The numbers are staggering. In the United States, a person is assaulted or beaten by their intimate partner every five seconds, and approximately three women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends every day.

Sometimes you have to be dangerously close to a problem to see the solution. Chris Smith understands this. A survivor of abuse as a child, Smith found bodywork to be a bastion in uneasy waters as she began seeking means for self-care as an adult.

The media shows us so much human pain that I often have the urge to jump into the TV screen, reassuring palms at the ready, to offer comforting touch at the scene of disaster. Possibly this is a widespread instinct among touch therapists. I believe the antidote to helpless feelings of “What can I do?” is to go out there and do something to make a positive difference.