Healing Touch is a heart-centered, energy-based approach that supports relaxation, balance, and overall well-being. It is based on the understanding that stress, illness, injury, grief, and medical treatments can affect the body’s natural energy systems.

Through gentle, intentional touch and focused techniques, Healing Touch aims to support the body’s innate capacity for self-regulation and healing by creating a calm, balanced environment. It is commonly used alongside conventional healthcare and wellness practices to support comfort, relaxation, and resilience.

Healing Touch is not a medical treatment or replacement for healthcare, but a complementary approach used to support the whole person—body, mind, emotion, and spirit.

🔗 For more details about how Healing Touch works, see our What Is Healing Touch page.

🔗 Explore how Healing Touch is used in integrative settings on our Professional Standards page.

No. Healing Touch is not a medical treatment and does not diagnose, treat, or cure disease. It is a complementary, energy-based approach that supports relaxation, comfort, and overall well-being. Healing Touch is designed to work alongside conventional medical and mental health care, not as a replacement.

For an overview of how Healing Touch works and its guiding principles, see our What Is Healing Touch page.

Healing Touch supports well-being by helping activate the body’s natural relaxation response, which may support stress reduction, emotional balance, and a sense of calm. Many people use Healing Touch alongside medical care to support comfort, coping, and self-regulation during illness, recovery, or periods of stress. Its role is supportive and complementary, not curative.

🔗 Read What Does Stress Do to Your Energy Field? on our blog.

When the body is under stress - whether physical, emotional, or environmental - people often experience fatigue, tension, difficulty coping, or a reduced sense of well-being.

In energy-based perspectives, this stress may be experienced as areas of congestion or imbalance in the body’s energy system. For example, stress is commonly felt as muscle tightness, headaches, or discomfort in specific areas of the body.

Healing Touch techniques focus on supporting relaxation and easing areas of tension, which many people experience as greater comfort, calm, and improved ease in the body.

🔗 Read more about the relationship between stress and the energy system in our article What Does Stress Do to Your Energy Field?
🔗 See how Healing Touch supports relaxation and balance in real-world practice on our What Is Healing Touch page.

Many people report that Healing Touch helps them enter a deeply relaxed state. Relaxation is associated with well-documented physiological responses, such as reduced muscle tension, improved circulation, and a calmer nervous system.

When the body relaxes, people often experience:

• A sense of calm and emotional ease
• Reduced perception of stress or discomfort
• Improved rest, sleep, or clarity

These responses support the body’s natural processes of self-regulation and recovery, contributing to an overall sense of well-being.

🔗 Learn how relaxation plays a role in integrative care on our Healing Touch Research site.
🔗 Read practitioner insights in our blog article Can Healing Touch Really Heal? What One Nurse Discovered.

Healing Touch is based on the understanding that human beings are interconnected systems - physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. Experiences in one area often influence the others.

For example, physical illness can affect emotional well-being, while stress or emotional strain can show up as physical tension, disrupted sleep, or fatigue. Healing Touch supports the whole person by fostering relaxation, awareness, and balance across these interconnected dimensions.

This whole-person perspective is why Healing Touch is often used in integrative and supportive care settings.

🔗 Learn more about whole-person care and professional boundaries on our Professional Standards page.
🔗 Explore how Healing Touch is integrated into healthcare environments on our Integrative Care Program pages.

Healing Touch is one of several energy-based approaches that has been studied in hospitals, universities, and integrative healthcare settings. Research has explored its potential role in supporting relaxation, comfort, stress reduction, and emotional well-being when used alongside conventional care.

Healing Touch research does not position the modality as a medical treatment, but as a complementary approach that may support quality of life and patient experience.

A growing body of peer-reviewed studies, pilot programs, and clinical observations is available through the Healing Touch Research website.

🔗 Visit the Healing Touch Research Library to explore published studies and clinical findings.

Healing Touch and Reiki are both heart-centered, energy-based approaches that support relaxation and well-being, but they differ in structure and training.

Reiki is a spiritually guided practice that typically involves attunements and symbolic techniques and is often taught in a short timeframe.

Healing Touch is a non-religious, clinically developed modality that uses over 30 techniques, a structured multi-level curriculum, and an optional professional certification pathway. It was developed within a healthcare context and emphasizes ethics, scope of practice, and professional standards.

Both modalities are effective and accessible. Choosing between them often depends on personal preference, learning style, and professional goals.

🔗 Read our full comparison: Healing Touch and Reiki: How Do They Compare?
🔗 View the Healing Touch vs. Reiki comparison chart.

🔗 Learn more about Healing Touch education and professional pathways. 

Healing Touch is distinguished by its structured curriculum, professional standards, and emphasis on ethics and safety. Developed within a healthcare context, it includes a standardized, multi-level educational pathway, defined scope of practice, and optional professional certification. This structure supports consistent, responsible practice across personal, professional, and healthcare settings.

If you’re comparing Healing Touch with other approaches like Reiki, see our article Healing Touch and Reiki: How Do They Compare? for a side-by-side look.

