"techniques developed by the reflexologist Laura Norman."" Reflexology Reflexology, also known as zone therapy, is an alternative medicine involving application of pressure to the feet and hands with specific thumb, finger, and hand techniques without the use of oil or lotion. It is based on a pseudoscientific system of zones and reflex areas that purportedly reflect an image of the body on the feet and hands, with the premise that such work effects a physical change to the body. There is no convincing evidence that reflexology is effective for any medical condition. In a Cochrane Collaboration review, reflexology is defined"
"and texture. Touch is a form of nonverbal communication that can have an extrasensory effect. The use of touch has been long associated with healing. For instance, acupuncture needling, an ancient practice in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and a touch therapeutic technique, deals with the insertion of needles into the skin in order to affect one’s mood and perception of pain. Reiki, a Japanese touch technique, deals with movement of hands on the body and is often used for stress reduction. Massage therapy involves kneading different parts of the body with some pressure. This form of touch therapy breaks down"
"while ""multiple applications reduced delayed assessment of pain"", and found improvements in anxiety and depression similar to effects of psychotherapy. A subsequent systematic review published in 2008 found that there is little evidence supporting the use of massage therapy for depression in high quality studies from randomized controlled trials. Myofascial release refers to the manual massage technique that claims to release adhered fascia and muscles with the goal of eliminating pain, increasing range of motion and equilibrioception. Myofascial release usually involves applying shear compression or tension in various directions, cross fiber friction or by skin rolling. Reflexology also known as"
"Therapeutic touch Therapeutic touch (commonly shortened to ""TT""), known by some as ""non-contact therapeutic touch"" (NCTT), is a pseudoscientific energy therapy which practitioners claim promotes healing and reduces pain and anxiety. ""Therapeutic Touch"" is a registered trademark in Canada for the ""[s]tructured and standardized healing practice performed by practitioners trained to be sensitive to the receiver's energy field that surrounds the body;...no touching is required."" Practitioners of therapeutic touch state that by placing their hands on, or near, a patient, they are able to detect and manipulate what they say is the patient's energy field. One highly cited study, designed"
"Manual therapy Manual therapy, or manipulative therapy, is a physical treatment primarily used by physical therapists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, chiropractors, massage therapists, athletic trainers, osteopaths, and physicians to treat musculoskeletal pain and disability; it most includes kneading and manipulation of muscles, joint mobilization and joint manipulation. A 2011 literature review indicates that placebo is one of likely many potentially relevant mechanisms through which manual therapy improves clinical outcomes related to musculoskeletal pain conditions. Irvin Korr, J. S. Denslow and colleagues did the original body of research on manual therapy. Korr described it as the ""Application of an accurately determined and"
"Touch assist A Touch Assist is a Scientology procedure purported to heal illness or injury. It is one of many such Assists. Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard said that when one is in pain, ""the energy from a shock will make a standing wave in the body."" He went on to explain that the purpose of a ""touch assist"" is to ""unlock the standing waves that are small electronic ridges of nervous energy that is not flowing as it should."" This contradicts medical science's current conception of the nervous system, which holds that nerves transmit pain, and do"
"surgeon and three children. Valérie customizes her therapy to suit individual needs and does not follow a standard therapy protocol for her patients. Broadly however, she uses the following techniques: Energy and fasciatherapy: Fascia are fine membranes which surround the conjunctive tissue of the body. Fascia therapy is a manual therapy which addresses a person in his totality – physically and psychically – and seeks the auto-regulation forces of the body. The therapists place their hands on the body of the subject and “listen” to the natural movement of the fascia – movement which is extremely subtle and can be"
"the ""Touch Assist"", a procedure designed by Hubbard to help heal illnesses or injuries. The Scientologist touches the person's body in a set manner, avoiding sexual areas, and asks the recipient of the process, who is lying or sitting still, to ""Feel my finger"". This is continued until the recipient states that he feels better about what was bothering him and looks more cheerful overall. The process is claimed to help restore the spiritual being's (thetan in Scientology terminology) ability to communicate with the affected area and thereby to speed healing and reduce mental trauma. The touch assist is not"
