In a recent post I made about my ‘migraine cave‘ (which is the room I retreat to when I feel unwell), my friend Michelle from the Greenwell Centre blog (here), recommended the advantages of having a family member trained in Therapeutic Touch so that they can assist you during a migraine event.
I have heard of Therapeutic Touch before, but I thought it would make a good post to help others who might not know what it is.
Therapeutic Touch (TT) is a complementary healing practice that uses the practitioner’s hands to balance a patient’s energy field, aiming to promote relaxation, reduce stress, and support the body’s natural healing processes.
TT was developed in the 1970s by Dolores Krieger, a nursing professor, and Dora Kunz, a natural healer. They taught that anyone with compassion and a desire to help could learn the practice.
The Australasian branch of TT (here) notes that TT was founded on the premise that “the body, mind and emotions form a dynamic energy field, which includes and extends beyond the physical body” and that TT can be used for a variety of conditions, including chronic pain.
The website recommends TT for 4 key reasons:
+ Promotes the Healing Response
+ Increases Relaxation
+ Reduces Pain
+ Reduces Anxiety
What you can expect from a typical TT session varies from place to place, but it usually involves sitting or lying down as you are, whilst a trained practitioner moves their hands over your body, usually without touching it at all, for about half an hour. The intention is to rebalance your energy fields.
This is the international website for TT: Therapeutic Touch International Association for more information, and here is a short (3min) video that demonstrates the idea:
[Video source: What Is Therapeutic Touch?]
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I can’t give a lot of advice on this subject as I have only ever done one session. I lay on my back on a physio/massage bed, fully clothed, and the therapist used a combination of gentle head and neck massage (which felt great) and hands that hovered over my body (which I didn’t really feel in any way). At the time I had both a migraine and a lot of pain in my right hip (from a lifetime of scoliosis which placed a disproportionate amount of pressure on one side.) The therapist spent a lot of time moving the energy in that area, and told me it was normal to unexpectedly sigh or cry. I didn’t experience any such release, and whilst it was a very relaxing half hour, the calm evaporated when she mentioned that at the next session she was going to massage my mouth palette… so I never went back – years of chronic migraine has given me an intense gag-reflex which would have upset both of us. (I have since found out that the therapist was doing a combination of TT and Craniosacral Therapy (CST) and was proposing something like Buccal Massage Therapy).
[Craniosacral therapy (CST) is when your therapist uses their hands to apply gentle pressure to your head, neck and upper-back. Like TT, you stay clothed, sessions are about 30 minutes, and you may or may not feel immediate relief, or need to go back for several sessions to benefit. Buccal Massage Therapy involves releasing the tension in your jaw by massaging inside and outside your mouth.]
I’m a newbie to alternate medicine and practices, and as such, I have to say that TT seems similar, but different, to what I know about Reiki and somatic healing.
Like many of the alternative practices I have looked into, Therapeutic Touch (TT) is often considered a ‘pseudo science’. Other examples I have blogged about include: The Alexander Technique, Rolfing, and EFT Tapping (which I love and regularly do my own version of daily).
Wikipedia’s post on TT (here) implies the placebo effect plays a big role in healing from TT and they suggested there was no credible research to support the therapy.
I did a quick search of the NIH site (here) and discovered that’s not quite true – there ARE several research papers on TT, and the majority were NOT dismissive of TT’s value, for example:
- (2007) TT seemed promising for anxiety management
- (2011) even placebo-touch can make patients feel better
- (2013) TT greatly assisted newborns
- (2016) TT could be advantageous for patients with cancer
- (2026) TT may support emotional safety during acute psychedelic states
- (2026) TT helped patients in palliative and end-of-life care
- (2026) the value of human touch relates to empathy and connection and that “making contact” is a key part of healing
Overall – like all healing options – this might not be for everyone, but could be worth a try.
Remember that alternative treatments should be used as COMPLIMENTARY practices, not REPLACEMENTS to your current medical treatment plan. Always speak to your doctor before making changes in your healing routine.
What I can wholeheartedly advocate are the similar practices that have greatly helped me reduce the frequency, intensity, and duration of my migraines: self-massage for your face and face yoga, learning to work with your own acupressure points, trying Qigong to move your energy, and reducing tension in your body by unclenching your fists and melting your pug-puppy face.
I can also honestly say that release-weeping IS a real thing, and that I experienced it firsthand during a one-on-one meditation practice that involved affirmations, and I can also confirm that it COMPLETELY altered my relationship with my migraine pain (read more here: Make peace not war with your chronic pain)
[Unfortunately, I have not, however, benefited from some other complimentary techniques, but they do luckily work for other people that I know, including acupuncture, float tanks and ASMR.]
Cricling back to Michelle’s comments at the start – regardless of training, if someone in your family is happy to apply some gentle touch, it DOES help during a migraine event – just find out what works best for you (for me it is when someone gently massages my hands or neck, but others like their face or feet to be massaged). Sometimes it’s enough to have someone sit on the side of the bed and hold your hand for a few minutes.
Keep looking for ways to reduce your stress and your pain and know that you are not alone in your enquiries. You got this; keep going and keep growing.
Take care taking care, Linda x
PS – Disclaimer – remember that you should NOT take medical advice off the internet; always speak to a trained healthcare provider before deciding on what treatment options will best suit your personal situation, and in order to confirm that the new alternatives won’t have an adverse effect on your existing medications.
The Mindful Migraine 
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