Therapeutic Touch is a contemporary interpretation of several ancient healing practices.  These practices consist of learned skills for consciously directing or sensitively modulating human energies.  It is also being used successfully with animals.

Therapeutic Touch has four major effects; relaxation, pain reduction, accelerated healing, and alleviation of psychosomatic symptoms.

It is used more prevalently on the east coast where it was developed in 1971.  The U of W Medical Center, a leader in introducing the technique to the pacific Northwest, added a Therapeutic Touch policy to its nursing services in 1995.