http://www.healingtouch.net

Healing Touch is an approach to helping individuals by restoring balance in the human energy field. The work is complementary to other modalities in health care and often brings about a decrease in pain sensation, increased efficacy of medication, relief of anxiety, and acceleration of the body's own restorative processes.


Healing Touch can be described in three ways: as an educational program, as a therapeutic intervention and as an international organization that provides healing touch certification and formulates standards of practice for HT. The Healing Touch program is endorsed by the American Holistic Nurses' Association (AHNA) and has a multi-level training program. As participants develop their expertise through the five major courses Level 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and extensive experiential learning, they become eligible for international certification through Healing Touch International, Inc.


The first Healing Touch course was taught in December 1989. In 1990, 26 courses were taught. By January 2003, close to 80,000 students have attended one or more levels of the program in cities of the United States and over 20 countries including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad, Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Romania, Netherlands, Finland, Peru, and several South African countries. Over 700 work-shops were presented in 2002 with over 10,000 students attending. In the U.S. workshops were offered in 43 states with California leading the way and Ohio close behind. Certification through AHNA began in 1993, changed to HTI June of 1996, and currently there are over 1700 certified practitioners and 180 certified instructors.


In the newly congressionally approved ABC codes for Complementary Medicine and Conventional Nursing Manual, Healing Touch is listed under "Energy Work" and was assigned the code CBCAE.


The American Association of Retired People (AARP) approved certified Healing Touch practitioners as providers for their American WholeHealth Alternative Health & Wellness network - www.aarp.wholehealthmd.com.


NANDA, the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association, in 1994, adapted the nursing diagnosis: "Disturbed Energy Field". The definition of the diagnosis is: "A disruption of the flow of energy surrounding a person's being which results in a disharmony of the body, mind and/or spirit".


The Healing Touch program teaches the healing philosophies and methods of well known healers, such as Alice Bailey, Dr. Brugh Joy, Rosalyn Bruyere, Barbara Brennan, Rudy Noel, Rod Campbell and Janet Mentgen. Throughout the program students enhance their self-understanding and intuitive skills.


Research in Healing Touch has a great start and several studies have been completed with more underway. Healing Touch International has employed a nurse researchers to coordinate and track Healing Touch research. Currently we have a 80 page printout description of past, current and proposed HT research projects posted on our web page.


The textbook entitled, Healing Touch: A Guide Book for Practitioners, 2nd Edition authored by D. Hover-Kramer, J. Mentgen and S. Scandrett-Hibdon and published by Delmar Press, Albany, NY is available. Also available is, Energetic Patterns: Healing Touch Case Studies, Vol I published by the Colorado Center For Healing Touch (CCHT). Also by CCHT is White Shadow - Walking with Janet Mentgen by Diane Wardell. The National Institutes of Health lists Healing Touch in its publication, Alternative Medicine. Expanding Horizons. Several nursing textbooks describe HT, including the 1998 Fundamentals of Nursing, Standards and Practice, by Delmar Publishers and describes HT in the "Nursing and Alternative/Complementary Treatment Modalities" chapter. The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization recently published a Complementary Therapies in End-of-Life Care manual with a full chapter on Healing Touch. Healing! Touch certification workshops are taught in Schools of Nursing and Holistic education programs around the U.S.


Healing Touch is used as a resource for the health care practitioner’s promotion of patient wholeness and wellness. It complements medical practice, and in the acute care facilities is used as an adjunct to other therapies, not in place of them.


For more information about Healing Touch please contact Steve Anderson at 858-484-8638,

or stevehtouch@hotmail.com Web - www.stevehtouch.bizland.com 09/14/03