Reiki
What is it?
Reiki (pronounced ‘ray-key’) is a form of energy healing that originated in Japan. A session of reiki involves a practitioner lightly laying their hands or placing them a few centimetres away from parts of the person’s body for three to five minutes per position. Distance reiki, where the practitioner can work without being physically present with the recipient, is available with further training.
How is it meant to work?
There is no scientific explanation for how reiki works. Practitioners believe reiki uses life force energy present in all living things to promote self-healing. This energy is believed to flow through the practitioner’s hands to the recipient.
Does it work?
There have been two studies on reiki for depression. The first involved 45 adults with depression symptoms. It compared hands-on reiki, distance reiki and distance reiki placebo where no healing took place. Sessions were one to 1.5 hours long, once a week for six weeks. The study found that the hands-on reiki and distance reiki groups improved more than the distance reiki placebo group. These improvements were still present one year later.
The second study involved 73 adults who were receiving counselling for depression. Half received distance reiki once a week for four weeks in addition to counselling, and the rest received counselling alone. There was a trend towards greater improvement in those who received reiki. These findings need to be confirmed in further research.
Are there any risks?
Reiki appears to be generally safe.
Extract from "A guide to what works for Depression" (2nd Ed., p. 62), Jorm, A. F., Allen, N. B., Morgan, A. J., Ryan, S., & Purcell, R. (2013)