Utilizing gentle pressure and hands-on techniques for treatment is a characteristic of which therapy?

The characteristic described in the question—utilizing gentle pressure and hands-on techniques for treatment—is best aligned with therapeutic touch. This therapy focuses on the practitioner using their hands to facilitate healing by directing energy or touch to help balance the client's energy field and promote relaxation.

Therapeutic touch operates on the premise that energy can be transferred and that the practitioner can influence the healing process through their presence and intention. This practice does not involve physical manipulation or pressure in the same way that massage therapy does but relies on a gentle, energy-focused approach.

While massage therapy also employs hands-on techniques, it typically involves deeper tissue manipulation and a broader range of physical techniques aimed at relieving tension and pain, distinguishing it from the more subtle energy work of therapeutic touch. Other therapies like chiropractic primarily focus on spinal alignment and adjustments, rather than the gentle energy work emphasized in therapeutic touch. Acupuncture, on the other hand, is characterized by the insertion of needles at specific points on the body rather than hands-on techniques. Thus, therapeutic touch stands out as the therapy that specifically emphasizes gentle pressure and hands-on approaches to treatment through energy healing rather than physical manipulation.