Donate
Donate
icon
icon
Find help
Top questions Click or tap to explore common questions to get started ›
Request a volunteer guide Find someone to help you navigate this site ›
Find cancer-specific handbooks
Integrative Cancer Care Handbooks ›
Sign up for email updates
Sign up for e-news updates ›
Top questions

This biofield energy therapy directs energy through practitioners’ hands to rebalance your energy field.

Are you a health professional?

This section does not replicate the other information on this topic but provides additional details or context most relevant to professionals.

Integrating Therapeutic Touch into clinical practice

“Lessons gleaned include (1) positioning TT within the context of research and evidence-based practice, (2) developing and adhering to standards of practice and professionalism, and (3) maintaining a nonpartisan attitude and communicating a plausible rationale.”1Stephen JE, Mackenzie G, Sample S, Macdonald J. Twenty years of therapeutic touch in a Canadian cancer agency: lessons learned from a case study of integrative oncology practice. Supportive Care in Cancer. 2007 Aug;15(8):993-8.

Therapeutic Touch for health professionals

Students of nursing and midwifery treated with TT reported less fatigue and daytime sleepiness in a small RCT.2Vural Doğru B, Utli H, Şenuzun Aykar F. Effect of therapeutic touch on daytime sleepiness, stress and fatigue among students of nursing and midwifery: a randomized sham-controlled trial. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice. 2021 May;43:101322. 

Preclinical evidence

Notable preclinical evidence is presented here; clinical evidence is summarized in How can Therapeutic Touch® help you? What the research says ›

Improving treatment outcomes

Bone cancer

  • Better bone formation in normal cells and decreased formation in bone cancer cells treated with Therapeutic Touch® in preclinical studies3Jhaveri A, Walsh SJ, Wang Y, McCarthy M, Gronowicz G. Therapeutic Touch® affects DNA synthesis and mineralization of human osteoblasts in culture. Journal of Orthopaedic Research. 2008 Nov;26(11):1541-6.
  • “Therapeutic Touch appears to increase human osteoblast DNA synthesis, differentiation and mineralization, and decrease differentiation and mineralization in a human osteosarcoma-derived cell line.”4Jhaveri A, Walsh SJ, Wang Y, McCarthy M, Gronowicz G. Therapeutic touch affects DNA synthesis and mineralization of human osteoblasts in culture. Journal of Orthopaedic Research. 2008 Nov;26(11):1541-6.

Managing side effects

Bone-related side effects

  • Osteoblasts responded to four treatments per week with a significant increase in proliferation.5Gronowicz GA, Jhaveri A, Clarke LW, Aronow MS, Smith TH. Therapeutic touch stimulates the proliferation of human cells in culture. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 2008 Apr;14(3):233-9.

Keep reading about Therapeutic Touch®

Choose what to read next
See all our reviews of complementary therapies

Authors

Laura Pole, MSN, RN, OCNS

Senior Clinical Consultant
View profile

Laura Pole is senior clinical consultant for CancerChoices. Laura is an oncology clinical nurse specialist who has been providing integrative oncology clinical care, navigation, consultation, and education services for over 40 years. She is the co-creator and co-coordinator of the Integrative Oncology Navigation Training at Smith Center for Healing and the Arts in Washington, DC. Laura also manages the “Media Watch Cancer News That You Can Use” listserv for Smith Center/Commonweal. In her role as a palliative care educator and consultant, Laura has served as statewide Respecting Choices Faculty for the Virginia POST (Physician Orders for Scope of Treatment) Collaborative as well as provided statewide professional education on palliative and end-of-life care for the Virginia Association for Hospices and Palliative Care.

For CancerChoices, Laura curates content and research, networks with clinical and organizational partners, brings awareness and education of integrative oncology at professional and patient conferences and programs, and translates research into information relevant to the patient experience as well as clinical practice.

Laura sees her work with CancerChoices as a perfect alignment of all her passions, knowledge and skills in integrative oncology care. She is honored to serve you.

Laura Pole, MSN, RN, OCNS Senior Clinical Consultant

Nancy Hepp, MS

Lead Researcher
View profile

Ms. Hepp is a researcher and communicator who has been writing and editing educational content on varied health topics for more than 20 years. She serves as lead researcher and writer for CancerChoices and also served as the first program manager. Her graduate work in research and cognitive psychology, her master’s degree in instructional design, and her certificate in web design have all guided her in writing and presenting information for a wide variety of audiences and uses. Nancy’s service as faculty development coordinator in the Department of Family Medicine at Wright State University also provided experience in medical research, plus insights into medical education and medical care from the professional’s perspective.

Nancy Hepp, MS Lead Researcher

Last update: October 21, 2024

Last full literature review: August 2024

CancerChoices provides information about integrative in cancer care, a patient-centered approach combining the best of conventional care, self care and evidence-informed complementary care in an integrated plan cancer care. We review complementaryin cancer care, complementary care involves the use of therapies intended to enhance or add to standard conventional treatments; examples include supplements, mind-body approaches such as yoga or psychosocial therapy, and acupuncture therapies and self-care lifestyle actions and behaviors that may impact cancer outcomes; examples include eating health-promoting foods, limiting alcohol, increasing physical activity, and managing stress practices to help patients and professionals explore and integrate the best combination of conventionalthe cancer care offered by conventionally trained physicians and most hospitals; examples are chemotherapy, surgery, and radiotherapy and complementary therapies and practices for each person.

Our staff have no financial conflicts of interest to declare. We receive no funds from any manufacturers or retailers gaining financial profit by promoting or discouraging therapies mentioned on this site.

Learn more

Professionals Hub

How We Rate Therapies

Therapies

Reishi Mushroom

Health professional comment

We invite health professionals to contribute expertise or send us questions.

"*" indicates required fields

Please share your thoughts about content on the CancerChoices website. If you have a correction for us to consider, or additional information to add, please include references and links if possible.

References[+]