Energy therapies refers to a variety of alternative and complementary treatments based on the use, modification, or manipulation of energy fields or biofields. Most energy therapies accept the theory that matter and energy are not exclusive opposites, but that matter is simply a denser form of energy that is more easily perceived by the senses. Some energy therapies are associated with systems of traditional Indian or Chinese medicine that are thousands of years old. Energy therapies can be divided into two groups: those that utilize energy fields located in the human body (biofield therapies); and those that use electromagnetic fields. In addition, there are energy therapies that combine biofield therapy with some aspects of bodywork, such as Breema, polarity therapy, and qigong are examples of this combined approach.

Although energy therapies are often associated with either Eastern or so-called “New Age” belief systems, most do not expect people to give up mainstream Western religious practice or allopathic medical/psychiatric treatments.

The purpose of energy therapies is the healing of mental or physical disorders by rebalancing the energy fields in the human body.  Some energy therapies include internal detoxification or release of trauma-related memories as additional purposes.

Therapeutic touch is an energy therapy that developed in the United States. It is a method of healing derived from an ancient laying-on of hands technique. In TT, practitioners alter the patient’s energy field through a transfer of energy from their hands to the patient. TT restores balance or harmony to the human energy field, or aura that extends several inches to several feet from the body. When illness occurs, it creates a disturbance or blockage in the vital energy field.

A therapeutic touch session consists of five steps. The first step is a period of meditation on the practitioner’s part, to become spiritually centered and energized for the task of healing. The second step is assessment or discernment of the energy imbalances in the patient’s aura. In this step, the TT practitioner holds his or her hands about 2-3 inches above the patient’s body and moves them in long, sweeping strokes from the patient’s head downward to the feet. The practitioner may feel a sense of warmth, heaviness, tingling. These sensations are thought to reveal the location of the energy disturbances or imbalances. In the third step, known as the unruffling process, the practitioner removes the energy disturbances with downward sweeping movements. In the fourth step, the practitioner serves as a channel for the transfer of universal energy to the patient. The fifth step consists of smoothing the patient’s energy field and restoring a symmetrical pattern of energy flow. After the treatment, the patient rests for 10-15 minutes.

Qigong is a form of Chinese energy therapy that is considered a martial art by most Westerners. It is better understood, however, as an ancient Chinese system of postures, exercises, breathing techniques and meditations. According to traditional Chinese philosophy and medicine, qi is the fundamental life energy responsible for human health and vitality. This life energy travels through the body along channels called meridians. There are twelve main meridians in humans. Each major body organ has qi associated with it, and each organ interacts with particular emotions on the mental level. Qigong techniques are designed to improve the balance and flow of energy throughout the meridians.

Qigong is sometimes divided into internal and external. Internal qigong refers to a person’s practice of qigong exercises to maintain his or her own health. External qigong is where energy is passed from one person to another for the purpose of healing. Chinese hospitals use medical qigong along with herbs, acupuncture and other techniques of traditional Chinese medicine.

Reiki is a holistic based on Eastern concepts of energy flow and the seven chakras (energy centers) in the human body. Reiki was formulated by a Japanese teacher, Mikao Usui, around 1890, based on Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism, but incorporates meditation techniques, beliefs, and symbols that are considerably older. It is distinctive among energy therapies in its emphasis on self-healing, its spiritual principles, and its accreditation of healers through a system of initiation. Reiki practitioners participate in the healing of emotional and spiritual as well as physical pain through the transmission of universal life energy, called “rei-ki” in Japanese. It is believed that ki flows throughout the universe, but that Reiki connects humans in a more direct way to the universal source. Reiki is used for the healing of animals as well as people.

Although Reiki involves human touch, it is not massage therapy. The patient lies on a table fully clothed except for shoes while the practitioner places her or his hands over the parts of the body and the chakras in sequence. Silence or music appropriate for meditation is considered essential to the treatment. Reiki healers practice daily self-healing, in which they place their hands in traditional positions on their own bodies. They may use touch, or distant/non-touch.

Reiki healers are initiated into three levels of practice through attunements, which are ceremonies in which teachers transmit the hand positions and “sacred” symbols.

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