A biofield therapy developed in the 1970s by Dolores Krieger and Dora Kunz at NYU. Practitioners use near-body hand passes with the aim of assessing and modulating the recipient's biofield. Has the longest hospital-integration history of any biofield modality.
Therapeutic Touch was developed in the 1970s by Dolores Krieger (NYU nursing) and Dora Kunz. It was the first biofield therapy formally studied within nursing research and the first to be integrated into US hospital settings at scale. The protocol uses near-body hand passes (typically 4 to 8 inches above the body) without skin contact, with the aim of assessing the recipient's biofield and modulating perceived imbalances.
The 2004 Bronfort systematic review concluded Therapeutic Touch has moderate evidence for short-term anxiety reduction in hospital settings. The 2025 JICM scoping review covered Therapeutic Touch alongside Reiki, Healing Touch, External Qigong, and Johrei as the primary biofield modalities under evaluation.
Therapeutic Touch is most commonly used in: pre-operative and post-operative settings, palliative care, oncology supportive care, and dementia-related agitation. Effect sizes are moderate, with the strongest evidence for short-duration anxiety reduction in clinical contexts where the practitioner is part of the standard care team.
The 1998 JAMA "Emily Rosa" study (a 9-year-old's science fair project that became a published paper) tested whether Therapeutic Touch practitioners could detect biofield presence above their hands and reported negative results. The study has been widely cited as evidence against Therapeutic Touch but has also been critiqued for testing a narrow assessment claim rather than the therapeutic protocol itself. The clinical-effects evidence base sits separately from the assessment-claim evidence base.
Therapeutic Touch credentialing is provided by Therapeutic Touch International Association.
A 2025 scoping review covered 353 biofield therapy studies, including 255 randomised controlled trials. The honest answer is more interesting than yes or no. Effects are real, moderate, and smaller than first-line treatment for most conditions.
EFT tapping has 56 randomised controlled trials with moderate-to-large effect sizes for anxiety. Reiki shows significant impact on anxiety in a 2024 meta-analysis covering 824 patients across 13 studies.
Glossary31 terms covering modalities, mechanisms, and conditions