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History, Context And Vision for Touch For Health
by John F. Thie (1933 - 2005)
Written in 2003

HISTORY OF TFH PHILOSOPHY AND TECHNIQUES
Long before I ever learned anything about Kinesiology and accupressure, even before our marriage in December of 1952, Carrie and I had a vision of helping families to be healthier through natural methods. Carrie comes from a profound religious and spiritual family tradition, While I grew up with a strong natural approach to health that I learned from my father John C Thie. Our philosophies combined to form a strong resolve to find ways to empower people to care for themselves in natural ways that were in keeping with their God-given birthright to health. My study of Chiropractic and it's vitalistic roots, Carrie's study of Effective Communication and Interpersonal Relationships, and our involvement together in the early days of the development of Kinesiology with Dr. George Goodheart and other pioneering chiropractors created the foundation of the information and techniques of what was called first called "Health from Within" and is now known as Touch for Health. Since that time many energetic and enthusiastic people have helped to develop TFH and have branched out into numerous Specialized Kinesiologies. As TFH reaches it's 25th anniversary and we look toward the future of Kinesiology in the next 25 years, (in the next millennium!) it's very important and useful to consider the history of it's development, the original visions of those who have been involved, and to build on that legacy in ALL of the ways that TFH/K can be developed and promoted to bring the maximum benefit to humanity and the earth.

EARLY DAYS OF APPLIED KINESIOLOGY
In Dr. George Goodheart's own words, "Applied Kinesiology had a simple beginning in 1964, based on the concept that antagonist muscle weakness is involved in most muscle spasms and, indeed, is primary." (ref: Walther, 1988).

Basically, Dr. Goodheart's discovery of Applied Kinesiology arose out of his observation that basic chiropractic adjustments often were not providing complete relief for physical disabilities and that the problem seemed to be related to muscle spasms that were not being released. A study of the original methods of testing muscles described by Kendall and Kendall (ref: Kendall, 1949) led to the primary diagnostic tool of muscle testing used in Applied Kinesiology. Also instrumental in the early development of muscle testing techniques was Dr. Goodheart's colleague Dr. Alan Beardall, D.C. The timing of the muscle testing procedure was changed to provide an evaluation of the control of the muscle by the nervous system rather than an evaluation of the power the muscle could produce.

Once the pattern of strong and weak muscles is determined, a variety of non-intrusive therapeutic techniques are available. The initial basic correction was to facilitate inhibited muscles, which would in turn release continuously contracting or spasmed muscles. Dr. Goodheart observed that inhibited muscles often exhibited none of the observable atrophy that he expected to find in a physically malfunctioning muscle. He also observed, through palpation, discrete painful nodules at the muscle insertion. Wondering if these nodules might be trigger points for the muscle, he deeply massaged these nodules and found that the muscle immediately regained a high percentage of its strength and that the nodules became less painful. (ref: Goodheart, 1964)

Additional techniques were soon found for facilitating inhibited muscles. The neurolymphatic reflexes (NL) had been discovered in the 1930s by Dr. Frank Chapman, D.O.,. (ref: Owens, no date) These reflexes are found in anterior and posterior intercostal spaces and other locations throughout the body, although not necessarily associated with lymphatic nodes. He related these reflexes to particular organs in the body. Stimulation of the reflexes, especially when they were enlarged or painful, would bring about a reduction in painfulness and a stimulation of the function of the associated organ. (However, in the TFH approach, It is not recommended to massage swollen lymphatic nodes unless a health professional has made a diagnostic determination that there is no pathology present that contraindicates massage.)

