Bringing Healing back to Healthcare

TOUCH

The sacred patient/healer relationship involves touch. An article by Dr. Robert Sheeler (MD and Medical Editor of the Mayo Clinic online newsletter) entitled The Power of Touch, noted that at some point in life, almost everyone experiences pain so deep that it is impossible to communicate through words. It may be tempting to simply withdraw, yet companionship during a time like this is so important. So what then can we do when words fail us? This may be a time to communicate through touch.

Many health care providers, Dr. Sheeler said, intuitively sense that a compassionate touch or simply one’s presence can help alleviate suffering. We have formal ways of using touch as medicine through modalities such as massage, reflexology, and Reiki. But simply putting one’s arm around another or touching or holding his or her hand can also mean so much. Living in this age of computers and cell