Healing Touch

Linda Jo Volness is a Mental Health Clinical Nurse Specialist and a Certified Healing Touch Practitioner.  She offers the epitome of healthcare through the mind-body connection, utilizing psychiatric medication management and Healing Touch Energy Therapy.

Healing Touch is a relaxing, nurturing energy therapy. Gentle touch assists in balancing your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Healing Touch works with your energy field to support your natural ability to heal. It is safe for all ages and works in harmony with standard medical care.

HOW CAN HEALING TOUCH BENEFIT YOU?

• Reducing stress One of the common reports after receiving a Healing Touch session is one of deep relaxation and a sense of peacefulness. This has been reported in a number of patient satisfaction surveys and in practice by both practitioners and their clients. In our stressful lives having the opportunity to come to a place of peace and rest is beneficial. Some of those receiving a healing report that it feels like experiencing a deep meditation without the training and effort.
  
• Calming anxiety, depression Anxiety and depression are very common in today’s global society. Healing Touch may be able to help alleviate some of that suffering. In one study symptoms of depression using a standard test were found to decrease faster with those receiving Healing Touch. I n a research study with heart patients Healing Touch was shown to reduce anxiety when used prior to a hospital procedure.
• Decreasing pain Numerous Healing Touch studies have been conducted that attempt to identify its effects on both acute and chronic pain.  For the most part, Healing Touch has been found to decrease pain in both of these conditions.
• Strengthening the immune system The goal of Healing Touch is to promote healing and to positively influence the body's ability to self heal.
• Enhancing recovery from surgery In one study with patients undergoing abdominal surgery there was a significantly higher level of recovery, lung, gastrointestinal, and activity status in additional to greater relaxation. The amount of narcotic pain medication and bowel treatments were also less.   At Saint Joseph's Hospital in Tampa Bay Florida a survey in 2004 found that Healing Touch significantly decreased pain, anxiety, and nausea and also increased patient satisfaction.
• Deepening spiritual connection Spirituality, in many ways, describes the essence of the person.  Healing Touch is believed to work with the energy field of the individual that has a spiritual "layer" or component resulting in a heart centered interaction between the client and practitioner.
• Supporting cancer care The diagnosis of cancer often brings feelings of fear, anxiety, and loss. The treatment phase of the disease focuses on the destruction of cancer cells which often can impact healthy tissue as well. Healing Touch is able to provide a supportive environment for the person undergoing treatment. It may also help to decrease some of the side effects of treatment and help to improve quality of life.
• Creating a sense of well-being Healing Touch works with the energy field that permeates all of the individual's physical, mental, emotion, and spiritual aspects. The heart centered interaction between the client and practitioner often helps create a sense of well-being.
• Easing acute and chronic conditions Healing Touch can be an effective complementary therapy that can help in the management of acute conditions (for example, pain after surgery or injury) as well as chronic conditions and diseases that can not be cured. In the management of these conditions traditional health care is supplemented or enhanced with the use of Healing Touch which works to help facilitate the bodies own natural pattern of defense and healing.

The first session involves a consultation as well as the energy session itself. The provider will ask a series of questions about the individual’s physical, mental, and emotional situation, and will answer any questions. Then the individual will lie fully clothed on a massage table while the provider gently places their hands slightly above or on the individual. The session generally lasts 40 to 60 minutes, and people frequently report feeling deeply relaxed and peaceful during and after the session. There is a cumulative effect of using Healing Touch over time and regular sessions are recommended.

Information was obtained via www.healingtouchinternational.com.