The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) does not specify a distinct category for energy therapies but places them within “other CAM practices.” Nursing has used energy therapies for many years. Krieger initiated investigations of therapeutic touch, an energy therapy, in the 1970s (Krieger, 1979). The diverse therapies included in this part of the book reveal nursing’s interest in and use of energy therapies.

The concept of energy and its use is universal. Most cultures have a word to describe energy: Qi (pronounced chee) is a basic element of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM); ki is the Japanese word for energy; in India it is prana; the Dakota Indian word for energy is ton; and the Sioux Indian word is waken. Scientists and consumers express some skepticism about the efficacy of energy therapies because of the difficulty in determining how energy works and how the effects can be measured.

NCCAM (2012) delineates two types of energy: veritable (measurable) and putative (yet to be measured). Veritable energy therapies include magnet therapies and light therapy. Putative therapies include healing touch and Qigong. Much of TCM is based on the flow of energy throughout the body on meridians. Acupressure and reflexology, two therapies included in this portion of the book, are based on the flow of energy through meridians identified in TCM.