A major element of Applied Kinesiology, discovered by Dr. Goodheart through the use of NL reflexes, is the specific relationships between the body organs and the muscles. This led to the inclusion of Oriental Meridian Therapy (also known as acupunture) into the practice of Applied Kinesiology. This yielded an objective technique to determine the need for NL (neurolymphatic) stimulation through muscle testing. In the Oriental model, every organ function is related to a particular energy meridian. Combining the organ/muscle relationships of AK with the organ/meridian relationships of acupuncture gives us a specific relationship between the muscles and the meridians. With this knowledge, muscle inhibitions (and related organ function inhibition) found through muscle testing can be corrected through meridian therapy. Following the eastern energetic traditional belief that function precedes structure, organ function is emphasized. TFH theorizes that each cell in the whole person has all of the functions associated with each of the organs. Balancing of the power/energy of the whole person by the TFH methods brings about balance in these functions in the whole person. The organs themselves may or may not have discrete physical malfunctions when the organ function in the whole person is imbalanced as indicated by muscle inhibition. Stimulation of the corresponding NL reflex would bring an immediate facilitation of the inhibited muscle and presumably a corresponding improvement in the function of the corresponding organ and meridian functions. If there was no further stress on the organ, the muscle would remain strong; however if there was continuing stress on the organ, due to poor nutrition, lifestyle, or other factor, then the muscle would become inhibited again over a period of time, indicating a need for treatment of these other factors.

Also in the 1930s, Dr. Terence Bennett, D.C., discovered another set of reflexes which affected the vascularity of various structures and organs. (ref: Martin, 1983) Dr. Goodheart discovered that by very light stimulation of these neurovascular (NV) reflexes he could facilitate muscles that tested inhibited. He found that a particular muscle responded to just one reflex, but that most reflexes would facilitate a number of different muscles.

Another major milestone was Dr. Goodheart's discovery of therapy localization. He found that a muscle initially testing weak became strong when the patient touched that part of their body where the dysfunction causing the muscle inhibition was located. A later discovery found that therapy localizing various parts of the body, using a muscle that initially tested strong, indicated the location of a dysfunctional reflex or organ function if the muscle tested weak. (ref: Walther, 1988)

From these basic discoveries, Applied Kinesiology has grown and expanded into a broad and comprehensive field of alternative healing. Dr. Goodheart made delivered the first public presentation of Applied Kinesiology to the charter meeting of the American Chiropractic Association held in Denver, Co, in 1964. I first encountered Dr. Goodheart's presentation the following year at an American Chiropractic Association meeting held at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. I volunteered for Goodheart's demonstration and was so impressed that I encouraged the California Chiropractic Association to invite Dr. Goodheart to California. I attended the Seminar in Los Angeles and volunteered to help with the program. I was assigned to operate the slide projector. In the insueing years I accompanied Dr. Goodheart at many presentations, and eventually becoming a co-teacher. In those days, we often shared the same hotel room, talking long into the night about the ways which these ideas and methods could be shared more effectively.

After working with Goodheart for a number of years, Carrie and I felt that a book for lay people should be written, and encouraged George to write it on numerous occasions. Eventually he said, "If you want a book for lay people, you will have to write it yourself." I realized that a book on Applied Kinesiology for non-professionals needed to be organized quite differently than one for professionals, and it took a while before a workable approach gelled.

A key milestone in this process occurred in 1971 at a Family Therapist Seminar in Tahiti featuring Virginia Satir which I attended with Carrie who was then continuing her professional development as a family therapist. Dr. Edwin Krauser, Ph.D. in psychology and a founder of the California School of Professional Psychology, had a sore neck which I was able to quickly alleviate using AK techniques. Dr. Krauser and others were much impressed with the power of these simple techniques. Virginia Satir was also fascinated and encouraged me to follow through on the idea of a book for lay people.

Many of the participants were already published authors, such as Jane Gerber, Ph.D. Who workded with Fritz Perls, developer of the Gestalt training programs, Yetta Bernhardt, who was the co-author, with George Bach, Ph.D., of "Fair Fight Training" and Roger Sperry Ph.D.., the famed Cal tech researcher in the "split brain" and consciousness. They were all very encouraging and told me that the way to start was to put on seminars and record them to provide a background of material as a basis for the book. The first seminar was held in Pasadena and sponsored by Joseph Heller, then a JPL engineer, who later studied with Ida Rolf (developer of deep tissue massage) and eventually evolved his own body work methodology called Hellerwork. KAIROS sponsored another one of these early seminars. Carrie and I taught the seminars together as a team.

Virginia also invited Carrie and I to join her exclusive group of family therapists who met with her privately for special training and sharing among themselves. Over the years I gave many therapy/demonstrations at the Satir Sharing programs that Virginia held, and continually absorbed valuable insights into communication, psychology, and family therapy which informed and influenced the ongoing development of TFH.

