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Medical Studies of Reiki's Effectiveness
In the past ten years, medical and nursing researchers have been studying the effectiveness, safety and advisability of Reiki and related forms of energy healing (called Therapeutic Touch and Healing Touch); reiki is by far the strongest therapy, although the latter two are better studied because they were developed by nurses.
This is a complete list of what has appeared in medical/nursing journals for the last 3 years only; I cull hte older studies and add new studies every year. As in any field, the earliest studies are preliminary, many are smaller. Some, however, are the gold standard of double-blind, placebo-controlled. And, of course, some are studying the low-power therapies. Still, this is where we start in any scientific study.
I recently had the joy of healing from a pastor who visited my floor at the hospital where I volunteer tell me about the patients who spontaneously told him about the wonderful lady who made the energy flow and how good she felt for the rest of the day. The sick folks I deal with are in and out so I don't have a chance to follow up with them [to get some data of my own], but this gent who came in the day after me was perfect. These are just anecdotes, though, and even years of anecdotes, even the fact that I never meet anyone who doesn't get some relief, does not a study make. I applaud the folks who are out there studying these wonderful new therapies.
Because while I enjoy working with ordinary people to prevent larger, serious problems, I also feel for the folks who have developed a serious problem. With more studies and more medical proofs, we can help the folks who are in most dire need. If someone with a serious medical condition is not also working with traditional medical care [asks me to substitute for chemo, for example], I walk away, respectfully. The wisest course is BOTH.