Research and Studies Conducted on TTEAM® and TTouch®
Click on a study to learn more.
Gentle touching in early life reduces avoidance distance and slaughter stress in beef cattle
by Johanna Probst, Anet Spengler Neffa, Florian Leiberb, Michael Kreuzerb, Edna Hillmannb of Switzerland
This study investigated the effect of gentle touching applied during the early life of suckler beef calves on avoidance distance on-farm and stress reactions at the abattoir.
Published in the Applied Animal Behaviour Science Journal.
How does a positive handling affect behaviour and stress reactions of beef cattle before slaughtering as well as meat quality?
by Johanna Probst, Edna Hillmann, Florian Leiber, and Anet Spengler Neff of Switzerland
This study investigated whether a positive handling method, based on TTEAM (Tellington TTouch Every Animals Method) and on own experience had a calming effect on finishing bulls.
Published in the Applied Animal Behaviour Science Journal.
Integrating the Tellington TTouch Method in Guide Dog Training
by Janice K. F. Lloyd and Elizabeth Roe at the School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia
The Tellington TTouch method is used to reduce stress and relax animals so they can learn more effectively. It aims to increase an animal's body awareness and balance by using a combination of techniques that include specific touches, body wraps and leading (movement) exercises. This article discusses the method and its potential role in guide dog training.
Download the entire article in PDF format. (Note! You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it. Get Acrobat Reader here.)
Master's degree thesis on The Effects of TTouch on Dog Behavior.
This study is being conducted by TTouch Practitioner Julie Evans as a master's degree thesis while a student in the United Kingdom. The study is in progress.
Study: TTouch 'Positively Accepted' by Saddle Horses
by Barbara Padalino, PhD, researcher at the University of Bari Aldo Moro Veterinary School, in Bari, Italy
Most everyone -- even our horses -- loves a good massage, right? But results from a new study by Italian researchers suggest that horses might like the Tellington method -- termed "TTouch" -- even more.
Padalino presented her findings at the 9th Conference of the International Society for Equitation Science, held July 17-19 at the University of Delaware, in Newark.
Read an article about the study in The Horse: Your Guide to Equine Health Care.
Immediate and Cumulative Benefits from Tellington TTouch Program Reflected in the EEG of An Anxious Mare
Robin Bernhard, LCSW, MEd, Sandy Rakowitz, Jessica Eure, MEd, EdS
Linda Tellington-Jones has created a gentle non-invasive system of bodywork comprised of specialized circular touches, lifts and slides that improves focus, balance and motor function, enhances learning and even promotes trust and communication amongst its users. Over the past 30 years, practitioners have seen both immediate and cumulative benefit from its use in training and healing animals and in healing the relationship between animals and their owners. After attending one of Linda's 5-day workshops in April 2005, I wanted to see if these techniques could help my injured mare to be comfortable while healing from a ligament injury and help us to improve our ability to communicate so that her balance problems under saddle would not degenerate into rushing out of control.
Download the entire article in PDF format. (Note! You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it. Get Acrobat Reader here.)
EEG Study of Equine Brain Waves
by Linda Tellington-Jones
Psychotherapist Robin Bernhard attended a week-long Tellington Training with me near Middleburg, Virginia two years ago and took her new information home to work with her mare, Grace. Grace had a very bad, and often dangerous, habit of rushing under saddle. Robin hoped to improve her mare using Tellington TTouch and became intrigued with the idea of monitoring the mare's brain waves to see if a change was measurable.
Download the entire article in PDF format. (Note! You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it. Get Acrobat Reader here.)
Loading stress in the horse:
Behavioural and physiological measurement of the effectiveness of non-aversive training (TTEAM) for horses with trailer loading resistance.
