Rosa is the daughter of two such skeptics, and she learned about the therapy from them. She subsequently devised her own experiment design, thoroughly discrediting the practice. For those who are unfamiliar, “Therapeutic Touch” does not include physical contact. Practitioners, or “healers” as they want to be called, move their hands over a patient, claiming to be able to heal them by manipulating the “energy field” that they claim all humans have surrounding them.
The practitioners claim to be able to feel the energy field above the human skin, which inspired Emily’s modest experiment. When she was 11, her test was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, making her the youngest individual to be published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.
The setup was straightforward and inexpensive (less than $10). She’d have practitioners sit behind a cardboard screen, with a towel over their heads and their arms through two holes. She’d then toss a coin. She would place her palm a few centimeters above their left or right hand depending on whether the verdict was head or tails. All the practitioner had to do was figure out which of their hands Emily was hovering above, which should be simple if they can actually sense “human force fields,” let alone the illnesses and disorders they claim to be able to detect.
Therapeutic Touch proponents, like those of other “alternative” techniques, have been hesitant to submit to scientific testing. However, when Emily approached, it was different, mostly because she was nine years old and the results would be utilized for a fourth-grade science fair. In total, 21 people volunteered to participate in the experiments. Fourteen practitioners were given ten opportunities to demonstrate their abilities, while seven practitioners were assessed twenty times apiece. You’d expect them to get the hand right 50% of the time based on random chance.
“If they go to a clinic and heal people, then you would expect them to feel the energy field all the time,” Emily told the Washington Post.
Only 44% of the time were they able to determine which hand she had placed hers above.
“They were about half of the time correct – about what you’d expect from guessing,” Emily told the Los Angeles Times. “Of course, they made excuses.” One person complained that the room was excessively cold. Another claimed that the air conditioning “blew away the force field.”
Therapeutic Touch practitioners said at the time that the trial did not invalidate the years of therapy they had provided and that many patients had benefited from their efforts. However, the beauty of science is that if there is a benefit to the therapy, it can be proven by additional scientific research. They’re ready to take the reins as soon as they discover another 9-year-old.
