Once a month at DeKalb Medical's Wellness Center in Decatur, cancer survivors are invited for an evening of compassionate caring. Massage tables are set up in the conference room, low lighting sets the mood and certified Healing Touch practitioners — many of whom are nurses — provide free half-hour sessions of an alternative healing method that is gaining acceptance in the world of conventional medicine.

"The evening is very popular and always well-attended," said Gail Winston, RN, MSN, director of the Wellness Center at DeKalb Medical. "What the patients get from the therapy is relaxation, calmness, some relief from pain and extreme well-being. I have received the therapy myself and it's fantastic. I think it is healing."

Healing Touch is a complementary (or integrative) energy therapy that can be used in conjunction with traditional therapies or by itself. It was developed by Janet Mentgen, a nurse who spent 25 years studying and practicing energy therapies and prepared the coursework that is used to grant certification through Healing Touch International, a nonprofit organization that promotes the therapy.

Cathy Bowen, RN, CTHP, a nurse at Southern Regional Health System in Riverdale, began taking Healing Touch classes in 1997 and became a certified practitioner in 2000. "I always was interested in natural healing and [was] conscious of the body's ability to heal itself," she said.

Energy therapies are based the premise that the body is a complex energy field and that people who are trained to sense that energy can balance its flow and open blockages so that the body can heal itself. The National Institute of Health calls it a "biofield therapy." Unlike massage, where therapists manipulate body muscles and tissues, a Healing Touch practitioner doesn't always touch patients.

Blockages can be caused by physical or emotional trauma that has been left unresolved, which can contribute to illness, Bowen said. "A woman who was abused as a child may live with guilt, or fear or anxiety and that can start to affect her physically," she explained.

Bowen works with patients who have cancer, fibromyalgia, chronic pain, depression and other illnesses. She has used the techniques to drain the pain from a doctor who had severe plantar fasciitis (inflammation of foot tissue), to relieve the pain and anxiety of mothers during labor and delivery, and to give new energy to a woman who fought her leukemia into remission.

"Energy work is a very powerful healing modality, and I'm proud to do it. I see amazing things happen all the time," Bowen said.

According to Rosalie Shultz, BSN, RNC, CARN, CHTP, who works at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Decatur and practices Healing Touch at DeKalb Medical, cancer patients found that the method helped relieve fatigue after chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

"I can help clear the energy field of the toxic by-products from chemo," Shultz said. "Patients tell me that they feel both more relaxed and energized when I've worked with them."

She also has helped a neighbor who has Parkinson's disease improve his sleeping patterns.

"I believe people are more open to different healing modalities now, and that we're going to see it used more widely in hospitals. Some already offer it, and third-party [insurance] coverage is coming," Shultz said.

Shultz learned about Healing Touch when she enrolled at Clayton State University in Morrow in 2002.

"As part of my [nursing] practicum, I chose to explore alternative medicine. After Cathy [Bowen] came to talk about Healing Touch, I knew I wanted to pursue it," she said.

It took Shultz two-and-a-half years to complete the training and become certified.

Shultz believes that anyone can learn the Healing Touch techniques if they get trained.

"This is what I went into nursing for, 45 years ago," she said. "I'm back to touching and caring for people. It gives me an opportunity to give a little more of myself, and to see the results of what I'm doing."

LEARNING ABOUT HEALING TOUCH

• What: Healing Touch Level 1 two-day workshop

• When: Oct. 27-28 from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Where: DeKalb Medical's Women's Center, 2701 North Decatur Road

• Cost: $333; $308 for Healing Touch International or American Holistic Nurses Association members; $233 for students; $133 for repeat participants; plus $30 for materials

• Information: 404-501-9355, www.dekalbmedicalcenter.org.