Therapeutic touch

Therapeutic touch (TT) is a mostly secular variant of faith healing, started by Dolores Krieger in the early 1970s. The TT practitioner moves his or her hands over the patient?s body, specifically the affected area, without actually touching the patient. The claim is that this allows the practitioner to direct the flow of chi, allowing the patient to heal. It is based on the belief that humans, or all living things, have an energy field or aura extending beyond the surface of the body that can be manipulated by the therapist. However, under scientific testing, no evidence has been found establishing either the existence of Qi, or these energy fields. Additionally, no double blind clinical trials have established that TT is more effective at healing patients than placebo.