One of the most gratifying aspects of providing massage therapy in a medical setting involves seeing my profession gain respect and legitimacy among doctors, nurses, and other healthcare practitioners.
More and more studies are appearing in mainstream medical journals documenting the clinical efficacy of massage therapy for symptom relief, and exploring massage as a way to promote well-being among people who face health challenges.
And then there’s Reiki.
Reiki is a hands-on therapeutic modality that relies primarily upon energy rather than the physical manipulation of muscle tissue, as in the case of massage. It is a spiritual practice that has its roots in Japanese bodywork and lots of people really believe in it. Me, I’m not so sure.
As a massage therapist I am certainly aware of energy in the body. I have felt myself interact with my clients’ energies in ways that I find a little bit mysterious. But I tend to be skeptical of larger claims about energy that can’t really be validated scientifically. I like science. I believe in science. Reiki seems more like religion to me.
In fact, Reiki is a lot of things to a lot of people. That’s part of the problem. There seem to be so many definitions of Reiki floating around out there, and such a wide variety of educational and practice standards, that the barriers to integrating this modality into medical settings seem particularly high.
Hospice, as a medical setting, is a bit of a rogue. It champions an interdisciplinary approach to treating patients and their families that most people do not encounter in doctors’ offices or hospitals. It uses volunteers as a core part of its mission. Pastoral care is routinely offered to every patient, and bereavement services are provided free of charge to families after the patient dies.
It’s not surprising that a hospice might be more open to Reiki than, say, an academic medical center. In fact, my own hospice has asked me to start a Reiki program.
So here I am, a Reiki sceptic, about to embark upon a research and educational process so that I can become better informed, in order to build a program that has clear (and high) standards of training and practice. I plan to document my own process here, on this blog, and I look forward to your feedback.
Excellent! I was just going to suggest the same thing. Become certified in Reiki and let me know what you think.
I have experienced sessions from a couple of different people, and I would definitely not call it “religion.”
Kristin, I am taking Reiki 1 at Memorial-Sloane Kettering in November…maybe you want to come? I miss being your study buddy!
Hi Eva, Just a few months behind catching up on your blog, which I love to read! You have been handed a challenge and I fully believe that starting as a Reiki skeptic is not a problem, in fact it may be helpful as you look at a modality from a place of observation allowing whatever is real and present about the use of it in hospice .. to reveal itself to you. I have found that having an agenda in a healthcare setting about one’s own modality can create biase in practice. Here is my own contribution to this quandry about Reiki in hospice care: Energy based practices (Reiki, Healing Touch, Therapeutic Touch), although different, often create a similar experience – a peaceful detached state allowing for meaningful contemplation for the recipient. This is very useful for patients who suffer psychological stresses, ie – end stage dementia, PTSD overlay (war veterans), extreme fear and anxiety states that often accompany spiritual fear / pain in the dying process. Some people need the grounding physical touch of massage, it makes them feel alive. Others benefit more personally from the experience of the detached peace achieved through energy work, and still others are very afraid receiving energy work because it feels ‘detached’ ..and perhaps someone moving close to death is not ready to die, and energy work may feel like they are leaving a grounded body. My two cents? I feel that energy based therapies are very powerful and have strong implications for potential relief of psychological stress, fear, in the dying process. And perhaps more than professionalism in massage therapy provision, it is the energy therapist working in hospice that has to be grounded and ethical, and non biased about their modality..and know that they are part of a professional team with boundaries in practice. Reiki has a channeling component.. and can be taught with attunement in a weekend. Healing Touch is a nursing based program that requires a year of committed practice in ethics and principles, working with the energy body itself. Energy therapy feels like a religion perhaps because it is the one bodywork therapy that feels detached, the spiritual layer of the energy field can be worked on, and spirituality is often exchanged in the mind..a conversation in prayer..that is where the relationship with spirit is often expressed…and energy therapy allows someone to rest in that contemplative state to connect to that part of self. The therapist is just a vehicle to help some achieve that state of peace..the conversation that someone is having inside their own head in the session is what is personal..and deep… and can have profound impact after a session. If someone starts a session thinking it is all ‘malarcky’ then it is likely they will get off the table thinking they had a nice nap. One more thing while I am on a roll… all bodywork therapy used in hospice should be assessed for spiritual contraindication. I never use massage therapy on Priests in end of life care. I never use Energy therapy on someone who is of particular faith base that would cause them distress with the therapy. Right person, right therapy, right reason. As hospice pracitioners, we want access to all of the modalities and the expertise of the hospice massage therapist requires learning how to use different modalities for purpose, approriately. I cannot wait to follow your blog and see how things evolve in your program. You may be able to get to some important understandings that hospice as a whole could benefit from around energy therapy! Not everyone has the time or desire to look deeply and figure it out!