Touch may well be one of the least understood or talked about subjects in the helping professions. A discussion on the importance and ethics of positive, caring, and appropriate touch in professions such as teaching, nursing and counselling is long overdue. Touch in the Helping Professions delivers just that, weaving together scholarly evidence, research and clinical practice from a wide range of perspectives encompassing philosophy, theology, psychology, and anthropology to challenge assumptions about the role of touch in the helping professions. The contributors to the volume focus not only on the overarching roles of gender, age, culture and life experience, but go beyond to encompass canine-assisted therapy, touch deprivation, sacred objects, as well as key ethical considerations. The prevailing lack of dialogue, due to fear of contravening ethical boundaries, has stood in the way of an open and responsible discussion on the use of touch in therapy. Touch in the Helping Professionsis a welcome and much needed contribution to the field-a window onto a fundamental need.
This book is published in English.-Cet ouvrage offre un ensemble de donnees probantes et de resultats cliniques a l'appui du toucher dans le developpement physique et emotionnel. Il est structure selon trois axes : la theorie sur le toucher; la pratique du toucher dans un contexte de therapie, et les questions ethiques. Il aborde la question du role du genre, de l'age, de la culture et de l'experience de vie, des sujets comme la zootherapie, la privation sensorielle, des objets sacres, et des considerations d'ordre ethique. Les approches variees - philosophie, theologie, psychologie, anthropologie - remettent en question les presuppositions, offrent un contexte historico-culturelprofessionnel, et font appel a des donnees primaires. Les collaborateurs soutiennent que le toucher sain et non sexuel n'est pas suffisamment enseigne dans le cadre de la formation professionnelle. Cette absence de dialogue - engendree par la crainte de depasser des bornes ethiques, fait en sorte qu'une discussion ouverte et responsable sur l'utilisation du toucher dans un cadre therapeutique ne peut avoir lieu, alors meme qu'elle contribuerait aux balises theoriques de notre comprehension de cet enjeu fondamental.
Ce livre est publie en anglais.
Acknowledgements INTRODUCTION Exploring Touch Outline of the Book PART I THE THEORY OF TOUCH CHAPTER I Touch Deprivation and Counselling as Healing Touch What Is Touch? Touch Deprivation Touch Deprivation and Attachment Counselling as Healing Touch Healing Touch in Couple Counselling Case Study 1 Case Study 2 Conclusion CHAPTER II Thinking About Touch Hume on Thinking Descartes: Touch as Confused Thinking What Is Touch? Individuating Touch Twentieth- and Twenty-First-Century Touch Conclusion CHAPTER III Contributions of Sensory Anthropology and Durand’s Anthropology to the Symbolic Study of Touch and the Understanding of Boundaries in Psychotherapy The Contributions of Sensory Anthropology Schopenhauer’s Parable of the Porcupines The Contributions of Durand’s Anthropology of the Imaginary The Mythical World of the Mystical Type The Mythical World of the Heroic Type The Mythical World of the Synthetic Type Defining Boundaries in Human Life and in the Context of Psychotherapy Application of Durand’s Theory to the Understanding of Boundaries Conclusion CHAPTER IV Healing and the Forbidden Touch: A Reflection on Selected Scripture Stories Introduction: On the Meaning of Touch From Sight to Touch To Touch or Not to Touch? Touching Jesus and the Hemorrhaging Woman (Mk 5: 25–34). Is Touch a Gender Issue? Does Touching Contribute to Healing? Do Not Touch Me: Forbidden Touch (Jn 20: 11–18) Closeness and Distance: Who Is Allowed to Touch? The Impossibility of Touch and Transgressive Touch Conclusion PART II THE PRACTICE OF TOUCH IN PSYCHOTHERAPY CHAPTER V The Intervention of Touch in Psychotherapy and Trauma Treatment Introduction to Touch in Psychotherapy and Trauma Treatment Exploring Theory and Research: A Rationale for Touch in Trauma Therapy The Importance of the Nervous System in Emotional Regulation and Trauma Treatment Potential Impact of Touch on Clients Types of Touch in Psychotherapy Guidelines for Safe and Effective Touch in Psychotherapy Case Example of Using Touch/Physical Contact with a Teenage Client Conclusion CHAPTER VI A Puppy’s Touch: Destressing with Dogs in a University Environment Introduction Initial Research Biophilia Hypothesis Social Support Hypothesis Context of the Research Methodology Findings 1. Energy of the Dogs 2. Distraction from Current Stress 3. Touch or Contact with the Dogs 