An exploration of the Role of Touch in a Therapeutic Setting.

This research took on both qualitative and quantitative aspects to further explore the use of touch in a therapeutic setting. The qualitative research explored six accounts from psychologists on why they use or don't use touch within their practise. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and interviews were transcribed and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Four superior themes were found between the accounts of each therapist; Professional boundaries and power imbalance, Individual clients and the context, Touch in therapy and Limiting the client. Two cases specifically discuss the use of touch during the process and their experiences with it and the reasons for not using touch are discussed. The importance of touch as a departing gesture is examined although the rarity of touch outside of this is emphasised and it is also suggested that touch does not need to have a place in the therapeutic process. Qualitative research is also conducted to assess everyday individual's need for touch and whether they feel they would value touch as comfort in a therapeutic setting and whether their gender affects their answer. Results showed that an individual's need for touch is important but that people are unsure if they would value it in a therapeutic setting. It was also revealed that gender was a significant predictor of whether individual's would value touch in the therapeutic process. This research further expands on the knowledge in the area of touch both from a therapists perspective and individual's in general