Healing Touch and Arthritis: Supporting Chronic Pain Through Energy Medicine

By Ann Darmstetter

You’ve heard the words before - chronic, degenerative, inflammatory - but none of them quite capture the full picture of what arthritis means for a client sitting in front of you. They may be living with constant discomfort, interrupted sleep, or the emotional weight of knowing there’s no quick fix. Some days they’re in pain. Other days, they’re bracing for the pain to return. And when they ask if Healing Touch can help… you know it can offer meaningful support.

Arthritis is complex, and Healing Touch meets that complexity by supporting the whole person and addressing underlying energetic imbalances. When applied with intention and skill, it can create real shifts - less pain, more ease, and a greater sense of connection between mind, body, and spirit.

As a gentle, non-invasive approach, Healing Touch works with the whole system rather than focusing on symptom management alone. It supports physical discomfort alongside the emotional and energetic strain that often accompanies chronic joint pain.

In this article, you’ll learn how to recognize the unique energetic patterns of arthritis, choose techniques based on your client’s individual needs, and feel more confident supporting clients with chronic joint pain, without stepping outside your scope or your comfort zone.

Key Takeaways for Healing Touch Practitioners Supporting Arthritis

• Arthritis is a whole-person experience, not just a joint condition, and often carries long-term energetic and emotional patterns.

• Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis present differently in the energy field, influencing how you assess and support each client.

• Healing Touch offers ethical, non-invasive support without diagnosing or promising outcomes.

• Effective sessions begin with listening and assessment, not technique selection alone.

• Gentle, consistent energy work can support meaningful shifts in pain, ease, and overall wellbeing.

Understanding Arthritis: Osteoarthritis vs. Rheumatoid Arthritis in the Energy Field

Not all arthritis is the same and how it shows up energetically isn’t either. That’s why understanding the type of arthritis your client is living with can help you make more thoughtful choices as a Healing Touch practitioner.

Osteoarthritis (OA): Energetic Patterns and Common Symptoms

This is the most common form. Often caused by age, overuse, or injury, OA leads to the breakdown of cartilage between joints. Clients may describe stiffness, swelling, or pain, especially in weight-bearing areas like the knees, hips, or spine.

Energetically, osteoarthritis often presents as a cold, dense area around affected joints. You might sense stagnant or “frozen” energy when scanning the field. It’s often rooted in the root chakra, where physical structure and safety live.

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA): Autoimmune Inflammation and Energetic Depletion

RA is an autoimmune condition. The immune system mistakenly attacks joint tissue, causing inflammation, systemic fatigue, and sometimes organ involvement. It can flare without warning.

In the energy field, RA clients often present with a weakened, frayed outer layer, especially in the sixth and seventh layers of the biofield. These patterns reflect deeper depletion and dysregulation.

Understanding this difference isn’t about clinical diagnosis. It’s about awareness and recognizing how each condition uniquely affects the energy system, and adjusting your approach accordingly.

The Energy Patterns of Arthritis and Chronic Joint Pain

When you're working with arthritis clients, you're not just supporting a body in pain, you’re meeting an energy system that’s been carrying that pain for a long time. The physical symptoms are real, but what you feel in the field often tells a deeper story.

Osteoarthritis: Cold, Dense, Localized Disruption

Practitioners often sense a cold, heavy quality in affected joints. These areas may feel energetically blocked or slow to respond. This “frozen” sensation usually mirrors the client’s own experience of stiffness or limited movement.

Rheumatoid Arthritis: Fragile Fields and Systemic Strain

Rather than one blocked area, the energy field may feel thin or weakened throughout, especially on the outer edges. You may sense an energetic fragility, or that the field isn’t holding coherence. It’s a full-body picture, not just a localized one.

Emotional Undercurrents in Chronic Arthritis Pain

Don’t overlook the emotional imprint. Arthritis often brings frustration, fatigue, or fear. These feelings may sit in the solar plexus, heart, or root chakras—showing up as depletion, compromise, or stagnation. Recognizing them helps you choose techniques that support the whole person, not just the joint.

Assessment Matters: What to Ask and Look For When Supporting Arthritis

Your effectiveness starts with how well you listen. When assessing a client with arthritis, go beyond the diagnosis. Ask open questions that explore the full picture of their health and energy system:

• What type of arthritis have they been diagnosed with?
• What’s the history of this condition - when did it begin?
• What brings relief, and what aggravates it?
• How’s their sleep, nutrition, movement, stress?
• Are they managing other conditions alongside the arthritis?

In your energetic assessment, look for patterns such as:

• Cold, static energy around joints (OA)
• Localized inflammation or heat during a flare
• Energetic thinning or fraying in the outer field (RA)
• Disruption in the root, solar plexus, or heart chakras

But most importantly, listen to how they talk about their pain. Their words often reveal how the condition is impacting them energetically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Healing Touch Techniques for Supporting Arthritis and Chronic Pain

There’s no one-size-fits-all protocol but there are some techniques practitioners consistently find effective:

Chakra Connection

This foundational technique helps calm the nervous system and stabilize the field. It’s especially helpful when a client arrives overwhelmed or in the middle of a flare-up.