This study was conducted by Stephanie Shanahan when she was a student at the University of Ontario Veterinary School at Guelph, Ontario, Canada. The research was funded by a grant from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation for Research targeting the Improvement of Animal Welfare. Stephanie won the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior's 'Award for Student Excellence in Applied Animal Behavior Research'. Permission to post from Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science. Read more»
Tellington TTouch for the Rehabilitation of Horses with EPM and Neurological Deficits
Initiated by Dr. Mark Mendelson working with TTEAM Instructor Carol Lang
The manual has been given to several veterinarians for the use of their clients and has been found very effective. Additional study and documentation required. Read more»
Study of TTouch with Anna Wise
Boulder Institute of Biofeedback, Boulder, Colorado
During this study the Mind Mirror showed activation of all four brain waves in both hemispheres, illustrating how TTouch activates both the logical and intuitive parts of the brain. Read more»
Study of the Effects of TTouch for Reduction of Stress
Bitsa Olympic Center, Moscow, Russia
In a TTEAM and TTouch 13 day training, eight veterinarians, along with riders and trainers, participated in a study to measure levels of stress hormones and benefits of TTEAM for sport horses. Twenty horses were included in the study. All of them were worked daily in dressage or jumping training and all 20 had daily blood samples drawn to check the level of stress hormones. Ten horses were TTouched and TTEAMed daily by the participants; the other ten were not. The results showed significantly lower levels of stress hormones in the TTouched and TTEAMed horses. Read more»
Scientific study of the Tellington-TTouch-for-You Method demonstrates clinically significant effect on emotional states
On May 15-17, 2010, a scientific study was held in Bad Vöslau, Austria, to evaluate the psychological effects of the Tellington-TTouch Method on the well-being human participants.
The project was planned by Dr. Susanne Liederer, a biologist, in cooperation with Tellington-TTouch Practitioner Tanja Lasser and executed together with Linda Tellington-Jones, PhD.
In this study, 58 subjects were requested to answer questions related to their psychological and physiological well-being prior to, directly after and 3 days after a 20-minute "TTouch for You" session. All subjects were treated exclusively on their backs and arms using a defined selection of Tellington-TTouches.
Download the entire article in PDF format. (Note! You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it. Get Acrobat Reader here.)
Analyzing Biophoton Emissions and Diagnostic Regulations
This study read test data for four test individuals using regulation diagnosis according to Professor Fritz-Albert Popp as well as biophoton emissions.
The Principal of Biophoton Emission: Biophoton are light quatrants of biological systems, which guide regulations and processes of the body. The International Institute of Biophysics under the leadership of Prof. Dr.rer. nat. habil. Fritz-Albert Popp, made it possible to measure biophotons and study their impact on the system.
The Principal of Regulation Diagnosis: Illnesses always are disruptions of a superior system. Biophotonic around Fritz-Albert Popp has successfully researched this for years and understands its essential elements.
Download the entire article in PDF format. (Note! You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it. Get Acrobat Reader here.)
The Therapeutic Use of Tellington TTouch for Fibromyalgia
by Susanne Kobel, Pyramid Center for Complementary Medicine. Baar, Switzerland
The idea of the study is that fibromyalgia generates fear. You can react on three types: fight, flight, or freeze (according to Skinner). Susanne Kobel thought Tellington TTouch® could be a beginning to reduce the stress of fibromyalgia through the respectful, gentle caring Tellington TTouch that could improve the self-image.
Download the English verion in PDF format. This translation from German was dictated to Linda Tellington-Jones by Susanne Kobel. It is not a complete text, but will give you an idea of the study. Linda suggests that you look at the graphs and images in the German version. (Note! You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it. Get Acrobat Reader here.)
TTouch for Healthcare: The Health Professional's Guide to Tellington TTouch
Chapter 10 of the TTouch for Healthcare Book: "The German Experience: Sports Science Rehabilitation from Alcoholic Addictions." Relana Wachowiak, MA, TTouch Practitioner 1. Pp. 165-176
TTouch taught to a small group of people who had experienced various kinds of Traumatic Brain Injuries
by Robin Bernhard and Sandy Rakowitz
From June to August, 2007 Robin Bernhard and Sandy Rakowitz offered a series of six classes to teach TTouch to a small group of people who had experienced various kinds of Traumatic Brain Injuries. The class met at One Heart Healing Center in Charlottesville, VA.
After the series of six classes were complete, the participant's enthusiasm for the group was so strong that the group decided to continue to meet once a month.
Download the entire article in PDF format. (Note! You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it. Get Acrobat Reader here.)
Changing the World One TTouch at a Time -- Abridged Version
by Robin Bernhard and Sandy Rakowitz
TTouch has been changing the course of therapeutic healing with animals and people around the world for over thirty years now. This ground-breaking work, developed by pioneer, Linda Tellington-Jones, is being studied by Robin Bernhard, LCSW, a psychotherapist who owns and runs the Virginia Neurofeedback, Attachment and Trauma Center in Charlottesville, Jessica Eure, Med, Ed.S., a new counselor who specializes in neurofeedback with Bernhard at VNATC, and by Sandy Rakowitz, a practitioner of Energy Healing Medicine and TTouch, who owns and runs One Heart Healing Center for People and Animals, also in Charlottesville.