"Craniosacral therapy Craniosacral therapy (CST) is a form of bodywork or alternative therapy using gentle touch to palpate the synarthrodial joints of the cranium. A practitioner of cranial-sacral therapy may also apply light touches to a patient's spine and pelvic bones. Practitioners believe that this palpation regulates the flow of cerebrospinal fluid and aids in ""primary respiration"". Craniosacral therapy was developed by John Upledger, D.O. in the 1970s, as an offshoot osteopathy in the cranial field, or cranial osteopathy, which was developed in the 1930s by William Garner Sutherland. According to the American Cancer Society, although CST may relieve the"
"deprecated by the ICAK, stimulation to test muscle response to a certain chemical is also done by contact or proximity (for instance, testing while the patient holds a bottle of pills). ""Therapy localization"" is another diagnostic technique using manual muscle testing which is unique to applied kinesiology. The patient places a hand which is not being tested on the skin over an area suspected to be in need of therapeutic attention. This fingertip contact may lead to a change in muscle response from strong to weak or ""vice versa"" when therapeutic intervention is indicated. If the area touched is not"
"found no good evidence that it helped with wound healing. Dora Kunz, a theosophy promoter and one-time president (1975–1987) of the Theosophical Society in America, and Dolores Krieger, now Professor Emerita of Nursing Science, New York University, developed therapeutic touch in the 1970s. According to Krieger, therapeutic touch has roots in ancient healing practices, such as the laying on of hands, although it has no connection with religion or with faith healing. Krieger states that, ""in the final analysis, it is the healee (client) who heals himself. The healer or therapist, in this view, acts as a human energy support"
"that all physical illnesses are caused by lack of communication with the ill body part. In the touch assist, a Scientologist repeatedly touches a person near the injury and while calling attention to the touch. This process is claimed to reestablish communication and promote healing. According to the ""Scientology Handbook"" (pg.207), ""There is a basic principle in Scientology which consists of putting an injured body member exactly on and in the place it was injured. Doing this can have a therapeutic effect and is called a Contact Assist."" The ""Handbook"" then goes on to give an example: ""Let’s say a"
"behaviors; cognitive behavioral therapy, which helps people identify and correct negative thinking and behavior; and respondent conditioning, which can modify an individual's physiological response to pain. The benefit however is small. Medical providers may develop an integrated program of behavioral therapies. The evidence is inconclusive as to whether mindfulness-based stress reduction reduces chronic back pain intensity or associated disability, although it suggests that it may be useful in improving the acceptance of existing pain. Tentative evidence supports neuroreflexotherapy (NRT), in which small pieces of metal are placed just under the skin of the ear and back, for non-specific low back"
"Response-based therapy Response-based therapy is the application of response-based practice (abbreviated as RBP) in the area of therapy. The overall approach conceptualizes humans as active agents responding to and within richly complex social contexts. It is informed by social justice, and human rights. This approach leaves behind the radical, intra-psychic focus on the individual in isolation that is so common in psychology and psychotherapy. The therapeutic approach is a relatively new psychotherapeutic approach for responding to people who are experiencing difficulties of any sort (e.g., marriage, grief, victimization, perpetration of violence, etc.). The approach was developed in the 1990s by"
"Mexico, the campus newspaper Daily Lobo reported: ""Rose Stevenson said she didn't mind the Scientologists being there. ""It's college. This is what it's all about - having all your options presented to you,"" she said. ""It's freedom of expression."" However, she said the massage she received, called a touch assist, was ineffective at easing pain from a pinched nerve. ""I was out of time, so I told him I felt something release,"" she said. ""These people are really nice, but I don't think they know what they're doing."" Touch assist A Touch Assist is a Scientology procedure purported to heal"
"in the act of perception, since whereas some people perceive the gentle stroking of an erogenous zone as pleasurable, for others it is merely a tactile sensation. Dissolving character and muscular rigidifications or armorings is the basic principle of Reichian vegetotherapy. This dissolution softens movement, eases breathing, and can also bring back the repressed memory of the childhood situation that caused the repression, Reich wrote. The two goals of vegetotherapy are the attainment of orgastic potency during sexual intercourse and of the ""orgasm reflex"" during therapy. The orgasm reflex may be observed as waves of pleasure moving through the body,"
"Neuroreflexotherapy Neuroreflexotherapy (NRT) is a type of alternative medicine treatment used for some cases of low back pain (LBP). Small pieces of metal are placed just under the surface of the skin in the ear and back, and are intended to interrupt the neural pain processes. Tentative evidence supports its use. A 2005 Cochrane review said that while some limited research reported ""surprising"" results for the efficacy of this therapy in treating nonspecific LBP, a lack of confirming research made it impossible to reach general conclusions about its overall efficacy. Negative skin reactions have been described including dermatitis and skin"
