Originally published in Energy Magazine: The official Publication of the Healing Touch Program December/January Issue Healing Touch & Trauma by Kathy Moray Allan RN, HTCP/I, HNC, SEP

Janet Mentgen introduced the Trauma
Release Technique to the Healing Touch
Program in 1996. This technique was a radical
departure from traditional cognitive, behavioral
and emotional cathartic therapies
and — it worked. Janet didn’t know how it
worked. All she knew was that it eliminated
long-term symptoms of traumatic stress in
over 100 people who had suffered from traumatic
injuries. She would tell us to just do the
work and that the science behind it would
follow. She was right. Discoveries in neurophysiology
research have recently validated this powerful technique.
According to Robert Scaer MD, noted Neurologist and Trauma
expert, the Trauma Release Technique “actively inhibits brain
arousal systems, which in turn, allows the somatic messages
of trauma in the body to be extinguished, removing one of
the primary sources of brain kindling and perpetuation of the
trauma response.”
Kindling usually refers to material needed for starting a fi re.
However, when used in the context of trauma, it refers to the
internal cues in the body that lead to the spontaneous return
of the traumatic stress state. The goal of the Trauma Release
Technique is to extinguish these internal cues and stop the
perpetuation of the trauma response.The following cases may help you understand how this works.
1. My friend, John, was fl ying home from a speaking engagement
when he was told to prepare for a crash landing. The
landing gear was stuck in the up position. The fl ight attendant’s
face was tense and fearful as she gave John and the other
passengers instructions on how to brace themselves. John
could see fi re engines on the runway “standing by to clean up
the mess.” At the last minute, the landing gear dropped and the
airplane landed safely. People were in shock and were throwing
up, soiling their pants and crying after the plane landed. When
they disembarked, the fl ight attendant gave the usual thanks for
fl ying with this airline as if nothing had happened.
John was scheduled to fl y the next weekend for another speaking
engagement so he drove straight to my house for a treatment.
I modifi ed the Trauma Release Technique for use in an
active state of shock and recent trauma. During the treatment,
he felt an urge to run so I told him to use his imagination and
see himself running. He saw himself sliding down the yellow
emergency chute, and running away from the burning plane
as he held the hand of a child who had been seated next to
him. We completed the Trauma Release Technique and he said
that he did not feel complete and wanted to repeat the entire
process. The second time around, the urge to run returned and
he again used imagery to see himself slide down the yellow
emergency chute and run away from the burning plane. He ran
with all of his might he ran until he felt he was safe.
Imagery allowed John to complete what his nervous system
had planned to do if he crashed. The Trauma Release Technique
extinguished the somatic messages of trauma in the body and he was able to fl y the following weekend without
any discomfort.
2. Heather had a traumatic experience nine years before I
saw her. She had been shocked to hear that a routine mammogram
found a possible cancerous lump in her breast. She had
a traumatic breast biopsy a few days later – which proved to be
negative for cancer. Shortly after that she lost hearing in her left
ear. What she did hear were terrible noises that sounded like
ringing, clanging, bells tolling, angry bird like screeching, and
howling blizzard-like wind. They were constant and were worse
when she was tired.
Multiple doctors were unable to help her and the only thing that
kept her “from going crazy” was an antidepressant. The noises
were so bad that she had prayed to die. It was clear to me that
she was in an active state of traumatic stress due to kindling.
Nine years of suffering resulted in exhausted adrenals and a
very depleted energetic body. She needed a series of treatments
to address her needs. The fi rst session consisted of the
Full Body Connection, which included sending energy to the
adrenals to help them relax. Magnetic Passes: Hands in Motion
and Hands Still, as well as Ultrasound were used on her left
ear. Blocked energy was pulled from her left ear and throat and
the left ear was energetically connected to her sacral chakra.
The ear sounds were diminished for a day and a half following
the treatment.
I worked directly with her nervous system in the second session
by applying a healing, soothing gold vibration to her entire nervous
system. This was followed with Mind Clearing and Interactive
Imagery. Heather visualized herself in a lovely healing place
where she listened to the sound of quiet. There was no noise in
her left ear during the imagery. Following the second treatment
there were no noises in her left ear for three days.
The Trauma Release Technique was done during the third and
the fourth sessions. She heard no noises for two weeks after
each session. She also reported that she had a tendency to
hold back tears and that she was able to cry again.  The fi fth session included directing energy to the adrenals,
a Full Body Connection and a Mind Clearing. She didn’t feel
the need to come for further treatments because she was so
much better and only heard faint noises when she was tired.
The somatic messages of trauma in her body were mostly
extinguished.
3. The last case demonstrates how brain arousal systems are
infl uenced by stored somatic messages of trauma and lead to
additional traumas. Jason, age 21, had been in a car accident
one month prior to my seeing him. He was in a coma with a ruptured spleen, lacerated liver, fractured pelvis, three fractured ribs,
collapsed right lung, bruised left lung, kidney
and bladder, and a closed head injury called
brain shear. The fact that he was alive was
a miracle and the doctors expected that he
would be in a vegetative state if he lived.
He had a history of multiple traumas from before his birth. His
mother was in an auto accident and sustained a spinal injury,
when she was two months pregnant with him. His delivery was
breech and he was born with a dislocated hip. When he was
six, he and his mother were in an auto accident. Shortly before
this recent auto accident his father was diagnosed with metastatic
lung and brain cancer.
I treated Jason with Healing Touch every day for two weeks and
during that time his condition fl uctuated between fair and poor.
His body could not maintain an energetic balance and his coma
prevented me from doing the Trauma Release Technique. The
following is a brief synopsis of the Healing Touch sessions.
At the fi rst session I began by talking to his spirit and letting him
know that I did not know if he was going to decide to stay on
the planet or to leave but that I would do everything I could to
help him. As I worked with him, I continually set my intent for his
highest good. I then did a Full Body Connection, directing energy
into his bone marrow and letting the body fill and balance from the core out to the periphery of the body. I also directed
energy through his joints. Other techniques that I used were
Magnetic Passes: Hands in Motion and Hands Still over
traumatized organs and fractures. Although the techniques
I used would usually be suffi cient for a session, I felt guided
to also do a Chakra Spread. For the most part I continued to
use these techniques every day that I worked with Jason.
During the second week of working with Jason I also set an
intention for the growth of embryonic brain stem cells to help
his brain heal — since these cells are responsible for developing
the nervous system.
The following week Jason developed an infection and was
transferred back to the Intensive Care Unit. The family was
too stressed to continue with something that did not have
apparent results and told me they were stopping the Healing
Touch sessions. I asked if the doctors found anything
unusual in Jason’s recent lab results and his mother said
that they were surprised to fi nd some embryonic stem cells.
Although I did not continue with this case, I am grateful that
Jason challenged me to think outside the box to fi nd a way to
support his healing.
These illustrations demonstrate the importance
of developing new systems in health care to
identify and treat trauma. The Trauma Release
Technique, taught during HTP Advanced Practice
2 classes, is effective, scientifi cally sound,
easily learned and easy to implement. Refer to
the schedule of classes in this issue of Energy
Magazine. Note that completion of Healing
Touch Level 3 is a prerequisite to attend AP 1
and AP 2 classes.
About the author:
Kathy Moray Allan is a Certifi ed Healing Touch
Instructor and is on the faculty of Beyond Ordinary
Nursing where she teaches Integrative Imagery.
She is a Certifi ed Somatic Experiencing
Practitioner and assists at the national education
trainings for professionals who want to work with
traumatic stress/PTSD.