International
Kinesiology
College Research Priorities,
Submitted by Matthew Thie, IKC Director, Public Relations & Research
John F. Thie, DC, Founder of Touch for Health®
(TFH), felt
strongly that documented research is necessary to
create the evidence base which will allow greater adoption of Muscle
Testing
and Energy Balancing, and therefore greater public access to these
powerful
techniques. Supporting Research
into the benefits of Touch for Health is part of the mission of the
International Kinesiology College.
The
International Kinesiology College sets aside a percentage of income for
the
purpose of Research.
Seed
money was provided to create an internet gateway using eTouch, the
electronic
TFH computer program to gather data on many sessions via the internet.
www.touch4health.com/research/membership.html
IKC Research Priorities:
A. Gather and Post Available Literature on the Practice, Theory, and Experiences of people using TFH specifically & Energy based Kinesiologies or other modalities. This would be articles, books, Journals/magazines, websites, weblogs etc. which people can access to educate themselves, about the benefits and explanations of this work.
B. Descriptions of the TFH/ Kinesiology techniques, Their history, sources, general expected outcomes and rationale/ theory for their effeciveness. Earl Cook, Chair of the USA Touch for Health Kinesiology Association Education and Research Committee has posted a page for collecting this type of descriptive data: www.tfhka.org/research.html
C. Resources for understanding Research Models and the most appropriate research methods and designs for TFH/K. Is the “RCT” (Randomized Controlled Trial) the most appropriate model for research into the benefits of Holistic, educational approaches such as Touch for Health? Or do we need to find appropriate research models that encompass “TLC” (Tender Loving Care) as part of the process- a holistic model of studies to match a holistic model of work.
The journal
Advances in Mind-Body Medicine- Winter 2001 devoted the
entire issue to "The state of the science: The best evidence for the
involvement of thoughts and feelings in physical health." The editor
picked 25
of the top researchers in this field and asked them to pick the best
study that
gave evidence. It is a very interesting set of articles and demonstrates
the variety of research
methods are available.
Alternative Research Possibilities:
Outcome Studies/ "Black Box" Holistic studies
Anecdotal Reports/ Case Studies
Meta-Studies comparing, for example, the correlation between "scientifically significant" biostatistical measures and both Quality of life/ patient Satisfaction AND pathology/ longevity/mortality (e.g. It has been shown that so-call scientific markers are lesser predictors of health or longevity than is THE CLIENT’S OWN ATTITUDE/ beliefs about their future health)
D. Existing published Research in TFH/Kinesiology, and resources for exploring published Research in areas related to TFH/Kinesiology such as Chiropractic(Applied Kinesiology), Traditional Chinese Medicine/ Acupuncture, Massage, Positive Psychology/ Somatic Psychology and Mind/Body Medicine.
E. Existing Ongoing Research Projects- Such as the JFT Memorial Research Project, Descriptive studies of the extent and variety of “Kinesiologies” practiced worldwide, Thesis studies at various Universities, etc.
F. John Thie was also the Founding Chairman of the International College of Applied Kinesiology, and advocated research as part of the ICAK mission. Over the last 35 years, many studies have been done, which are summarized in the Compendium of AK Research. The ICAK continues to increase its research activities and seeks the support of the entire field of Kinesiology, Energy Kinesiology and Specialized Kinesiology to finance their ongoing and increasingly visible research work. See http://www.kinesiology.net/research.asp for Dr. Cuthbert’s “Compendium of AK Research” and other references to Research in AK etc. as an example. Dr. Thie also served on the advisory board for the Journal of Applied Kinesiology and Kinesiologic Medicine, which has published many useful articles.
Research Resources
Overview (an initial survey of existing online resources):
Earl Cook, Chairman, TFHKA Research Committee
Richard and Shanti Duree (Neuroenergetic Psychology)
http://www.neuroenergetic.com/news.htm
http://www.neuroenergetic.com/Reading-List.htm
Click on the Research tab and download a .pdf
ICAK General public links:
http://www.icak.com/links/research.shtml
APPLIED KINESIOLOGY RESEARCH AND LITERATURE COMPENDIUM
-- Edited by Scott Cuthbert, D.C.