Healing Touch is non-religious and does not require any spiritual belief system. While some individuals experience Healing Touch as personally meaningful or reflective, it is taught and practiced as a professional, heart-centered modality that respects individual beliefs, cultures, and backgrounds.

Healing Touch is used by individuals of all ages seeking supportive, non-invasive approaches to well-being. It is practiced in a variety of settings, including private practices, wellness programs, and integrative healthcare environments, and is used by both the general public and healthcare professionals as part of holistic, client-centered care.

For those curious about training paths and how people use Healing Touch professionally, explore our Healing Touch Program curriculum and certification information.

People often seek Healing Touch to support relaxation, stress reduction, emotional balance, and overall well-being. It is commonly used to support comfort during challenging life events, recovery periods, or healthcare journeys, and to promote a sense of balance in the body’s energy system.

🔗 For real-world perspectives and outcomes described by practitioners and clients, see our blog article Can Healing Touch Really Heal? What One Nurse Discovered.

Healing Touch is a gentle, heart-centered, energy-based approach that supports relaxation, balance, and whole-person well-being. People use Healing Touch to help calm the nervous system, reduce stress, and support the body’s natural ability to self-regulate and heal.

Many individuals report benefits such as:

• Reduced stress, anxiety, and emotional tension

• A deep sense of relaxation and calm

• Improved sleep, energy, and overall comfort

• Support for physical recovery after illness, injury, or surgery

• Relief from pain, tension, and fatigue

• Improved emotional resilience during challenging life or health situations

• A greater sense of balance, peace, and well-being

From a physiological perspective, relaxation associated with Healing Touch has been linked to responses such as improved circulation, calmer stress hormone activity, and support for immune system function. These responses help create an internal environment that supports recovery and resilience.

Healing Touch is commonly used alongside conventional medical care in hospitals, cancer centers, VA medical facilities, and integrative health settings. It is valued as a safe, non-invasive, complementary approach that supports comfort, relaxation, and quality of life without replacing medical treatment.

Healing Touch does not diagnose or treat medical conditions. Instead, it supports the whole person - body, mind, emotion, and spirit - by fostering balance and ease during both everyday stress and more complex health journeys.

🔗 Learn more about how Healing Touch works on our What Is Healing Touch page
🔗 Explore clinical research and outcomes on the Healing Touch Research & Clinical Evidence page
🔗 See how Healing Touch is used in healthcare settings through our Integrative Care Program

Healing Touch supports relaxation and stress reduction by helping the body shift out of a stress response and into a calmer, more balanced state. Through gentle, intentional touch and focused techniques, a practitioner works with the body’s biofield and energy centers to support the nervous system’s natural ability to self-regulate.

When stress is reduced, the body often responds with:

• A calmer nervous system
• Lower stress hormone activity
• Relaxed muscles and eased tension
• Improved circulation and oxygen flow
• A greater sense of calm, safety, and emotional ease

This relaxation response supports the body’s natural healing processes. As shown in the Healing Touch process diagram, restored energetic balance is associated with improved relaxation, reduced stress hormones, improved circulation, and strengthened immune function - all of which contribute to overall well-being.

Healing Touch does not force change. Instead, it creates a supportive environment that allows the body to settle, reset, and return toward balance. Because stress naturally reoccurs through daily life, Healing Touch is often used repeatedly as a supportive practice to maintain calm and resilience over time.

🔗 Learn more about how Healing Touch works on our What Is Healing Touch page
 

Healing Touch supports emotional well-being by creating a calm, grounded state that helps the body and mind process stress, emotions, and life experiences more effectively. When the nervous system settles, people often feel safer, more present, and emotionally balanced.

Many individuals experience emotional benefits such as:

• Reduced feelings of stress, anxiety, or emotional overwhelm
• A greater sense of calm, ease, and inner stability
• Improved emotional regulation and resilience
• Relief from emotional fatigue or burnout
• Increased self-awareness and emotional clarity

Emotional stress is often reflected in the body as tension, disrupted sleep, or persistent unease. Healing Touch works holistically—supporting both the energetic and physiological relaxation response—so emotions can be experienced, integrated, and released more gently.

Healing Touch does not replace mental health care, but it is commonly used as a complementary approach to support emotional balance, especially during times of stress, grief, illness, or major life transitions.

🔗 Learn more about Healing Touch as a whole-person approach on the What Is Healing Touch page
🔗 Explore how Healing Touch is used in supportive and integrative care settings

Healing Touch supports overall balance by helping the body shift into a relaxed, regulated state where its natural self-regulating systems can function more effectively. When stress is reduced and the nervous system settles, the body is better able to restore equilibrium across physical, emotional, and mental systems.

Through gentle, intentional techniques, Healing Touch is designed to:

• Support nervous system regulation
• Promote relaxation and physiological balance
• Encourage healthy circulation and energy flow
• Support the body’s natural stress response and recovery processes

Self-regulation refers to the body’s built-in ability to adapt, recover, and maintain balance in response to daily stressors, illness, or emotional strain. When this process is overwhelmed—by chronic stress, trauma, or health challenges—people may experience fatigue, tension, disrupted sleep, or emotional imbalance.

