therapeutic touch

noun

: a technique in alternative medicine that involves passing the hands over the body of the person being treated and that is held to induce relaxation, reduce pain, and promote healing

Examples of therapeutic touch in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In 1998, the Ig Nobel Prize in science education went to Dolores Krieger, professor emerita at New York University for demonstrating the merits of therapeutic touch, a method by which nurses manipulate the energy fields of ailing patients by carefully avoiding physical contact with those patients. —Scott Lafee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 June 2023

Oregon allows therapeutic touch during a session with the psychedelic, which can temporarily affect people's emotions and perceptions. —Laura Doan, CBS News, 8 May 2023

Alternative medicine seemed reasonable to me; until a little girl named Emily used real science to debunk therapeutic touch. —Phil Plait, Discover Magazine, 31 Dec. 2010

Gravity, and all weighted blankets, works on the principle of Deep Touch Stimulation (DTS)-a form of therapeutic touch or holding that relaxes the nervous system. —Sam Gutierrez, House Beautiful, 11 Dec. 2018

Word History

First Known Use

1975, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

therapeutic touch

noun

: a technique often included in alternative medicine in which the practitioner passes his or her hands over the body of the person being treated and that is held to induce relaxation, reduce pain, and promote healing