Therapeutic Touch does not involve actual physical contact, despite its name. The practitioner’s hands move in slow, rhythmic motions two to six inches above the patient in an effort to detect what are said to be blockages in the body’s energy field that may cause or contribute to illness. The technique was devised a few decades ago as a contemporary version of various ancient practices in which a healer consciously strives to direct and focus energy to the receiver to balance and unblock energy flows. Sessions typically last about 20 minutes and are said to produce a sense of relaxed wellbeing as well as relief from pain and other symptoms.