Carrie and I originally called our program Health from Within, which was a combination of verbal communication skills, from Carrie's counseling expertise, and body work skills, from My chiropractic and Applied Kinesiology knowledge. While teaching these seminars, people began to come to us and say that they wanted to teach these same skills to others. This was the beginning of the TFH Instructor's Training Workshop. Carrie and I gathered 9 people who said that they wanted to teach the program. While the book was being completed, these 9 people would come to my chiropractic office once a week for personal training. The trainees would accompany Carrie and I to seminars that we were teaching to learn the teaching skills and training methods. Among these first 9 trainers was Mary Marks.

I originally met Mary Marks as a patient at my chiropractic clinic in Pasadena California. I met her again at an early "Health from Within" class, along with her mother and father, and asked for their help in writing the book. In exchange for chiropractic treatment Mary Marks (a writer), Mary's mother, Pat Gill (an anatomical artist) and her husband , (a nationally recognized graphic artist) worked to get a book together.

Another of the original 9 trainers was Grace Baldridge. Grace was right there in the beginning and served the foundation and worked in the bookstroe for many many years, helping with the annual meetings and a 1001 tasks and projects. She has been exposed to all the new and different approaches to Kinesiology that have sprung up over the years and she still relys on the basics of TFH for remembering wellness in her daily life.

As the book neared completion it was decided, at the suggestion of Pat Gill, that it be called Touch for Health. It was exactly the right title. Mary Marks' father supplied the picture of the Buddha's hand that has become the hallmark of TFH. At last the first edition of the TFH book with the mustard yellow cover featuring the Buddha's hand was printed and published in 1973. (ref: Thie, 1973)

After the first printing of 2000 copies the Touch for Health book it was such a success that within three months a second printing of 5000 copies was ordered. The classes of the first TFH Instructors trained by Carrie and I continued. Mary Marks became the first executive director of the TFH Foundation. More Instructor Trainer Workshops were set up and the students of these classes were teaching TFH all over the U.S.

At the same time that I was developing the TFH manual, I foresaw the need for a professional group for chiropractors and other professionals who wished to use Applied Kinesiology in their practice. I started organization activities at a Goodheart Workshop Leaders Group meeting in 1972 and eventually became the founding chairman of the International College of Applied Kinesiology (ICAK). The bylaws were completed in 1975, and the new ICAK gave out the charter Diplomate Certificates in 1976. Since that time the ICAK has continued to grow with the formation of International chapters and the establishment of a research journal published biannually.

I originally believed, as I helped to organize the ICAK and wrote the Touch for Health book for lay and paraprofessional use, that there would be one Kinesiology organization whose membership would include professionals from all medical specialties, paraprofessionals in the healing arts and lay teachers of the Touch for Health classes.

I put together three seminars with a format of addressing all three levels of understanding of Applied Kinesiology (professional, paraprofessional, and lay). These Applied Kinesiology seminars were the first National meetings of Touch for Health/Applied Kinesiology. The speakers were Dr. George Goodheart, Dr. Sheldon Deal, Dr. Alan Beardal and myself. I also served as chief Moderator. The major Goodheart workshop leaders from around the United States all gave presentations. Joel Shain, a chiropractic student who became an early TFH instructor, took a year off from his chiropractic training to head the development of these TFH/AK seminars. After Joel received his chiropractic license, he developed the Monterey Wellness Center, using the TFH/AK methods and wrote many publications, including Life Without Arthritis, which describes the Monterey Wellness Center's protocols, including the use of Touch for Health. This combination of lay/professional format soon proved unsuitable for the professionals and they stopped coming. After this experience, the Charter members of the ICAK formed the consensus that the ICAK was to be exclusively for licenced to diagnose professionals.

I was disappointed that there existed this chasm between self-care and "professional" care. My original plan of having these methods available to every household was similar to the original goal of D.D.Palmer in the inception of chiropractic. He initially believed that every family should learn to use chiropractic in the home. The chiropractic pioneer H. Hurley, D.C. later wrote Aquarian Age Healing, a book for lay people to learn chiropactic methods. John Barton, developer of the BioKineseiology program, wrote Be Your Own Chiropractor, again attempting to promote the idea that chiropractic is something for every household, not just academically schooled, state licenced, professionals. As this "professionalization principle" repeats itself in massage therapy and Kinesiology, as a legitimizing function, it's important to note the grassroots elements of the history.

