Hand Positions
There are several different schools of thought regarding hand positions in treatments. They are all equally effective making it a matter of personal preference and or lineage tradition.
Some practitioners will treat with their hands resting lightly on the clients body, while others will treat with their hands just above the clients body, working in their aura.
Practitioners trained in Eastern lineages tend not to use formal hand positions, preferring to allow their hands to be guided by intuition.
Practitioners taught in Western lineages are generally taught 12 basic hand positions to use in the treatment of others although this does vary. I found some diagrams on-line that had over 20 hand positions.
Similar preferences apply to self-healing. Eastern trained practitioners tend to use visualisations, whereas western trained practitioners use actual hand positions.