E-Newsletter:
Glossary of Reiki Research Types (1/10)
The Reiki journal articles I share are based on interviews, case studies, trials and reviews. What are the differences? Here's an overview of common energy healing research designs:
Interview
In an interview, researchers use a standard set of questions to guide a discussion with each participant. Interviews are used to identify patterns that can be tested in clinical studies. Researchers have interviewed energy healing practitioners to standardize the treatments given in clinical studies. Client interviews have led medical researchers to measure Reiki's effectiveness through self-assessments of overall health as well as through medical data.
Case Study
Case studies are not based on planned research, but on a healthcare professional's experience with a regular patient, or a small group of patients. Among energy healing case studies, about half describe how energy healing helped a patient with a serious medical problem. The other half are published alongside articles introducing Reiki to give examples of energy healing's usefulness and outcomes.
Pilot Study
Pilot studies are conducted with small groups to identify any problems before conducting larger, more expensive tests. While universities, hospitals and government grants support Reiki research, budgets limit many energy healing trials to pilot study sizes of 40 to 50 participants. Still, Reiki studies have steadily become larger and more rigorous, and clinicians have zeroed in on measurable results that merit further study.
Review and Meta-Analysis
Literature reviews provide an overview and critique of past research, and meta-analyses merge data from several studies and recalculate the statistical outcomes from this larger group. Even reviews that find fault with past experiments' designs promote an open-minded approach to Reiki, saying "It can't hurt." Merging data from trials where Reiki worked with ones where it didn't, meta-analyses consistently confirm Reiki's effectiveness.
Thanks for reading. For your own personal Reiki experience, email erik@chicagohealingstudio.com or call Erik LaBelle, Reiki Master/Teacher, at 312-504-7693 to set an appointment or join a class.
Anna Schibrowsky
Chicago Healing Studio
