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Therapeutic Touch®: The Healing Legacy That Continues to Transform Lives

• adapted from Paula Neilsen
• May 26, 2026

Therapeutic Touch® (TT) began with that very question.

In the early 1970s, two remarkable women—Dr. Dolores Krieger, a nursing professor at New York University, and Dora Kunz, a gifted intuitive healer—came together with a shared curiosity about healing, energy, and human potential.

They explored ancient healing traditions. They observed practitioners using the laying-on of hands across cultures and traditions. They asked an important question:

Could healing intention, compassionate presence, and the human energy field be consciously engaged in a way that could be taught to others?

The answer became Therapeutic Touch®.

A Revolutionary Beginning

At a time when conventional healthcare focused almost entirely on the physical body, Dr. Krieger and Dora Kunz introduced something both ancient and revolutionary: the idea that healing involves the whole person—body, mind, emotions, and spirit.

Together, they developed a practical, teachable method that allows individuals to support relaxation, balance, and healing through intentional energy-based care.

This was not presented as a mysterious gift reserved for a chosen few.

Instead, their philosophy was empowering:

Healing is a human potential. Compassion is teachable. Presence matters.

That belief changed everything.

From University Classroom to Global Movement

In 1975, Dr. Krieger introduced the first accredited university course dedicated to Therapeutic Touch at New York University:

Frontiers in Nursing: The Actualization of Potential for Therapeutic Human Field Interaction.

This was groundbreaking.

Imagine the courage it took to bring energy healing into academic healthcare conversations more than 50 years ago.

By 1977, Dr. Krieger founded Nurse Healers–Professional Associates International (now Therapeutic Touch International Association), helping bring Therapeutic Touch into hospitals, clinics, educational settings, and communities around the world.

What began as exploration became a movement.

Today, Therapeutic Touch® is taught internationally—from North America to Europe, Australia, Africa, and beyond.

More Than a Technique—A Human Experience

People often think Therapeutic Touch® is simply about using the hands.

But those who practice it know it is much more.

At its heart, Therapeutic Touch® is about:

✨ Centering yourself in calm presence
✨ Holding compassionate intention
✨ Supporting the body’s natural capacity for healing
✨ Encouraging relaxation and energetic balance
✨ Creating moments where stress can soften and clarity can emerge

Many people describe receiving Therapeutic Touch as deeply peaceful, calming, comforting, and restorative.

For practitioners, it often becomes not just a modality—but a way of being.

The Research Story

One of the most exciting aspects of Therapeutic Touch® is that its story is not based solely on anecdote.

For more than five decades, researchers have explored Therapeutic Touch® through qualitative and quantitative studies, with doctoral dissertations, master's theses, and peer-reviewed publications examining its effects in healthcare and wellness settings.

Areas of exploration have included:

stress reduction
relaxation support
pain management
emotional wellbeing
quality of life
comfort in palliative and supportive care

Annotated bibliographies and research collections continue to be available through professional Therapeutic Touch® organizations.

The conversation between science and healing continues to evolve.

Therapeutic Touch® in Today’s World

Therapeutic Touch® is now used in a wide range of settings.

Healthcare professionals, holistic practitioners, counsellors, educators, clergy, hospice volunteers, and individuals seeking supportive self-care have embraced its gentle yet meaningful impact.

You may find Therapeutic Touch® in:

hospitals
hospices
palliative care settings
wellness centres
cancer support organizations
private practices
community healing programs
personal homes

And perhaps most beautifully...

Therapeutic Touch® reminds us that healing does not always begin with doing more.

Sometimes healing begins with becoming present.

Why Therapeutic Touch® Matters Now

In a world where stress, overwhelm, burnout, and disconnection are increasingly common, Therapeutic Touch offers something profoundly needed:

A pause.

A reset.

A reminder that care can be gentle.

That healing can be compassionate.

That human connection itself carries power.

Therapeutic Touch® is not simply part of history.

It is part of the future of integrative wellbeing.

Have you experienced Therapeutic Touch®—or are you curious to learn more?
We’d love to hear your story.

Historical references adapted from materials by Paula Neilson and foundational Therapeutic Touch® publications by Dolores Krieger, Dora Kunz, and colleagues.

Krieger, Dolores. The Therapeutic Touch: How to Use Your Hands to Help or Heal. New York: Prentice Hall, 1979.

Krieger, Dolores. Therapeutic Touch as Transpersonal Healing. New York, NY. Lantern Books, 2002.

Krieger, Dolores. A Healer’s Journey to Intuitive Knowing: The Heart of Therapeutic Touch. Rochester, Vermont. Bear & Company, 2021.

Kunz,Dora. The Personal Aura. Wheaton, Illinois, Quest Books. The Theosophical Publishing House. 1991.

Van Gelder, Kirsten and Chesley, Frank. Van Gelder, Kirsten and Chesley, Frank. A Most Unusual Life : Dora Van Gelder Kunz. Wheaton. Illinois. Quest Books. Theosophical Publishing House, 2015.

Harper, Tom. The Uncommon Touch. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1994

• Source: Therapeutic Touch Networks of Canada
• Author: adapted from Paula Neilsen