David Feinstein's Review of Energy Medicine info:
http://www.innersource.net/energy_psych/epi_research.htm
General roundup of Energy Psychology Research/Resources
http://www.energypsych.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=5
Journals and Resources from http://energymedicineuniversity.org
(James Oschman’s Website)
http://energymedicineuniversity.org/resources.html
Energy
Psychology
http://www.energypsych.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=8
http://www.heartmath.org/research/research-overview.html
Massage:
http://www.amtamassage.org/infocenter/current.html
http://www.amtamassage.org/infocenter/otherlinks.html
Chiropractic,
World Federation of Chiropractic
http://www.wfc.org
Online papers on Consciousness, Compiled by David Chalmers
Holistic Healing Research
http://wholistichealingresearch.com/home.html
Organizations:
TFH Kinesiology Association (USA) www.tfhka.org
JFT Memorial Research Fund
JFT Memorial Research Gateway
www.touch4health.com/research/membership.html
Energy Kinesiology Association
International Association of Specialized Kinesiology
Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology
International Society for Complementary Medicine Research
Society for Acupuncture Research
http://www.acupunctureresearch.org/
The Association for Meridian Energy Therapies
American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine
Institute of
Noetic Sciences, California
Shift
Magazine
http://www.noetic.org/publications/magazine.cfm
Digital
Library
http://www.noetic.org/publications/library.cfm
The International Society for the Study of Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine
The EMDR Institute
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
http://nccam.nih.gov/health/backgrounds/energymed.htm
http://nccam.nih.gov/training/centers/
World Health Organization
http://www.who.int/en/
Associated
Bodywork
& Massage Professionals
http://www.massagetherapy.com/learnmore/benefits.php
American Holistic
Health Association
http://ahha.org/research.asp
Fetzer
Institute
http://www.fetzer.org/Programs.aspx?PageID=Programs&NavID=3
Center
for
Functional Research
http://www.functionalresearch.org/research.htm
The Heart Math Institute
http://www.heartmath.com/self/index.html
Joseph Mercola, D.C.
http://www.mercola.com
Journals:
AK: the International
Journal of Applied Kinesiology and Kinesiologic Medicine
The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
http://www.liebertpub.com/publication.aspx?pub_id=26
Subtle Energies
and Energy Medicine
http://www.issseem.org/journal.cfm
Alternative
Therapies
in Health and Medicine
http://www.alternative-therapies.com/at/
Alternative
Therapies
http://www.imjournal.com/im/index.cfm?page=about
Advances in Mind
Body Medicine
http://www.advancesjournal.com/adv/
Journal of Complementary
and Integrative Medicine
Journal
of
Transpersonal Psychology
http://www.atpweb.org/journal.asp
Journal
of
Consciousness Studies
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/imp/jcs
Journal of Accord
Integrative
Medicine
http://www.accordinstitute.org/
Explore:
The
Journal of Science and Healing
http://www.explorejournal.com/
Journal of
Scientific Exploration
http://www.scientificexploration.org/jse.php
Resource Websites (From James Oschman’s
website)
James L. Oschman, Ph.D
http://www.energyresearch.bizland.com/
http://www.energyresearch.bizland.com/id8.html
“What Is
Complementary and Alternative Medicine?”
http://nccam.nih.gov/health/backgrounds/energymed.htm
“Studies are
underway to determine the safety and usefulness
of many CAM practices.”
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/alternativemedicine.html
IONS- Institute of
Noetic Sciences, “Research &
Education Project Highlights”
http://www.ions.org/research.cfm
“emotional
physiology
and stress-management research”
http://www.heartmath.org/research/index.html
http://www.bastyr.edu/research/buarc/activities.asp
QiGong Institute:
“Scientific Articles, Abstracts and
Reviews”
http://www.qigonginstitute.org/html/papers.php
“UC
San Diego
Holistic and Integrative Medicine Group”
http://meded.ucsd.edu/groups/hi-med/facultyandstudents.html
“Oregon Center for
Complementary & Alternative Medicine
in Neurological Disorders”
Positive Health
“Research Updates”
http://positivehealth.com/research-subject-list.php
“RAND Health
researchers conduct evidence-based research on
alternative approaches”
http://www.rand.org/health/researchareas/alternative.html
“Research Grant by
the National Institutes of Health”
http://www.johrei-institute.org
“University of
Michigan Integrative Medicine Research
Center”
http://www.med.umich.edu/umim/research/cam.htm
“Integrative
Medicine”
http://www.integrativemedicinec.com/p5.html
“The Conscious
Universe”
http://www.deanradin.com/NewWeb/activities.html
“Parapsychology
Resources on the Internet”