Magnetic Passes: Hands Still

Ideal for cold, static areas in OA. You may hold your hands for several minutes over the affected joint until you feel a shift. Clients sometimes feel a brief increase in intensity before pain begins to release.

Ultrasound + Magnetic Passes: Hands in Motion

Used together, these techniques clear congestion and reintroduce healthy energy flow around affected joints. They’re especially useful when pain feels heavy or unmoving.

Pain Drain

A go-to for acute discomfort, and a technique you can easily teach for at-home self-care. Pain drain supports energetic release without needing direct touch on the joint.

Chelation (for RA)

Chelation can help clear and stabilize the entire energy field - especially in clients with autoimmune involvement. It targets the energetic depletion common in RA.

Full Spectrum Healing

This advanced technique is particularly useful for rebuilding the integrity of the biofield across all levels. It supports long-term systemic resilience in chronically depleted clients.

Educating and Empowering Clients with Arthritis

The healing process doesn’t end when they leave the table. What you share in those final few minutes can make a big difference in how your client carries their healing forward.

Offering Simple Self-Care Techniques for Arthritis

If appropriate, teach basic tools like pain drain or self-directed Magnetic Passes: Hands in Motion and Hands Still. These give clients something to do when pain returns—and helps shift them out of helplessness.

Supporting the Bigger Picture of Arthritis Healing

If the client is open, gently reinforce the importance of rest, movement, nutrition, stress reduction, gratitude, and joy. You’re not prescribing. You’re affirming that healing is multi-layered and they’re not powerless.

Sharing Resources and Referrals for Arthritis Support

Offer referrals when needed and point them to reliable sources like support groups or integrative providers in their area. You don’t have to be their whole care team but you can be part of the circle.

Practitioner Confidence and Capacity When Supporting Arthritis

If you’ve ever felt unsure about supporting clients with arthritis, that’s okay. Healing Touch is not about curing disease. It’s about meeting the moment—with presence, skill, and care. When you offer that, you’re already giving more than most clients receive in their day-to-day lives.

You don’t need to “fix” their pain to support their healing. Show up. Do what you know. Let the energy guide the rest.

Closing Thoughts on Healing Touch and Arthritis

Arthritis is complex. It affects the body, yes - but also the spirit. Chronic pain weaves its way into a person’s self-image, relationships, even their sense of hope. As a Healing Touch practitioner, your role isn’t to promise outcomes. It’s to offer space. To listen. To place your hands with care and stay present to what arises.

Sometimes that presence softens the pain. Sometimes it opens the door to something deeper—relief, rest, reconnection. Trust that what you do matters. Because it does.

Next Steps: Where to Go From Here

If this article resonated, there are several ways to continue exploring Healing Touch—whether for yourself, your clients, or someone you care about.

Find a Healing Touch Practitioner

If you or someone you support is living with arthritis, working with a qualified Healing Touch practitioner can offer personalized, whole-person support. Practitioners are trained to work ethically and collaboratively alongside conventional medical care.

→ Explore practitioner options through the Healing Touch Program practitioner directory.

Learn Healing Touch for Yourself or Others

Healing Touch can be learned by healthcare professionals, caregivers, and individuals who want to support their own wellbeing or that of loved ones living with chronic pain. Training focuses on skill, presence, and working within appropriate scope.

→ Learn more about Healing Touch education and training pathways.

Continue Learning in the Healing Touch Learning Center

If you’d like to go deeper, explore articles, practitioner insights, and educational resources in the Healing Touch Learning Center.

→ Read more in the Healing Touch Learning Center

About the Author

Ann Darmstetter is the Director of Services at the Healing Touch Program and a member of its Leadership Team. With over a decade of experience supporting Healing Touch practitioners through certification, membership, and professional standards, she brings a practitioner-centered, scope-aware perspective to topics such as chronic pain and arthritis support. Her background in education and wellness informs her grounded approach to whole-person care within energy medicine.

About the Healing Touch Program

The Healing Touch Program (HTP) is a nationally accredited educational program in energy medicine that trains individuals to use heart-centered, intentional touch to support the body’s natural ability to heal. Grounded in both ancient wisdom and modern science, HTP offers a comprehensive curriculum that blends clinical integrity with spiritual awareness. Whether you're looking to deepen your own healing, support loved ones, or become a certified practitioner, Healing Touch provides a clear, structured path for learning. With thousands of students and practitioners worldwide, the program is recognized in hospitals, integrative clinics, and wellness communities for its effectiveness, professionalism, and deeply compassionate approach to care.

Disclaimer: This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Healing Touch is a complementary practice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any medical condition. Always encourage clients to seek guidance from a qualified healthcare provider.