Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Healing Touch ~ Integrative Medicine

by Kathie Folts RN CHPN

I work in the Montana Cancer Specialists clinic on the third floor of Providence St. Joseph in Polson on Tuesdays. I have worked in the clinic for the past 14 years. I am an RN with a Nursing Certification with Hospice and Palliative Care. I am currently working towards a Nursing Certification for Practice in Healing Touch. I am currently in my third year of study at Level II, plan to finish Level III in the spring, and my goal is to complete the certification at Level V within five years.

What is Healing Touch
Healing Touch [HT] is an energy healing therapy in which practitioners consciously use their hands in a heart-centered and intentional way to enhance, support and facilitate physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health and self-healing. Healing Touch utilizes light- or near-body touch to clear, balance and energize the human energy system in order to promote health and   healing for mind, body and spirit.

Healing Touch complements conventional health care and is used in collaboration with other approaches to health and healing.

What is Energy Medicine
Simply speaking, Energy Medicine is the diagnostic and therapeutic use of energy. Energy medicine is a growing field in healthcare composed of two main branches. The first is bio- mechanical in nature and utilizes electrical or magnetic devices which provide images of some aspect of the human body for diagnostic purposes or somehow stimulates[treats] a diagnosed condition…. The second branch of energy medicine is referred to as energy healing therapy, bio-field energy therapy or hands-on energy medicine. Multiple sub disciplines of energy healing therapy have developed over recent years, but are based on ancient methods of hands-on healing known throughout many world cultures

Healing Touch is now seen in hospitals, clinics, home care, hospice and is promoted and provided by the Veteran’s Administration Health Care System.

Healing Touch is non- invasive and does not require preparation medications, special equipment or specialized settings. It takes the consent of the client and the establishment of positive intention to assist the client to move to self-healing. As with most self-healing it is a process, and results may differ from person to person. Some of the methods can be taught to the client to help themselves. This therapy is not meant to be the only intervention for healthcare. It is to be a part of the healthcare.

During the past three years, I have had many experiences working with people with energy medicine. Each person shares positive feedback, and I learn about what I felt in those areas where a response is noted. Each practitioner has a niche of how they experience the flow of the energy. Some can see the energies around the patient, some have an intuition as to what is there. I tend to see colors and patterns that tell me if an area is blocked or open. It is truly a treatment done with good intentions and sharing of healer and healing patient. It is to help the patient’s body heal itself.

Source: Healing Touchl Level I Notebook from the Healing Touch Program-Janet Mentgen BSN,RN and Mary Jo Bulbrook BSN, MEd, RN. the other information is from Kathie’s learning and observations.

Kathie’s introduction to Integrative Medicine was listening to Dr. Mimi Guarneri. She can be found on YouTube TED talks. Kathie also has a Great Courses program taught by Dr. Guarneri. http://www.mimiguarnerimd.com/biography.php

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Integrative Medicine
Integrative medicine is an approach to care that puts the patient at the center and addresses the full range of physical, emotional, mental, social, spiritual and environmental influences that affect a person’s health. Employing a personalized strategy that considers the patient’s unique conditions, needs and circumstances, it uses the most appropriate interventions from an array of scientific disciplines to heal illness and disease and help people regain and maintain optimum health.
Integrative medicine is grounded in the definition of health. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

Integrative medicine seeks to restore and maintain health and wellness across a person’s lifespan by understanding the patient’s unique set of circumstances and addressing the full range of physical, emotional, mental, social, spiritual and environmental influences that affect health. Through personalizing care, integrative medicine goes beyond the treatment of symptoms to address all the causes of an illness. In doing so, the patient’s immediate health needs as well as the
effects of the long-term and complex interplay between biological, behavioral, psychosocial and environmental influences are taken into account.

Integrative medicine is not the same as alternative medicine, which refers to an approach to healing that is utilized in place of conventional therapies, or complementary medicine, which refers to healing modalities that are used to complement allopathic approaches. If the defining principles are applied, care can be integrative regardless of which modalities are utilized.

Source: https://www.dukeintegrativemedicine.org/about/

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