THE TOUCH FOR HEALTH FOUNDATION & EARLY INNOVATORS
In the meantime, the organization of the Touch for Health Foundation commenced. It was set up as a not-for-profit educational foundation accredited in the state of California as a vocational training school. A book store was set up as a separate business, since the Internal Revenue Service prohibited non-profit organizations from having the same name as a published book, even though the royalties of the book all went to support the ongoing activities of the non-profit Touch for Health Foundation. The required legal work was completed in 1975.

From this time on the teaching program expanded rapidly. Gordon Stokes joined the TFHF staff as a communication trainer. Carrie recruited Gordon after working with him in Parent Effectiveness Training, where they both were certified trainers. Gordon eventually became proficient in the TFH body work skills and when Mary Marks left the program to enter Chiropractic college he became the trainer of both the communication and body work skills while I filled in on the more technical aspects. I continued in my chiropractic practice and promoted the TFH program as a lay program primarily be taught by lay people.

Gordon Stokes became international training director and served in this capacity until 1986, when he left to start Three-In-One Concepts. Gordon assisted in the first major revision of the TFH book in 1979, at which time the familiar green cover, still featuring the hand of Buddha, was adopted. Gordon also pioneered the integration of the Chinese theory of the Five Elements into the TFH course of study. (ref: Stokes and Whiteside, 1981)

Annual get-togethers open to all who were interested were started. The first was held at Asilomar, near Monterey, California, in 1976. Later, annual meetings were held for many years at the University of San Diego, and soon featured an extensive international attendance.

My sister, Alice Thie Vieira Ph.D., a clinical psychologist, and her husband Kim Vieira took Touch for Health to Australia under the sponsorship of Donald MacDowell, a member of the ICAK, a Chiropractor and later Touch for Health Instructor who pioneered the development of Applied Kinesiology and Touch for Health in Australia. Alice and Kim at different times also served as executive director of the Touch for Health Foundation when they were drafted for their leadership. Alice also served on the Board of trustees for a number of years.

Another early innovator was Dr. Paul Dennison, Ed.D. Dr. Dennison joined the TFH faculty as a special faculty member after he was trained as a TFH instructor and presented his concepts of how some of the TFH methods and ideas could be utilized in helping people with learning difficulties. A dyslexic himself, Paul pioneered the application of TFH techniques to correct dyslexia and discovered the concept of laterality repatterning which enabled people whose muscles tested inhibited after cross motor activities to remain facilitated after such activities. This exercise, supplemented by additional coordination and integration exercises derived from TFH and AK, offered a tool for rapid improvement of reading and other learning problems. (ref: Dennison, 1981) Dennison joined the TFH instructor staff in 1983, but left several years later to form an independent organization, the Educational Kinesiology Foundation. Joy Lindsay helped to establish the tremendous effectiveness of Dr. Dennison's work in the Los Angeles Unified School district by actively teaching teachers, students, and parents over a period of several years starting in 1984 and keeping a set of statistics on the effectiveness of the project.

Phillip Crockford took over as program director upon Gordon Stokes' departure. His main contribution was to re-emphasize the personal responsibility aspect of Touch for Health, as in Carrie and my original vision, in contrast to the increasing tendency towards a therapist-client model on the part of many advanced students. To this end he introduced the idea of the testee being "in charge" of the muscle testing, i.e. making the decision on whether a muscle tested inhibited or facilitated. To get away from the massage table approach, which subtly set up a therapist-client venue, he promoted the idea of the stand up balance. He made both these changes a part of the regular TFH curriculum. Suggested standup balance techniques were first published as part of the TFH Folio and TFH wall chart revisions of 1991.

JohnVarun Maguire succeeded Phillip Crockford as program director in 1986. Maguire's principal interest was working with athletes to improve their competitive performance. To this end he developed the Maximum Athletic Performance (MAPS) course for TFH. It combined a mix of muscle performance improvement and goal balancing dealing with emotional issues, and was used initially with world class triathalon athletes with remarkable results. The MAPS book was first published in 1988. (ref: Maguire, 1988) John Maguire was also instrumental in the development of the video program Touch For Health for Massage Therapists. John continues to teach Touch For Health in his year long training program for massage therapists. John and his faculty teach their program in both Northern and Southern California.

