Comments on: When woo works

By: Know your atheists - Eshu « Right To Think

Know your atheists - Eshu « Right To Think — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 09:27:51 +0000

[...] from Daylight Atheism, and now his weekly investigations into everything from ectoplasmic orbs to people who touch animals are one of my favourite parts of the [...]

By: Marie Miller

Marie Miller — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 09:07:24 +0000

I see what you mean. I’m afraid that I know very little about scientific research and how it is funded. How does one go about it? Where does the money come from? I guess the best place to contact for up to date information about any research being carried out independant or otherwise would be the TTouch Office if SF … contact details are on the main website.

By: Eshu

Eshu — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 21:53:30 +0000

Marie,
Thanks for the link, but I’m really after something independent, comparing the efficacy of TTouch with a control or against other techniques. This looks like it was funded by TTouch organisations for the purpose or promoting TTouch. Regarding the Robin Bernhard and Sandy Rakowitz brain injury work:

Just last year, they did a study which showed exactly what they and others have been concluding all along – that this specialized work can improve brain function.

Sounds a lot like confirmation bias to me. A couple of people who’ve believed something for 20 years produce a study confirming that they’re correct. I don’t find that especially surprising or enlightening.

That’s not to say that TTouch definitely couldn’t do the things they claim, but this study offers nothing to show that it’s any better than any informal technique might be. It seems instead to be a series of anecdotes which could have been cherry-picked for this article.

By: Marie Miller

Marie Miller — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 12:18:05 +0000

Perhaps I was not as clear as I should have been. While it is true that TTouch Practitioners are kind and respectuful in their interactions and training of animals, sadly the same cannot be said of all animal trainers.

I respect your need to know how and why TTouch works. There is a page about research and studies done into TTouch on the website http://www.ttouch.com/researchStudies.shtml … is that the sort of thing you are looking for?

By: Eshu

Eshu — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 07:56:35 +0000

Thanks for your comment, Marie. I’m sure the majority of T-Touch practitioners are very respectful and kind to the animals they treat and they probably wouldn’t be doing it if they didn’t like animals.

Whether the technique involves massage, stroking or “light touches”, I’m most interested in whether it can be clinically proven to work, then if so, investigating why it works. Most social animals benefit from exercise, training and attention, so what makes T-Touch special. Linda Tellington’s site gave a very woolly explanation, which made me suspicious. I’d be interested to know if there has ever been an independent clinical study of T-Touch. Do you know of such a study?

By: Marie Miller

Marie Miller — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 15:06:41 +0000

I am a TTouch Practitioner and have been using this method alongside other positive training methods with great success for a a number of years. It is not energy work like Reiki or medical manipulation/intervention as claimed by techniques like Bowen. TTouch is much more akin to the Feldenkrais or Alexander techniques in that it teaches body awareness by non-habitual movement … either of the skin in the light TTouches or the body in ground work exercises. The physical TTouches are much too light to be massage and have a different purpose. The other part of this work that is rarely mentioned is the respect that is shown to the animal or person involved and as far as I am concerned this ethos of respect is a hugely important part ot TTouch and the work that I do with animals and their owners.

By: yunshui

yunshui — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 09:23:34 +0000

“Yes it works, although it can’t be tested, but they’ve been using it in the far East for generations and my grandmother swears by it” Speaking as an ex-Reiki ~~charlatan~~ practitioner, I can assure you that this is often all the endorsement needed for a ~~mark~~ patient to accept the treatment as genuine. I wonder if they'll have any problem with the anti-vivisection movement? After all, any clinical trials would have to involve animal testing...