"Royal touch The royal touch (also known as the king's touch) was a form of laying on of hands, whereby French and English monarchs touched their subjects, regardless of social classes, with the intent to cure them of various diseases and conditions. The thaumaturgic touch was most commonly applied to people suffering from tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis (better known as scrofula or the King's Evil), and exclusively to them from the 16th century onwards. The disease rarely resulted in death and often went into remission on its own, giving the impression that the monarch's touch cured it. The claimed power was"
"Rosen Method Bodywork Rosen Method Bodywork (or Rosen Method) is a type of Complementary and alternative medicine. This bodywork, described as ""psycho-somatic"", claims to help integrate one's bodily and emotional/mental experience while identifying unconscious patterns of muscular holding, feeling, and behavior. The main theory underpinning this method is that a person protects themselves from past painful experiences through the body, separating one from one's true self. This alleged protection is said to be experienced most frequently as chronic musculoskeletal pain and tension, and purportedly can be observed by the bodywork practitioners as restricted patterns of movement and posture, muscular tension,"
"are instructed instead to focus on their own varied sense experience, instead of focussing on performance or orgasm. Initially, the emphasis is on touching in a mindful way for oneself without regard for sexual response or pleasure for oneself or one’s partner. A sex therapist will usually guide the timing and technique of the sensate focusing. In the first stage, the couple may touch each other's bodies excluding breasts and genitals. They are encouraged to enjoy and become increasingly aware of the warmth, texture and other qualities of their partner's skin. Participants attend to whatever they find interesting in each"
"Havening therapy refers to Ruden’s approach to treating suffering related to trauma. This technique utilizes sensory inputs, including physical touching between the therapist and patient, to create a safe space for de-encoding traumatic memories. According to Ruden, touch facilitates an increase in calming chemicals like serotonin, which deactivates specific receptors in the memory bank. Consequently, successful havening can result in permeant change as amygdala-activated emotional responses to the traumatic memory are removed. However, havening has been criticized for a lacking empirical support, and that significantly more research on havening is needed before the practice can be considered evidence based. Emotional"
"combination of passive and active movement with the intent of teaching the recipient how to move with less effort. The contact is gentle in a sense; it may be quite firm but is without strain or resistance. Regarding pain, Trager practitioners avoid causing pain, and attempt to contact the body in a way that allows the client to have decreased fear of pain and increased willingness to be present with the full range of sensations. Practitioners are taught to allow a tone of curiosity, playfulness, and effortlessness to guide their work. In addition to hands-on bodywork, clients are taught a"
"The better known forms of manipulative bodywork include the Bowen technique, chiropractic, craniosacral therapy, reflexology, Rolfing, postural integration, shiatsu, and the Trager approach. There are also some methods that use light touch (not tissue work) to retrain movement patterns or shift awareness of the body, including the Alexander technique, the Feldenkrais method, the Hakomi method, integrative body psychotherapy, and somatic experiencing. One form of bodywork is deep tissue massage therapy, and the terms ""massage"" and ""bodywork"" are often used interchangeably. While bodywork includes all forms of massage techniques, it also includes many other types of touch therapies. According to a"
"""sham"" manual therapy for massage would be difficult since even light touch massage could not be assumed to be completely devoid of effects on the subject. It would also be difficult to find a subject that would not notice that they were getting less of a massage, and it would be impossible to blind the therapist. Massage can employ randomized controlled trials, which are published in peer reviewed medical journals. This type of study could increase the credibility of the profession because it displays that purported therapeutic effects are reproducible. Massage has been shown to reduce neuromuscular excitability by measuring"
"She proposed only manual medicine. Soft Tissue Therapy is the use of the hands to target specific areas of dysfunction for the purpose of a therapeutic outcome. Techniques may include therapeutic massage, muscle energy techniques, neuromuscular techniques, positional release techniques, myofascial release techniques, trigger point therapy, lymphatic drainage techniques and joint mobilisation. Temperature Therapies is the application of either heat (thermal therapy) or cold (cryotherapy). Techniques may include heat packs, cold packs, ice baths, whirlpools, heat lamps, and paraffin wax baths. Electromechanical Stimulation is the application of electrical currents or soundwaves to produce a healing and/or analgesic (pain-modifying) outcome. Techniques"
