10 Types of Touch That Can Happen in Therapy
It should come as no surprise how crucial touch is to our development. It is the first sense that we develop in the womb, and the last sense we use before death. Knowing touch is the foundation of human experience and that it is essential for healthy growth and development, we need to pause and ask ourselves... When did touch become a bad word?
No touch rules were instituted to try to stop sexual abuse of children. These rules, while well intended, placed additional pressure on therapists, and started a new ethical battle.
- How do you respond to a client's spontaneous hug?
- How do you ethically incorporate touch with play therapy?
- Do you need a consent form to touch your client?
- Greeting touch
- Shaking hands with child or parent
- Patterned playful touch
- Quick, synchronized hand movements (such as pat-a-cake)
- Reorienting touch
- Touching a child that appears to be drifting off
- Task-oriented touch
- Hands touch passing a toy, paper, markers, etc.
- Physical (related to an injury) touch
- A child shows you a hurt finger
- Excited/happy touch
- When a child is sharing good news
- Containment touch
- When a child is in danger (like standing on a chair)
- Intentional touch
- Measuring a child's height on the wall
- Assistance touch
- Help standing or completing a task
- Attentional touch
- When a child is touched to gain their attention about something
Before you leave, watch this TED talk from Janet Courtney on the Curative Touch of a Magic Rainbow Hug.
Bill O'Hanlon, MS, LMFT, has authored or co-authored 31 books, the latest being Quick Steps to Resolving Trauma (W.W. Norton, 2010). He has published 59 articles or book chapters. His books have been translated into 16 languages. He has appeared on Oprah (with his book Do One Thing Different), The Today Show, and a variety of other television and radio programs.
For the past 30+ years, Bill has given over 2,000 talks around the world. He has been a top-rated presenter at many national conferences and was awarded the Outstanding Mental Health Educator of the Year in 2001 by the New England Educational Institute. He is a Licensed Mental Health Professional, Certified Professional Counselor, and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Bill is clinical member of AAMFT (and winner of the 2003 New Mexico AMFT Distinguished Service Award), certified by the National Board of Certified Clinical Hypnotherapists and a Fellow and a Board Member of the American Psychotherapy Association. Bill is known for his storytelling, irreverent humor, clear and accessible style and his boundless enthusiasm for whatever he is doing. His seminars are as entertaining as they are educational.
Janet A Courtney, PhD, LCSW, RPT-S™, is founder of FirstPlay Therapy®. She is a Registered Play Therapy-Supervisor, TEDx Speaker and past Chair of the Association for Play Therapy Ethics and Practice Committee and past President of the Florida Association for Play Therapy, FirstPlay Therapy was awarded third place overall in the Best Practices Showcase for FirstPlay Therapy at the First 1000 Days Infant Mental Health Summit (2018) along with the Children’s Healing Institute. She is author and editor of the following books: Infant Play Therapy: Foundations, Programs, Models and Practice, and Healing Child and Family Trauma through Expressive and Play Therapies: Art, Nature, Storytelling, Body & Mindfulness and Nature-based Play & Expressive Therapies: Interventions for Children, Teens and Families, and Touch in Child Counseling and Play Therapy: An Ethical and Clinical Guide. Her research in practitioner experiences of training in touch and Developmental Play Therapy is published in the American Journal of Art Therapy and the International Journal of Play Therapy. She is a contributing author in several books including Play-based Interventions for Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders and the book Environmental Expressive Therapies (2017), and Play Therapy Supervision (2023). She is also published in the Journal of Therapeutic Horticulture. She offers a certification in FirstPlay Therapy® and provides training to professionals in the Ethical and Clinical Competencies of Touch, FirstPlay® Therapy, Ericksonian-based StoryPlay®, Expressive Therapies, and Nature-based Play Therapy. She has been invited to speak nationally and internationally including Bali, Indonesia, the Cayman Islands, England, Ireland, Morocco, Russia and the Ukraine. She is a provider through the Florida state boards of Mental Health and Massage Therapy, and an approved provider through the Association for Play Therapy. She specializes in infant mental health and infant play therapy, attachment, and Trauma related issues. Dr. Courtney’s new form of Kinesthetic Storytelling® can be found in her children’s book, The Magic Rainbow. Website: www.firstplaytherapy.com
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Janet Courtney is founder of FirstPlay™ Therapy. She is in private practice and has employment relationships with Barry University and Ellen Whiteside McDonnell School of Social Work. Dr. Courtney receives royalties as a published author and receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Janet Courtney is a member of the National Association of Social Workers, World Association for Infant Mental Health, and the International Association for the Study of Affective Touch.
