Dr. John Francis Thie
Founder of Touch for Health
Dr. Goodheart honored his former student Dr. Thie (left)
at the last Touch for Health seminar (2005)
that Dr. Thie could attend before his untimely passing.
(the 30th anniversary of Touch for Health’s founding)
Dr. Thie was the first Chairman of the ICAKUSA
Drs. Goodheart and Thie lecturing (to chiropractors only) in 1975
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| Dr. Thie lecturing to chiropractors only, 3rd Annual ICAKUSA meeting |
Wedding Applied Kinesiology with his own populist sentiments, in 1970 Dr. John Thie (the first chairman of the ICAKUSA) wanted the first-aid, reflex balancing and self-help elements of applied kinesiology to be available for the general public, while Dr. Goodheart wanted to continue teaching and developing Applied Kinesiology for professionals licensed to diagnose and treat patients. Dr. Thie realized that AK could be taught as a method of self-care for all people. Dr. Goodheart challenged Dr. Thie to write a textbook on AK for the public. This policy of teaching full-scope applied kinesiology only to physicians, and the various lay-systems derived from applied kinesiology operating in parallel in their respective fields, remains to this day.
Dr. Thie’s books on Touch for Health (the reflex and self-help methods of AK) have sold in excess of 500,000 copies. “No chiropractor has ever developed a patient education program that has had the influence that Touch for Health has.” (McDowall, 2005) Touch for Health caught the attention of many laymen and other health professionals in several disciplines, and spawned national and international workshops and certification programs. It has spread some of the AK methods (particularly the TCM, reflex, and emotional methodologies) to “hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people around the globe.” (Keating, 2005)
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| The Touch for Health textbook for lay-people has introduced portions of Applied Kinesiology methods to >500,000 kinesiologists around the world and millions of patients |
“John Thie’s vision was to develop a lay person support group [for Applied Kinesiology]like other professions had done (American Diabetes Association, American Cancer Association, Arthritis Foundation, and so on) with the ICAK doctors providing leadership and guidance about natural health methods and the lay part of the group supporting these efforts and spreading the word to other lay people and potential patients as other professions have so successfully done.” (Schmitt, 2010)
"John Thie had the most efficient AK office in the world. Touch for Health had developed out of his desire to make AK skills more efficient. He saw the reflex balancing of AK simple enough to educate his massage therapists into Kinesiotherapists. He would have 3-4 of them at a time in his large adjusting room doing the basic muscle balance on the patients and informing him of the muscles that wouldn’t balance. He would then do his work and complete the treatment. At the same time the chairs around the 7-8 adjusting tables would be full of patients waiting their turn. He would schedule a group of 10 patients every 30 minutes to arrive at the same time. They had the choice of watching each other getting their adjustment and balance or waiting for him in his private office. He catered to all needs.” (McDowall, 2005)
"John Thie had the most efficient AK office in the world. Touch for Health had developed out of his desire to make AK skills more efficient. He saw the reflex balancing of AK simple enough to educate his massage therapists into Kinesiotherapists. He would have 3-4 of them at a time in his large adjusting room doing the basic muscle balance on the patients and informing him of the muscles that wouldn’t balance. He would then do his work and complete the treatment. At the same time the chairs around the 7-8 adjusting tables would be full of patients waiting their turn. He would schedule a group of 10 patients every 30 minutes to arrive at the same time. They had the choice of watching each other getting their adjustment and balance or waiting for him in his private office. He catered to all needs.” (McDowall, 2005)
The importance of Traditional Chinese Medicine has been shown to countless people in the West using the Touch for Health methods (based on the bridge provided by the manual muscle test and the early AK reflex diagnostic and treatment techniques of Goodheart).
The contributions and new principles relating to AK and TCM have also been used as a springboard for other techniques and systems including Scott Walker’s Neuro-Emotional Technique, (2012) John Diamond’s Behavioral Kinesiology, (2012, 1979) Roger Callahan’s Thought Field Therapy, (2012) Gary Craig’s Emotional Freedom Techniques, (2012) and Fred Gallo and Harry Vincenzi’s Energy Tapping, (2008) among many others now established in the field of C.A.M.
These developments and mutual influences are extensively covered in
Two New Applied Kinesiology textbooks
that should be of interest to anyone who uses manual muscle testing for diagnostic information including Touch for Health practitioners,
as well as naturopaths, osteopaths, physiotherapists, sports rehabilitation, meridian therapists, acupuncture physicians,
and massage therapists everywhere.
as well as naturopaths, osteopaths, physiotherapists, sports rehabilitation, meridian therapists, acupuncture physicians,
and massage therapists everywhere.
Touch for Health practitioners particularly will find these textbooks welcome additions to their libraries, bringing the evidence-base for their practices up-to-the-minute in the 21st century!! A thorough understanding of the material in these texts will enable the Touch for Health practitioner to more effectively handle clients and get to the basic underlying cause of a health condition. Most importantly, in the era of Evidence-Informed-Practice, possessing this information will enable you to protect the methods Dr. Thie left you to anyone, anywhere, anytime.
2nd Editions are now available IN COLOR
AND $30 OFF:
and
References
· Craig G. The EFT Manual, 2nd Ed. Energy Psychology Press: Santa Rosa, CA; 2012.
· Gallo F, Vincenzi H. Energy Tapping: How to Rapidly Eliminate Anxiety, Depression, Cravings, and More Using Energy Psychology, 2nd Ed. New Harbinger Publications: Oakland; 2008.
· McDowall D. Perspectives on Touch for Health. National Institute of Chiropractic Research. (Files of Joseph Keating, PhD) 2005.
· Neuro Emotional Technique, 2012. http://www.netmindbody.com/.
· Schmitt WH, Jr. Personal letter; 2010.
· Thie J. Touch for Health, 2012. http://www.touch4health.com/.
· Thought Field Therapy, 2012. http://www.rogercallahan.com/news/.
