Therapeutic Touch in the News

June 7-11 World Conference on Breast Cancer Foundation Hamilton, Ontario

In honour of its 25th anniversary year, the Therapeutic Touch Network of Ontario (TTNO) was out in full force at the World Breast Cancer Conference at the Hamilton Convention Centre, June 8 - 11, 2011.
 
37 members of the TTNO, coming from as far away as St. Catherines, Hamilton, Guelph and Toronto shared their knowledge in presentations, exhibits and in over 70 Therapeutic Touch sessions offered to clients from as far away as Sweden, Africa and Jamaica and from coast to coast in Canada. We were able to help link breast cancer patients and survivors, at the display table and at our clinic, with practitioners and local Therapeutic Touch networks in their own home areas. The comments left by
clients are a testament to the benefits of Therapeutic Touch to those who receive it.

Two presentations at the World Breast Cancer Conference, presented by Recognized Therapeutic Touch Teachers, included:

Susan Keith and Julia von Flotow presented TherapeuticTouch™ Works! offering an overview of how Therapeutic Touch enhances the healing process and where it fits in the healthcare continuum, its roots/history, research and general applications in various settings. An experiential aspect of the presentation included a meditation, centering and energy sensing exercise.

Janet Fallaize and Gail Lafortune presented Enhancing the Healing Experience of the Cancer Journey with Therapeutic Touch™. They discussed the cancer journey from the perspective of a breast cancer survivor and how Therapeutic Touch impacts healing from the perspective of a nurse who worked in a hospital-based TherapeuticTouch clinic as well as the benefits of Therapeutic Touch for cancer patients and their families.
TTNO members had a rewarding experience working the event, getting to know each other better and serving a community who so deeply appreciated and benefitted from the service.
 
Thank you to all!

June 2-3 PEI Palliative Care Conference

Summerside, PEI

In early June of this year Prince Edward Island held their first Conference on Palliative Care which was sponsored by Health PEI and was attended by over two hundred health care professionals. Evelyn MacKay, RN (Ret) was invited by the organizers to speak. She chose as her topic “Therapeutic Touch™ as a Complement to End of Life Care”.

In her session, Evelyn demonstrated Therapeutic Touch, using a volunteer from the audience, encouraged the attendees to get a sense of their own energy ifield and taught the Hand Heart Connection. They were a reserved group because the concept of energy modalities was quite new and yet their very quiet attention during the Therapeutic Touch session seemed to indicate an interest. After the meeting was over, Evelyn shared a delightful moment with a young physician who told her she has discovered that distressed children in her practice could be quickly calmed by stroking their lower legs and feet. On the basis of this insight and what she had understood from the presentation, she decided that she would attend a class in Therapeutic Touch class very soon. Good news indeed!