What Are Combined Therapies?
Applied Kinesiology was developed in the 1960s by George Goodheart and Alan G.
Beardell, American chiropractic physicians. In the 1970s, John Thie, also a chiro-
practor, took their work, simplified it for the general public, and called this modified
approach “Touch for Health.” Polarity Therapy is a system of health care developed
in the 1920s by an Austrian-American holistic physician, Randolph Stone, who was
a chiropractor, osteopath, and naturopath. He studied and tested health theories
from around the world, combining ancient and modern techniques. His first work
was published in 1947, and by 1954 he had completed the seven books that contain
his findings.
Health care professionals may go on to study Applied Kinesiology only after comple-
tion of their basic professional education. Applied Kinesiology is practiced by chiro-
practors, nurses, osteopaths, naturopaths, dentists, or physicians. Interested
professionals take the training in a post-graduate setting, usually in weekend
classes. The basic course takes more than 100 hours of classroom study and numer-
ous hours of practice in the clinical setting after which students can test for basic
proficiency. Another 200 hours of classes and the writing of at least two research
papers are required to reach the next step, where written and oral exams are given.
Organized courses in Applied Kinesiology are taught in Europe, Canada, the United
States, and Australia. There is no licensure per se, and providers of Applied
Kinesiology practice on their professional license.
Polarity Therapy is practiced by a variety of health care professionals who have
completed their basic education. To achieve the level of Associate Polarity
Practitioner, the applicant must take 155 classroom and clinical hours of study.
Those wishing to become Registered Polarity Practitioners must take an additional
460 hours of study for cumulative hours totaling 615. No licensure is available at
the present time. Some states, however, are considering licensing polarity therapists
under massage therapists, even though they are distinct therapeutic practices.How Do Combined Therapies Work?
As in many alternative practices, the concept of energy is at the heart of Applied
Kinesiology and Polarity Therapy. The belief is in a life force of subtle energy that
surrounds and permeates all living things, often referred to as a biofield. It is unclear
at this time whether the biofield is electromagnetic or a field currently unknown to
physics. The present hypotheses are that the biofield is a form of bioelectricity, bio-
magnetism, or bioelectromagnetism. The exact nature is not yet established and
some researchers deny the reality of a biofield.178 ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TOALTERNATIVE MEDICINE