The last director of the Touch for Health Foundation was Rob Aboulache, M.S., who served many years at the TFHF and helped Carrie and I transition the Foundation to the International Kinesiology College by giving the right to the faculty of the Foundation for TFH Instructor Certification. He was also a major player in the development of the TFH/K Association, serving on its board as its president for 4 years after Robert Waldon and Mary Louise Muller each served one year. His efforts have been Herculean and the association would probably not exist today if it weren't for his leadership in it's first few years.

Richard and Norma Harnak, long time Touch for Health Instructor Trainers , took over the administration of the newly formed TFH Association and moved it to Saint Louis, where the second annual meeting of the association took place at the University of Washington. The TFH Association then decided it was better to have the office in Califonia and moved it to Malibu where Rob Aboulache and John Maguire put on the next conference in Las Vegas Nevada. Norma Harnak went on to open a Massage school with Touch for Health as a backbone course.

Judy Levin served as President of the Touch for Health Assoication following Rob Abouache. In addition, Judy has developed what is possibly the most popular video teaching tape for people wanting to learn TFH. Judy has been highly involved in the development of TFH over the years, and has worked with her friend Helen Zweigbaum in decorating the Conference meeting room for many years. Helen used her artistic skills in creating backdrops for the speakers platform which were often passed on to be used in other countries. Such is the community feeling of the TFH Annual conferences.

The faculty numbers have grown as the demand for the Instructor Training program increased to being taught in over 50 countries. Interest in TFH has expanded rapidly worldwide, and is found today in many countries, including Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Central Africa, Chile, Colombia, Great Britain, France, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Java, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Venezuela andtheUkraine. The TFH book has been translated into many different languages, including Japanese (limited edition, and a new edition is now in development), Dutch, Swedish, Danish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Slovok, Russian, Spanish, and Braille. With this growth and over 25 TFH Associations worldwide, along with over 20 years of pioneering work, Carrie and I decided that it was time to turn over the responsibilities of the continued growth to those who really were carrying the burden.

In 1990, Carrie and I and the board of Trustees closed the TFHF school for the certifying of TFH Instructors and gave the rights for continuing the certification of instructors to the then existing faculty of the TFHF who then formed the International Kinesiology College, which now exists as a college without walls with headquarters in Zurich Switzerland. Outside the United States, TFH associations were formed as independent organizations. In the U.S., the foundation had acted as a membership organization as well as a research and training facility. With the closing of the TFHF training program, the association activities were turned over to the membership and the North American TFH/Kinesiology Association was formed at the 15th Touch for Health Foundation annual meeting in July of 1990. The TFH/KA is now headquartered in Culver City, California where the growing ranks of TFH/K instructors and practitioners have a valuable resource for networking and promotion.

Touch for Health Education continues the function of a research oriented endeavor through which I continue to gather anecdotal reports on the benefits and outcomes of utilizing the Touch for Health Syntheses. It is also the organization through which I continue to offer seminars and develop new TFH materials such as the forthcoming TFH CD-ROM which William Mariboe, of Denmark, has developed as a one man army and the new book, Remembering Wellness with Touch For Health which I am writing with my son, Matthew Thie.

The latest edition of the TFH book, published in 1992, describes bilateral muscle inhibition corrections. For the previous four years I had been using a new, simpler method of correction that I had discovered. The method is very simple and can be used safely by the patient/student/client. In chiropractic AK practice, the generally accepted method for correcting bilateral muscle inhibition, such as might be found in a 14 or 42 muscle test, has been to correct a fixation subluxation. The reason for the bilateral inhibition has been generally thought to be a fixation in a group of three vertebrae. Chiropractic adjustment of the spine has been demonstrated to restore muscle facilitation. In TFH circles the correction was made by use of the neurolymphatic, neurovascular, meridian tracing, origin/ insertion, golgi cell, or spindle cell techniques. My Spinal Reflex technique, while not involving chiropractic spinal manipulation, is based on the same correlation of muscle inhibition and subluxation in specific vertebrae. A simple up and down massage of the skin over the spinal process achieves the same energy balancing effect.