Reiki

thumb|A reiki session in progress

Reiki is a pseudoscientific form of energy healing, a type of alternative medicine created by Mikao Usui in Japan in the 1920s.

Conceptual basis

Reiki's teachings and adherents claim that qi is a physiological force that can be manipulated to treat a disease or condition. There is no evidence for the existence of qi. Reiki is classified as a pseudoscientific practice based on confusion between metaphysical and empirical concepts. although some physicians have said it might help promote feelings of general well-being.

The 22 April 2014 Skeptoid podcast episode entitled "Your Body's Alleged Energy Fields" relates a reiki practitioner's report of what was happening as she passed her hands over a subject's body:

Technique

A session usually lasts for approximately one hour. A "Level 1" practitioner places their hand or hands on or near various parts of the body for several minutes. During this time, a vital energy is meant to flow from the practitioner into the client's body. David Gorski writes that reiki vies with homeopathy to be the "one quackery that rules them all" because of its "sheer ridiculousness and disconnect from reality". Jann Bellamy, a lawyer and critic of alternative medicine, has described the marketing of reiki as "fraudulent misrepresentation".

In criticizing the State University of New York for offering a continuing education course on reiki, one source stated, "reiki postulates the existence of a universal energy unknown to science and thus far undetectable surrounding the human body, which practitioners can learn to manipulate using their hands," and others said, "In spite of its [reiki's] diffusion, the baseline mechanism of action has not been demonstrated ..." and, "Neither the forces involved nor the alleged therapeutic benefits have been demonstrated by scientific testing."

Several authors have pointed to the vitalistic energy that reiki is claimed to treat, with one saying, "Ironically, the only thing that distinguishes reiki from therapeutic touch is that it [reiki] involves actual touch,"

A guideline published by the American Academy of Neurology, the American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine, and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation states, "Reiki therapy should probably not be considered for the treatment of PDN [painful diabetic neuropathy]." Canadian sociologist Susan J. Palmer has listed reiki as among the pseudoscientific healing methods used by cults in France to attract members.

Stephen Barrett of Quackwatch describes reiki as a "nonsensical method". As a reason for why NCCAM should stop funding reiki research, he writes: "Reiki has no substantiated health value and lacks a scientifically plausible rationale. Science-based healthcare settings should not tolerate its use, and scarce government research dollars should not be used to study it further."

Evidence quality

A 2008 systematic review of nine randomized clinical trials found several shortcomings in the literature on reiki.

Catholic Church concerns

In March 2009, the Committee on Doctrine of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued the document Guidelines for Evaluating Reiki as an Alternative Therapy, in which they declared that the practice of reiki was based on superstition, being neither truly faith healing nor science-based medicine: "Reiki lacks scientific credibility. It has not been accepted by the scientific and medical communities as an effective therapy." and that, viewed as a natural means of healing, it lacked scientific credibility. The 2009 guideline concluded that "since reiki therapy is not compatible with either Christian teaching or scientific evidence, it would be inappropriate for Catholic institutions, such as Catholic health care facilities and retreat centers, or persons representing the Church, such as Catholic chaplains, to promote or to provide support for reiki therapy." Since this announcement, some Catholic laypeople have continued to practice reiki, but it has been removed from many Catholic hospitals and other institutions.

In a December 2014 article from the USCCB's Committee on Divine Worship on exorcism and its use in the Church, reiki is listed as a practice "that may have [negatively] impacted the current state of the afflicted person".

Training, certification and adoption

A reiki practitioner who offers teaching is known as a "reiki master". Certificates can be purchased online for under $100. It is "not uncommon" for a course to offer attainment of reiki master in two weekends. There is no regulation of practitioners or reiki master in the United States.

The Washington Post reported in 2014 that in response to customer demand, at least 60 hospitals in the United States offered reiki, at a cost of between $40 and $300 per session. Cancer Research UK reported in 2019 that some cancer centers and hospices in the UK offer free or low-cost reiki for people with cancer.

History

Mikao Usui originated the practice in Japan. According to the inscription on his memorial stone, Usui taught his system of reiki to more than 2,000 people during his lifetime. While teaching reiki in Fukuyama, Hiroshima, Usui suffered a stroke and died on 9 March 1926.

The first reiki clinic in the United States was started in 1970 by Hawayo Takata, a student of Chujiro Hayashi (who was a disciple of Usui).

Notes

References

External links

"Reiki Can't Possibly Work. So Why Does It?", 2020 article in The Atlantic