. Since this time Therapeutic Touch has gained popularity within the nursing profession. It is widely used in fields of nursing which care for individuals who are suffering acute or chronic pain and where palliation is a goal of care. The existence of an energy field and the wisdom of nursing embracing Therapeutic Touch as a legitimate nursing intervention remain two widely debated topics. A review of the literature shows many sources of both acceptance and skepticism of this technique and it's relationship to nursing. The five phases of the Therapeutic Touch process according to Smith (2002) are:
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