This page is under revision and will be updated with 2010-2012 links shortly.
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Why Therapeutic Touch Should Be Considered Quackery
Concludes that there is no evidence that the energy transfer postulated by proponents actually occurs, and that it is safe to assume that any reactions to the procedure are psychological responses to the laying on of hands. Article by Stephen Barrett, M.D. (Quackwatch)
Touch Therapy — Fact or Fraud?
"There are no properly done studies supporting touch therapy nor is there even theoretical support that it should work. People claiming to detect and treat "disturbed energy fields" are claiming magical abilities."
Does therapeutic touch work?
Video presentation of James Randi debunking therapeutic touch. (YouTube, 9mins 11secs)
Experimental Protocol: Therapeutic Touch
This protocol's results can be added to a succession of experiments that, since the 18th century, have never yielded a positive result. Observatoire Zetetique, Skeptic Report (July 2004)
Therapeutic touch for healing acute wounds
Concludes that there is insufficient evidence that TT promotes healing of acute wounds. The Cochrane Database (August 2003)
Nursing irrationality
"No well-designed study has demonstrated any health benefit from therapeutic touch." Article by Sarah Glazer, Spike Health Online (11th October 2001)
Evidence-Based Practice and Reviews of Therapeutic Touch
Reviews of therapeutic touch literature published in nursing journals between 1994 and 1998. In many reviews, research cited as indicating the efficacy of therapeutic touch indicated it was ineffective. Every review examined had at least one significant mistake concerning how research studies were represented. Journal of Nursing Scholarship (September 2000)
The Pseudophysics of Therapeutic Touch
Article by Victor J. Stenger, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Physics and Astronomy, University of Hawaii, and Adjunct Professor of Philosophy, University of Colorado, USA (2000)
A close look at therapeutic touch
Twenty-one experienced TT practitioners were unable to detect the investigator's "energy field". Their failure to substantiate TT's most fundamental claim is unrefuted evidence that the claims of TT are groundless and that further professional use is unjustified. L. Rosa, E. Rosa, L. Sarner, and S. Barrett, Journal of the American Medical Association (April 1998) [Also see link below]
The Touch of Life
"Despite its anti-scientific roots, lack of credible evidence, and rejection by mainstream medicine, therapeutic touch has found a home in the nursing profession, where it has put down deep roots." A critical review of Therapeutic Touch by Steven Novella, M.D., Science & Pseudoscience Review in Mental Health (1998)
Therapeutic Touch Fails: a Rare Scientific Test
Archive at CICAP — the Italian Committee for the Investigation of Claims on the Paranormal (1998)
Further notes on Therapeutic Touch
By Kevin Courcey, R.N. (Quackwatch)
Therapeutic Touch
(The Skeptic's Dictionary)