E-Newsletter:
Why Your Doctor Won't Recommend Reiki (4/10)
Do you think your doctor dismisses Reiki because, well, it's Reiki? A national survey conducted by federal government researchers says you're right! Read below for details on this and other recent Reiki research.
Original Research
Distance Reiki significantly decreased self-reported depressive symptoms in a 4-week randomized, controlled, double-blind trial with 73 rural Vermonters. All participants received weekly one-hour counseling sessions, and those in the experimental group also received a weekly distance Reiki treatment. The study was conducted by a psychology PhD candidate who is also a Reiki Master.
Published November 2009 by UMI Dissertation Publishing
When evaluating CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) clinical trials, both CAM and traditional medicine practitioners give more weight to the treatment type than the research outcomes, and both are least willing to recommend Reiki. Researchers from the Department of Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health discovered this in a national survey of 1561 practitioners.
Published in April 2010 Medical Care
Literature Reviews
Found in the skin, Merkel cells play an important role in our ability to distinguish textures. A Turkish medical school faculty member concluded a literature review by hypothesizing that Merkel cells are sensitive to electromagnetic fields. The reviewer further suggests Merkel cells' two-way communication with the brain forms the basis for consciously directing Reiki and for the sensations experienced when receiving Reiki.
Published in February 2010 Medical Hypotheses
Yet another literature review recommended that future energy healing studies use more participants. This time, California reviewers focused on pain trials conducted from 1980 through 2008 with Reiki, therapeutic touch and healing touch. They also recommended that future studies compare these three energy healing modalities against each other.
Published in March-April 2010 Holistic Nursing Practice
An MD from a Wisconsin medical school published an energy healing literature review for primary care providers. The doctor noted energy healing is being used in hospital settings and offered guidelines for integrating it into a primary care setting and for advising patients about energy healing.
Published in March 2010 Primary Care
Would you like to try Reiki for depression? For pain? To feel those Merkel cell sensations? Just to prove your doctor wrong? Email Erik LaBelle, Reiki Master/Teacher, or call 312-504-7693 to schedule an evening or weekend appointment.
Anna Schibrowsky
Chicago Healing Studio