Healing Touch creates an environment of calm and coherence that supports these self-regulating processes, allowing the body to respond more efficiently and restore balance over time. For this reason, Healing Touch is often used in integrative and supportive care settings alongside conventional healthcare and wellness practices.

Healing Touch does not diagnose or treat medical conditions, but it supports the whole person by fostering balance, resilience, and adaptability.

🔗 Learn more about how Healing Touch works on our What Is Healing Touch page
 🔗 Explore the science and clinical research behind Healing Touch

No. You do not need to believe in Healing Touch - or have any prior experience with energy-based approaches - for a session to be beneficial.

Healing Touch is designed to support relaxation and balance in the body. Many of the responses people experience, such as a sense of calm or reduced tension, are associated with the body’s natural relaxation response. These responses can occur regardless of personal beliefs, expectations, or skepticism.

People often come to Healing Touch simply feeling curious, stressed, or open to trying something supportive alongside their current care. The session does not require belief, intention-setting, or spiritual alignment to participate.

Healing Touch does not override personal boundaries or decision-making. Individuals remain fully aware and in control during a session, and the experience unfolds in a way that respects each person’s comfort level and well-being.

Because Healing Touch is non-invasive and client-centered, it is commonly used by people from a wide range of backgrounds - including those who approach it from a wellness, relaxation, or integrative care perspective rather than a spiritual one.

🔗 Learn more about what to expect during a Healing Touch session
🔗 Explore how Healing Touch is used in integrative and supportive care settings

Healing Touch is not a religion and is not tied to any spiritual belief system. It is a heart-centered, energy-based approach that can be experienced in a completely non-religious way.

Healing Touch was developed within a healthcare context and is taught as a professional, ethical, and client-centered practice. It does not require belief in spirituality, prayer, or any religious framework to participate. People of all faiths—and those with no religious or spiritual affiliation—use and receive Healing Touch comfortably.

Some individuals describe their experience as spiritually meaningful, while others experience it simply as deeply relaxing, calming, or supportive to overall well-being. Healing Touch respects each person’s personal worldview and does not impose interpretations, beliefs, or practices.

In professional and healthcare settings, Healing Touch is used as a complementary, non-religious modality focused on relaxation, balance, and supporting the body’s natural self-regulation processes.

Healing Touch practitioners are trained to honor personal boundaries, informed consent, and individual comfort levels, ensuring the experience remains supportive, inclusive, and respectful.

🔗 Learn more about the professional and ethical foundations of Healing Touch
🔗 Explore how Healing Touch is used in healthcare and integrative care settings

Yes. Healing Touch is commonly used by people who are not experiencing a specific illness or medical condition but want support with stress, balance, and overall well-being.

Many people use Healing Touch to:

• Manage everyday stress and emotional overload
• Support relaxation and nervous system balance
• Improve sleep, focus, and energy
• Maintain a sense of physical and emotional equilibrium
• Support personal well-being during busy or demanding life periods

Healing Touch is designed to support the body’s natural self-regulation processes, which are relevant whether someone is managing a health challenge or simply seeking balance and resilience in daily life.

Because it is gentle, non-invasive, and adaptable, Healing Touch is often used as a preventive and supportive wellness practice, helping people stay grounded and regulated before stress or imbalance becomes overwhelming.

Healing Touch does not require a diagnosis or a specific goal. Sessions are tailored to the individual’s needs in the moment and are commonly described as calming, centering, and restorative.

No. Healing Touch is not a medical treatment and is not intended to replace healthcare or professional medical advice.

Healing Touch is used as a complementary approach to support relaxation, comfort, emotional well-being, and stress reduction - often alongside conventional medical care. Many people use Healing Touch in integrative healthcare settings to help manage stress, support recovery, and improve quality of life while continuing to work with their healthcare providers.

Healing Touch practitioners do not diagnose conditions or provide medical treatment. Clients are encouraged to continue all recommended medical care.

🔗 Read about Healing Touch professional standards and scope of practice and how Healing Touch supports well-being alongside healthcare.

Absolutely! Animals are very easy to work on because their Spirits are so open.

Just like a person, when an animal is injured or ill, the energy system becomes out of balance. Healing Touch helps restore the balance, which in turn assists their body's natural capacity for healing itself.

Yes, Healing Touch for Animals® was created in 1997 by Carol Komitor, a Healing Touch Certified Instructor. Healing Touch program endorses this program for learning specific Healing Touch techniques for animals. Check out Healing Touch for Animals website. Healing Touch for Animals® (HTA) is a holistic approach influencing the health and well-being of animals through energy medicine and intention. HTA techniques restore harmony and balance to the animal’s energy system while providing physical, emotional, mental and instinctual stability.

Healing Touch can enhance the healing process and does not replace traditional veterinary medicine or veterinary healthcare. These techniques promote a beneficial way to blend holistic healthcare and traditional medicine.

The difference between Healing Touch Program and Healing Touch for Animals® is the difference in the energy fields between humans and animals. The Healing Touch for Animals® techniques allow for the difference in the animal’s energy structure. All of the techniques presented are taught to adapt to the animal’s energy field to assist in optimum healing.