4. Unconditional Love and Acceptance 5. Reminder of Home or Pet Discussion Conclusion CHAPTER VII Inter-Partner Touch in Couple Counselling: Theory and Emerging Practice What is Touch? Defining Touch Psychobiological Function of Touch What is the Importance of Touch for Psychological Well-Being? Touch Promotes Human Development Touch Provides Attachment Security Touch for Comfort and Well-Being Touch in Times of Distress Touch Leads to Spiritual Health, Experience, and Connection Touch in Couple Counselling Touch in Today’s Couple Counselling A Spirituality for Inter-Partner Touch An Emerging Model for Touch in Couple Counselling Look, Touch, Talk, Hug Twenty-Second Hug Moving Forward What Implications Does Touch Have for Couple Counselling? Ethical Considerations Need for Future Research PART III THE PRACTICE OF TOUCH IN A SPECTRUM OF PRACTICE CHAPTER VIII The Practice of the Laying on of Hands in Islamic Spiritual Care Literature Review A Place for the Laying on of Hands in Islamic Spiritual Care Ethics of the Laying on of Hands in Islamic Spiritual Care Ethics of the Tawhid Principle Ethics of Physical and Spiritual Purification Ethics of Providing Proper Care Conclusion CHAPTER IX An Angel in My Pocket: Touch, Sacred Objects, and Spiritual Coping Touch in Hospital Chaplaincy Spiritual Coping Locus of Control The Spiritual Dimension of Touch Objects of Spiritual Significance The Function of the Sacralized Object Focuses the Mind Tool of Connection Source of Emotional Support A Beneficial but High-Maintenance Coping Strategy Evolution of the Sacred Object Sacralized Objects in Meaning-Making Challenges with the Research Conclusion CHAPTER X Touch(ed) in Palliative Care Nursing: Moving with/in An Uncertain Practice Touch in Nursing: An Aesthetic and Embodied Practice (In)visible and (Dis)embodied Practices of Touch in Nursing At the Margins of Care: Personal and Professional Boundaries Affecting Touch To Touch and Be Touched: Cultivating Capacity Mindfulness Attuning Mind, Body, and Emotions Moving with Uncertainty and Vulnerability: Flowing of Frozen Waters? Storytelling Going Slow to Know: Storying Meaning Evoking the Body: Storying Practices of Touch Cultivating a Community of Practice: Storying Relations Conclusion Appendix A: With Mary Appendix B: With Jerry Appendix C: With Jake and Family CHAPTER XI Touch in Supervision A Model for Supervising Touch Touch Between Supervisor and Supervisee Recommendations Conclusion PART IV THE ETHICS OF TOUCH IN THE HELPING RELATIONSHIPS AND CONCLUSION CHAPTER XII The Ethics of Touch in the Helping Relationships A Question of Personal Boundaries Therapeutic or Not? Current Context What Professional Ethics Say The Benefits of Touch in the Helping Relationships How to Decide to Touch or not to Touch? Who Touches? Who Is Touched? Contraindications In What Context Does Touch in the Helping Relationships Occur? For a Better Practice of Touch in the Helping Relationships Guidelines and Recommendations Training, Supervision and Consultation CONCLUSION Issues of Touch: An Overall View and Integration Touch Helps Us Thrive Touching You; Touching Me; Touching Puppies; Touching in the Helping Relationships Contracting Touch in the Helping Relationships Clients Who Want to Touch or Be Touched The Ethics of Touch What Touch Might Mean Within a Therapeutic Relationship Touch as Presented Within Academic Education and Training Contributors
Martin Rovers is a professor and AAMFT-approved supervisor in the Faculty of Human Sciences at Saint Paul University (Ottawa). Judith Malette is a certified clinical psychologist and full professor in the Faculty of Human Sciences at Saint Paul University (Ottawa). Manal Guirguis-Younger is dean of the Faculty of Human Sciences at Saint Paul University (Ottawa).
Reviews for Touch in the Helping Professions: Research, Practice and Ethics
This book is an exploration of touch in the context of psychotherapy, considering a range of perspectives, the appropriate use and the influence of both social and cultural values. (...) The collation of ideas is embedded with scholarly evidence, research and expert perspectives creating an interesting and thought provoking read. -- (06/25/2018) This collation of ideas is embedded with scholarly evidence, research and expert perspectives creating an interesting and thought provoking read. (...) I have recommended this book to a number of different people from a variety of backgrounds and professions. This book can aid medical professionals in their consideration of touch and both its therapeutic and detrimental effects. --Nicole South, Senior Lecturer, Canterbury Christ Church University (06/25/2018)
