Therapeutic Caring Touch Video Series

Finger Tapping

Tiffany S. Cohen, LMT, CPMT, BCTMB: Finger tapping technique. If a child is ticklish or has sensory sensitivity, a firmer tap may be necessary. Think light to moderate pressure.

Should we do some finger tapping? This is kind of funny. It's kind of like rain. You know the rain tapping down? The rain comes down. The rain comes down. The rain comes down.

You want to do the itsy-bitsy spider and the rain comes down?

The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout. Down came the rain and washed the spider out. Out came the sun and dried up all the rain and the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again.

That was finger tapping.

Gentle Circles

Tiffany S. Cohen, LMT, CPMT, BCTMB: >> Gentle circles. If the child is ticklish or has sensory sensitivity, a firmer touch may be necessary. Think light to moderate pressure. The circle can go in any direction. Avoid pressure on any bony prominence.

The next one I'm going to do is circles. I'm going to do circles.

Do you like circles? Like the sun? Or a full moon? Yeah. I'm going to do some circles. Okay, circles, circles.

Very good. Circles. Yes and we'll go down. Good work. Yeah. Some circles. Circles. Yeah.

Now we can do some circles. Little circles and you can just do it with a couple of your fingers or the whole hand. Yeah, there we go. Yay!

Gentle Glide

Tiffany S. Cohen, LMT, CPMT, BCTMB: Gentle glide. Take care around joints. Avoid pulling the limb using this technique. Pressure of squeeze is gentle, however can be adjusted for patient preference. Think light to moderate pressure.

So the next one is going to be the glide one. So I'll kind of squeeze at the top and then like work my way down and then do that three times, okay? Okay, so squeeze at the top. Kind of squeeze on my way down. How's that feel?

Patient: Good.

Tiffany S. Cohen, LMT, CPMT, BCTMB: More or less pressure?

Patient: No.

Tiffany S. Cohen, LMT, CPMT, BCTMB: Okay. And then when does hockey season end?

Patient: Um, so it should end in like a few weeks, but it's, it'll start up again in like three weeks after it ends.

Hand Walking

Tiffany S. Cohen, LMT, CPMT, BCTMB: Hand walking. Take care around joints. Pressure should be gentle, but can be adjusted to patient preference. Think light to moderate pressure.

And then hand walking is where we do ...

All the way down.

Hand walking, hand walking, hand walking.

Perfect!

Limb Rolling

Tiffany S. Cohen, LMT, CPMT, BCTMB: Limb rolling. Take care around joints and do not twist. Avoid pulling the limb using this technique. Pressure of technique is gentle, however can be adjusted for patient preference -- thinking light to moderate pressure.

Limb rolling. So I'll actually pick your arm up and go like this with you and just let me know if it tickles or if it feels funny or anything, okay? You can always raise your hand if you want me to stop. So this is the limb rolling. Is that a good pressure?

Use your hands on either side and then you're going to, supporting the arm as you're moving down with like a rocking motion. Yup. Yup. Like that. Yup, exactly. You don't have to roll too much. You just kind of want to roll in kind of between the hands and moving down. Excellent. Perfect. And just check in with them about pressure.

Mother: Is that pressure okay?

Patient: Yeah, it's good.

Mother: Okay.

Nurturing Touch

Tiffany S. Cohen, LMT, CPMT, BCTMB: Nurturing touch. Considerations for children who have sensitivity, a firmer touch may be needed. Think light to moderate pressure.

So I'm going to start off just with nurturing touch. So I'm just going to start at the top of your arm and like make my way down. And you just let me know if it feels too light or tickly, or you can always raise your hand if you want me to check in with you. If you don't like the nurturing technique, that's okay. You can let me know. Okay. All right. Awesome. So I'm just going to start off at the top. Just put a little.

How's that feel?

Patient: Good.

Tiffany S. Cohen, LMT, CPMT, BCTMB: Just. Going to go down, slowly. Do you want a little bit more pressure or is this good?