Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/1208028
Jane Stevens, a widely recognized expert on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and the publisher of ACEsTooHigh. com and ACEsConnection.com, maintains that healthy compassionate touch is vital to mitigate ACEs' negative effects on children. She consults with institutions internationally on how they can integrate best practices based on ACEs science, and noticed with alarm that many schools had integrated a no- touch policy for students in the mistaken belief that restricting or prohibiting touch is protective and reduces violence. Knowing how many kids desperately need hugs and other safe and appropriate physical interaction, it broke her heart to see kids hurting for lack of compassionate touch, especially because she knows compassionate touch can be taught safely. When we see the level of violence within our school systems, and recall that 2018 was the deadliest year on record for school shootings in the US, we know that this is an urgent calling. BENEFITS OF ATTUNED AND COMPASSIONATE TOUCH There is a significant body of research demonstrating the importance of touch for our physical and emotional well- being through all stages of our life cycle—from birth through childhood and adolescence, into adulthood and old age. We never outgrow our need for attuned and compassionate touch. Tiffany Field, a leading researcher and founder of the Touch Research Institute, performed a comprehensive review of the past 10 years of pediatric massage therapy research in "Pediatric Massage Therapy Research: A Narrative Review," published in 2019 in Children. 2 Field states that the research suggests "massage therapy has positive effects on several pediatric conditions . . . Potential underlying mechanisms for the massage therapy effects include increased vagal activity and decreased stress hormones." Many of the studies enlisted parents and other nonmedical caregivers to give massage. It's noted that in some studies these caregivers, while shown the techniques, were not tested for compliance. And yet the benefits were the same for the infants and children, and there were also positive effects for the caregivers, such as better sleep regulation for mothers with infants and decreased anxiety levels for mothers of children with asthma. One study examining the effect of massage on children with Down's syndrome noted improved outcomes following a five- month massage period performed by their mothers. Significantly, the improvement continued at a six-month follow-up assessment. Field makes a profound statement in her commentary: ". . . massage therapy effects do not typically persist when therapy is discontinued." As we know, massage is more than just depth, direction, and pressure. Much of what these caregivers learned was how to attune to their infants and children: to pay attention to them, notice their responses, and respond in kind while touching them. The benefits of learning attuned touch become ongoing. EVIDENCE FOR ATTUNED AND COMPASSIONATE TOUCH A compassionate touch program was developed for preschool and elementary school students by the Upledger Foundation. In 1997, a small research study was conducted in Wisconsin, where the Compassionate Touch Program was taught to 101 school children. 3 The study showed an increase in positive and caring behaviors while also demonstrating a decrease in aggressive and problem behaviors. There are measurable benefits to teaching healthy compassionate touch to young children. 4 A groundbreaking piece of research showed that we can read the emotional state of one another remarkably accurately through touch alone. Matthew J. Hertenstein, the lead author of the paper "Touch Communicates Distinct Emotions," 5 states, "We documented that the tactile modality can signal at least six emotions: anger, fear, disgust, love, gratitude, and sympathy. Accuracy rates ranged from 48 percent to 83 percent, which are comparable to those observed in studies of facial displays and vocal communication." Touch is vital for communication. We are literally hardwired to use and understand touch, just as we are hardwired for speech and facial expressions. Touch is an integral part of our social engagement system. In a fascinating study titled, "Tactile Communication, Cooperation, and Performance: An Ethological Study of the NBA," 6 touch between NBA players was examined. The authors summarized, "Consistent with hypotheses, early season touch predicted greater performance for individuals as well as teams later in the season. Additional analyses confirmed that touch predicted improved performance even after accounting for player status, preseason expectations, and early season performance. Moreover, coded cooperative behaviors between teammates explained the association between touch and team performance." Attuned touch improves individual physical performance and group cohesion. In the study "The Soothing Function of Touch: Affective Touch Reduces Feelings of Social Exclusion," 7 from University College London, gentle touch was found to counter feelings of social isolation—putting people at ease and helping them feel more connected. In the conclusion, the author states, "Mammals have a well-recognized need for closeness and attachment, so it wasn't a big surprise that social support reduced the emotional pain of being excluded in social interactions. What is interesting however is that social support was optimally conveyed only by a simple, yet specific, instance of touch. No words, or pictures were necessary, at least in the short term. This finding builds on evidence that the same kind of touch can have unique effects on physical pain, and it can have implications for the role of touch in various mental and physical care settings." We agree with the authors that touch has a significant role in care settings, and believe this study points toward the benefits of touch in 70 m a s s a g e & b o d y w o r k m a r c h / a p r i l 2 0 2 0