What is Biofield Therapy?
Biofield therapy is a category of complementary and alternative healing practices in which practitioners use their hands—with or without direct physical contact—combined with focused intention to detect and influence subtle energy fields believed to surround and permeate living bodies. The term “biofield” was defined in 1992 at a United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) Conference as “a massless field, not necessarily electromagnetic, that surrounds and permeates living bodies and affects the body.” In 1994, biofield therapies were officially recognized as an alternative treatment by NIH and were defined as “noninvasive, practitioner-mediated therapies that explicitly work with the biofield of both the practitioner and client to stimulate a healing response in the client.”
Practitioners work from the premise that imbalances or blockages in these energy fields contribute to physical, emotional, or psychological distress, and that restoring balance facilitates healing. No scientific research has confirmed the existence of these energy fields. However, biofield therapies show strong evidence for reducing pain intensity in pain populations, and moderate evidence for reducing pain intensity in hospitalized and cancer populations. There is moderate evidence for decreasing negative behavioral symptoms in dementia and moderate evidence for decreasing anxiety for hospitalized populations.
Origins & Lineage
The term “biofield” was originally proposed during an ad hoc meeting of researchers and integrative medicine practitioners convened by the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s Office of Alternative Medicine (now the NCCIH since 2014). The biofield concept emerged in an effort to bridge a diverse set of practices whose underlying mechanism of action was culturally conceptualized as practice-specific forms of an undefined form of energy. The committee sought to bring unity to the diversity of energetic practices by creating a term that would be amenable to the scientific and broader healthcare communities. The term biofield was coined for these purposes with the hope that it would be generic and malleable enough to fit differing explanatory models of therapy.
The practices unified under the biofield umbrella have much older lineages. Reiki and Johrei were developed in Japan, External Qigong in China, and Yakson Touch in Korea, in each case from long-standing systems of Traditional East Asian Medicine. Pranic Healing is based in the Ayurvedic medicine of South India, while Spiritist Passe originated in Brazil. The concept of a universal life force is central to many cultures, including Qi in Chinese medicine, Ki in Japanese medicine, Prana in Ayurveda, and Ka in Ancient Egypt. A nurse named Dolores Krieger developed Therapeutic Touch in the 1970s, and it was the first program to connect biofield healing with healthcare. Healing Touch was developed in 1989 by a nurse named Janet Mentgen.
How It’s Practiced
Practitioners use their hands, with or without physical contact, combined with their intention to treat areas of ‘energetic imbalance’; treatment sessions are conducted with practitioners either in close proximity to or at a considerable distance from their client/patient. Sessions typically last 10–20 minutes for modalities like Therapeutic Touch, though durations vary by tradition.
Common types of biofield therapies include Reiki, Therapeutic Touch, Healing Touch, Pranic Healing, and Qigong. In Reiki, practitioners use specific hand positions on or near the body that often align with chakra locations. In Therapeutic Touch and Healing Touch, practitioners typically move their hands through the energy field surrounding the client’s body, beginning with an assessment phase and following with techniques to “clear” or “balance” perceived energetic disturbances.
Pranic Healing incorporates the use of colors and crystals. Qigong, which can be practiced solo or with a practitioner, integrates movements, breathing, self-massage, sound, and focused attention. Some practitioners work at a distance without physical proximity to the recipient, describing these interventions as involving intentional factors and particular states of consciousness.
Biofield Therapy Today
Many hospitals incorporate Reiki, Therapeutic Touch (TT), or Healing Touch (HT) into patient care. They are most often used to help people before or after surgery or cancer treatment. These approaches are most commonly offered by nursing staff. Biofield Therapies (BTs), sometimes referred to as energy/subtle energy or spiritual healing modalities, have been utilized for millennia to address various health conditions and enhance human wellbeing.
A 2025 scoping review of 353 peer-reviewed studies published in English (including 96 Reiki studies) indicates that biofield therapies have been explored across a wide range of health conditions, including cancer, pain management, mental health disorders, and cardiovascular conditions. Nearly half of the studies (n = 172) reported positive results in favor of the Biofield Therapy for all outcomes being investigated, 95 reported mixed results, 71 reported nonsignificant results.
Practitioners may be found through professional organizations, integrative health clinics, hospital-based complementary medicine programs, wellness centers, and private practice. Some modalities offer both in-person and distance sessions.
Common Misconceptions
Biofield therapy is not “energy work” in the electromagnetic sense that can be measured with conventional instruments, nor has the existence of the biofield itself been scientifically confirmed. No scientific research has confirmed the existence of these energy fields. In Western medicine, which has been heavily influenced by the scientific method and empirical evidence, biofield therapy faces skepticism due to the lack of robust scientific validation.
Biofield therapy is not a replacement for conventional medical treatment. There is little scientific evidence to support the effectiveness of biofield therapies, but they are popular types of complementary and alternative medicine. It seems that many people find these therapies helpful for managing pain, stress, and symptoms of several health conditions.
The term “biofield” does not refer to the body’s measurable electromagnetic activity (such as that detected by EKG or EEG), though some researchers explore potential electromagnetic correlates. Biofield therapy is also not synonymous with “energy medicine” in general—the latter includes device-based electromagnetic therapies such as PEMF (pulsed electromagnetic field therapy) which operate on different principles.
How to Begin
Those curious about biofield therapy may start by locating a certified practitioner through professional organizations such as the International Association of Reiki Professionals, Healing Touch International, or the Therapeutic Touch International Association. Some practices, such as HT, require 4 or more years of training, and learners must document hundreds of hours of patient care time prior to certification. In contrast, some forms of Reiki are taught over the course of just a few weekends (though it should be noted other forms of Reiki require years of training to achieve “master” status).
For those interested in self-practice, Qigong offers an accessible entry point through classes, online videos, or books. Attending an introductory workshop in Reiki or Therapeutic Touch can provide experiential understanding before committing to regular sessions. Many integrative health centers and hospitals now offer biofield therapies as adjunctive care; inquiring with a local hospital’s integrative medicine department can reveal available options.
Key texts include Biofield Science and Healing: History, Terminology, and Concepts (Rubik et al., 2015) for scientific context, and modality-specific resources such as Essential Reiki by Diane Stein or Hands of Light by Barbara Brennan for practitioner perspectives.