"respond? What did you do?"" Response-based therapy Response-based therapy is the application of response-based practice (abbreviated as RBP) in the area of therapy. The overall approach conceptualizes humans as active agents responding to and within richly complex social contexts. It is informed by social justice, and human rights. This approach leaves behind the radical, intra-psychic focus on the individual in isolation that is so common in psychology and psychotherapy. The therapeutic approach is a relatively new psychotherapeutic approach for responding to people who are experiencing difficulties of any sort (e.g., marriage, grief, victimization, perpetration of violence, etc.). The approach was"
"uses sensory input (ie. touch, sight, sound, taste, smell) to alter our thoughts, mood, and behavior. The sensory input is often used therapeutically to evoke an extrasensory response—a response not bound to the limits of human senses (beyond the five senses). Sensory input can alter the brain. For instance, one may feel joy when listening to music, hunger when passing a restaurant, and comfort and warmth when massaged. Touch therapy is older than recorded time, dating back to 1800 BC. The mechanism of touch is based on mechanoreceptors embedded in the skin. These mechanoreceptors monitor pressure, heat, perception of pain,"
"and simulated presence therapy. Supportive psychotherapy has received little or no formal scientific study, but some clinicians find it useful in helping mildly impaired patients adjust to their illness. Reminiscence therapy (RT) involves the discussion of past experiences individually or in group, many times with the aid of photographs, household items, music and sound recordings, or other familiar items from the past. Although there are few quality studies on the effectiveness of RT it may be beneficial for cognition and mood. Simulated presence therapy (SPT) is based on attachment theories and is normally carried out playing a recording with voices"
"Psychosensory therapy Psychosensory therapy is a form of therapeutic treatment that uses sensory stimuli (i.e., touch, sight, sound, taste, smell) to affect psychological and emotional health. In addition, psychosensory therapy is a group of therapeutic techniques that involves applying sensory inputs to treat various behaviors, mood, thoughts, symptoms, and pain. Psychosensory therapy has its roots in traditional Chinese medicine in addition to energy psychology. Some important figures in psychosensory therapy include chiropractor George Goodheart, psychiatrist John Diamond, clinical psychologist Roger Callahan, and Ronald Ruden. Some of the common techniques used in psychosensory therapy include havening techniques, emotional freedom techniques, Callahan"
"massage therapy can ease both physical symptoms as well as emotional discomforts associated with pediatric medical conditions. The Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine is a primary medical research provider for massage and touch therapy, including pediatric massage and infant massage. Pediatric massage also can help manage chronic conditions such as asthma by providing relaxation and reducing muscle tone in the chest, back and neck, nausea, constipation and muscle aches (myalgia). Immediately after receiving massage, children with mild to moderate juvenile rheumatoid arthritis notice decreased anxiety and stress hormone (cortisol) levels. For young patients with"
"ensuing 40 years, myotherapy has evolved to become an allied health discipline which is practiced in many countries across the world including UK, Australia, USA, Canada, Malaysia and Thailand. Myotherapy incorporates trigger point therapy and a wide range of soft tissue massage and manipulation including: muscle energy technique, dry needling, and joint mobilization. Myotherapists also use stretching, nutritional advice, exercise prescription, postural advice and education, heat and cold therapy, ultrasound and TENS. Myotherapy is a branch of manual medicine focused on the treatment and rehabilitation of musculoskeletal pain and associated conditions. It involves a physical evaluation and an integrated therapeutic"
"only used in combination with other forms of treatment. For example, American Society of Anesthesiologists states it may be considered in the treatment for nonspecific, noninflammatory low back pain only in conjunction with conventional therapy. Acupuncture is the insertion of thin needles into the skin. According to the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (Mayo Clinic), a typical session entails lying still while approximately five to twenty needles are inserted; for the majority of cases, the needles will be left in place for ten to twenty minutes. It can be associated with the application of heat, pressure, or laser"
"turn be rooted in existentialism—the belief that human beings can only find meaning by creating it. This is the goal of existential therapy. Existential therapy is in turn philosophically associated with phenomenology. Person-centered therapy, also known as client-centered, focuses on the therapist showing openness, empathy and ""unconditional positive regard"", to help clients express and develop their own self. Gestalt therapy, originally called ""concentration therapy"", is an existential/experiential form that facilitates awareness in the various contexts of life, by moving from talking about relatively remote situations to action and direct current experience. Derived from various influences, including an overhaul of psychoanalysis,"