Both Bernhard and Rakowitz have over twenty years of experience in their areas of practice, and together, they are making headway in the use of this specialized touch to help with people who have suffered from brain injuries. Bernhard and Rakowitz would like to see Charlottesville become a center for TTouch research and training. Just last year, they did a study which showed exactly what they and others have been concluding all along - that this specialized work can improve brain function.
Download the entire article in PDF format. (Note! You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it. Get Acrobat Reader here.)
The article "Changing the World: One TTouch at a Time" written by Robin Bernhard and TTEAM Practitioner Sandy Rakowitz, first published in Echo Newspaper, is now published in the new e-book by Laura Bruno, M.A., entitled, If I Only Had a Brain Injury: A TBI Survivor and Life Coach's Guide to Chronic Fatigue, Concussion, Lyme Disease, Migraine or Other "Medical Mystery". This compelling story is also a special resource for Caregivers, Survivors and Treatment Providers. Included in the electronic book is the author’s own inspirational story, 52 Healing Hints, and contributions by 13 other Survivors, Caregivers and Treatment Providers. Read more»
TTEAM and TTouch as a therapeutic intervention for the socialization of recovering alcoholics through working with horses using TTEAM.
Masters Thesis of Relana Müehlhausen.
TTEAM as an Intervention in the Therapy of Patients with Dementia and of Chronic Alcoholism, Germany Sports University, Cologne, Germany. (Note! Publication available as PDF document. You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it. Get Acrobat Reader here.)
Effects of Tellington Touch in Healthy Adults Awaiting Venipuncture
Conducted by M. Cecilia Wendler RN, PhD, CCRN PhD Dissertation. Dell Publishing, 2003.
Many natural-healing modalities administered by professional nurses are provided without adequate scientific scrutiny. Tellington Touch (TTouch), a form of gentle physical touch originally developed for the calming of horses, is an emerging nursing intervention. However, the safety and efficacy of human TTouch has not yet been established. The purpose of this study, which used a pretest, posttest repeated-measures control group design, was to identify patterns of mean blood pressure (MBP), heart rate (HR), state anxiety (SA), and procedural pain (PP) in healthy adults receiving a 5-min intervention of TTouch (n = 47) just before venipuncture versus a no-touch control group (n = 46). There were statistically and clinically significant decreases in the TTouch group in MBP and HR. There were no significant differences between groups in SA and PP. Further research is essential to determine the safety and efficacy of this modality for acutely or critically ill patients. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Res Nurs Health 26:40-52, 2003
Abstract and copies available available from Wiley InterScience. (Note! Publication also available as PDF document. Click here for PDF version. You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it. Get Acrobat Reader here.)
Tellington touch before venipuncture: an exploratory descriptive study.
Conducted by M. Cecilia Wendler RN, PhD, CC, RN. Holistic Nursing Practice. July, 2002 Vol. 16, Iss.4. Page 51, 14 pages.
An Investigation of Selected Outcomes of Tellington Touch in Healthy Soldiers. M.Cecilia Wendler, RN, PhD, CCRN. Copyright 1999, UMI Number:9951501. Order from UMI Dissertation Services Phone: 734-761-4700.
Therapeutic Program for Youth At Risk
Animal Systems, Buffalo, NY
Maureen Fredrickson and Horses and Companion Animals
Therapy for Emotionally and Behaviorally Disabled Youth: MN LYNC (Minnesota Linking Youth, Nature and Critters) integrating TTEAM and TTouch for Youth At Risk
MN LYNC (Minnesota Linking Youth, Nature and Critters) is a therapeutic, non-profit organization that uses the restorative and healing power of animals to help troubled individuals. MN LYNC provides individual, group and family Animal-Assisted Therapy. We specialize in working with youth and adults who have emotional and behavioral difficulties as well as individuals with histories of trauma or who are facing overwhelming life challenges.
Staff members Molly DePrekeL, MA, LP, Clinical Director and Tanya Welsch, MSW, Program Director are participating in the certification program for TTouch Practitioners for companion animals and MN LYNC Executive Director, Maureen Fredrickson, MSW has been a TTouch Practitioner for several years. TTouch is incorporated into the work at MN LYNC. For more information, contact mnlinc.org.
