What is Healing Touch?
Healing Touch is a biofield therapy in which practitioners use their hands—placed lightly on or near the body—to clear, balance, and energize the human energy field. The modality involves practitioners consciously using their hands in a heart-centered and intentional way to enhance, support and facilitate physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health and self-healing. Unlike massage or bodywork, Healing Touch focuses on the energy system rather than muscles or tissues, with sessions typically conducted in a quiet environment while the client rests clothed on a treatment table.
The practice draws from a specific curriculum of techniques organized into progressive training levels, encompassing chakra-based assessments, field clearing methods, and integration sequences. Practitioners work with concepts from both Eastern energy anatomy—chakras, meridians, and auric layers—and contemporary nursing science. Though often categorized alongside Reiki or Therapeutic Touch, Healing Touch maintains a distinct curriculum, certification pathway, and professional structure rooted in holistic nursing education.
Origins & Lineage
In 1989, Janet Mentgen, a registered nurse from Denver, Colorado, formalized her energy healing methods into a structured certification program called Healing Touch. Janet began using her energy-based healing skills in 1980, and spent the decade studying diverse modalities. She studied and worked with the founders of Therapeutic Touch, Dolores Krieger PhD, RN and Janet Quinn PhD, RN, and other healers such as Rosalyn Bruyere and Barbara Brennan. In 1988, Janet was honored as the Holistic Nurse of the Year by the American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA).
In 1989, Healing Touch was offered as a pilot program at the University of Tennessee in Memphis and in Gainesville, Florida. It began in 1990 as the Healing Touch certificate program sponsored through the American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA) coincided with the providership of continuing education for nurses by the Colorado Nurses Association. In 1993, Healing Touch was certified by the American Holistic Nurses Association. In 1993, Janet formed the Colorado Center for Healing Touch dedicated to bringing this practice to millions of people around the world. In 1996, Janet founded Healing Touch International, Inc. as a non-profit educational and membership organization. Healing Touch became an accredited program in 1996 through the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA).
Janet Mentgen (1938–2005) envisioned Healing Touch as accessible beyond clinical settings. About her program Janet said, “My long-range goal is for every household in the world to be skilled with healing hands able to help somebody.” In 2008 the certification process was moved to the Healing Touch Certification Board. The modality has since expanded globally, with practitioners in over 30 countries.
How It’s Practiced
A typical Healing Touch session lasts 45 to 90 minutes. The practitioner begins with a verbal intake, discussing the client’s health concerns, intentions, and energy level. The client then lies fully clothed on a massage table while the practitioner conducts an energetic assessment, often using hand scanning to sense temperature changes, density, or flow patterns in the biofield.
Techniques vary by training level and client need. Common interventions include chakra connection (linking energy centers in sequence), magnetic clearing (sweeping hand movements to release congestion), spiral meditation (a full-body energy balancing sequence), and localized pain drainage. Hands are typically placed lightly on or just above the body to facilitate energy flow and open up energy centers (chakras). Some techniques involve no physical contact; others use gentle touch on shoulders, feet, or the head.
Clients report sensations ranging from warmth and tingling to deep relaxation or emotional release. The practitioner maintains a meditative, compassionate presence throughout, periodically checking in verbally. Sessions conclude with grounding techniques and a brief discussion. Practitioners often recommend water intake and rest following treatment.
Healing Touch Today
Today, Healing Touch is practiced globally in hospitals, clinics, nursing schools, and long-term care centers. The modality has found particular acceptance in integrative oncology, palliative care, pre- and post-surgical settings, and trauma-informed therapy contexts. Major medical centers in the United States, including veterans’ hospitals, employ Healing Touch practitioners on staff or as volunteers.
Training is available through the Healing Touch Program, which offers a five-level curriculum from introductory workshops to advanced practitioner certification. The program offers a progressive curriculum that includes foundational education, advanced practice, practitioner certification pathways, mentorship, and continuing education. Classes are taught both in-person and online, often as weekend intensives. Certification as a Healing Touch Certified Practitioner (HTCP) requires completion of all five levels, documented case studies, mentorship hours, and a written exam.
Seekers typically encounter Healing Touch through hospital integrative medicine departments, holistic health fairs, wellness centers, or word-of-mouth referrals. Private practitioners often work in conjunction with massage therapists, acupuncturists, and counselors. Many nurses integrate Healing Touch techniques into bedside care without formal sessions. Research continues through organizations like the Healing Touch Worldwide Foundation, which has funded studies on pain management, anxiety reduction, and immune function.
Common Misconceptions
Healing Touch is not Therapeutic Touch, though both emerged from nursing and share biofield theory. Therapeutic Touch, developed by Dolores Krieger and Dora Kunz in the 1970s, has its own distinct curriculum and credentialing. Healing Touch incorporates a broader range of techniques and explicitly includes chakra-based frameworks.
Healing Touch does not claim to cure disease or replace medical care. Practitioners are trained to work within a scope of practice that emphasizes complementary support rather than primary treatment. The modality does not involve diagnosis in the clinical sense, though practitioners assess energy flow and imbalance.
Healing Touch is not inherently religious or tied to any spiritual tradition, though individual practitioners may integrate personal beliefs. The training emphasizes heart-centered intention and compassion but does not require adherence to specific metaphysical doctrines. Clients need not hold particular beliefs for sessions to proceed.
Finally, Healing Touch certification is not a medical license. Certified practitioners operate under professional standards and ethics but are not authorized to prescribe, diagnose, or perform procedures reserved for licensed healthcare providers. Nurses and other licensed professionals maintain their own scope of practice when integrating Healing Touch.
How to Begin
For those seeking treatment, the Healing Touch Certification directory offers a searchable database of certified practitioners by location. Many hospitals with integrative medicine departments offer Healing Touch as part of their services, often covered by integrative care packages or offered at reduced cost.
For those interested in learning the practice, the Healing Touch Program Level 1 course serves as the entry point. This weekend workshop introduces foundational concepts, the chakra system, basic assessment, and several core techniques. No prior experience in energy work or healthcare is required. Level 1 graduates may practice techniques on friends and family and are encouraged to develop self-care routines using the methods.
Key resources include the official Healing Touch Program website, which maintains current class schedules and instructor listings. Books by Janet Mentgen and subsequent program leaders, while less widely circulated than general energy healing literature, provide grounding in the specific lineage and techniques. Regional Healing Touch communities often host practice groups, offering low-cost or free sessions where students and practitioners refine skills and exchange sessions.
Anyone considering Healing Touch—as client or practitioner—benefits from understanding that it represents one structured approach within a broader field of biofield therapies. Exploring foundational texts on energy anatomy, such as Barbara Brennan’s Hands of Light or Rosalyn Bruyere’s Wheels of Light, can provide context, as can familiarity with nursing theories of holistic care and Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring, which influenced Mentgen’s vision.