Of course, we can add here an entire series of reflexions on healing stories of Jesus from the Gospels that involve "touch" and gain some insight of these.
An other reflection could be to see the presence human touch in the carismatic movement, then its role in psychiatric practice if any, and so on.
--Kris

In order to understand better the character of Reiki - that it is not at all just an oriental massage therapy, but has a strong oriental, or better to say New Age basis as a "quasi-religion" and so it is impossible to be integrated in Catholic thinking without compromising the integrity of the latter - I have translated a chapter from a study on it (the study is from the CESNUR, a group of specialists in religious studies who try to examinate these new phenomenon in an unbiased manner).Here is the text:
„5. The first three degrees of Reiki
All Western Reiki schools have three common degrees: through peculiar „harmonizations“ (attunement)or „initiations“ from time to time higher powers/capabilities will be activated.
In the first degree „the channel for Reiki, which is latently present in each person is opened up and for the entire following lifetime stabilized“ (Walter Lübeck, Rainbow Reiki, 4. aktualis. Auflage, Windpferd, Aitrang 2002 p. 17). Also, handpositions that serve the transference of Reiki are learned.
In the second degree power will be activated to channel the Reiki-energy and also to send it at a distance, so that remote manipulations will become possible. For the initiation the disciple must be thoroughly familiar with three peculiar japanese-chinese characters, as well as with three mantras, that is with special syllables/words to pronounce during meditation.
In the third degree one becomes initiated as master, so that he/she can not only treat patients but also teach other disciples.
Several Reiki-systems know of addtitional higher degrees.
Although the Western Reiki masters always emphasize that people of any confession and of any faith can be initiated, the symbols are closely bound up with the Buddhist tradition. The „transpersonal contact symbol ‚HS’“, for example, „designates symbolically also the Buddha-consciousness“ „The Buddha in me is united with the Buddha in you“. Lübeck recommends in order to grasp the multifaceted meanings contained in these symbols „to consult specifically Buddhist works“ (Walter Lübeck, Frank Arjava Petter, William Lee Rand, Das Reiki-Kompendium. Ein umfassendes Handbuch über das Reiki-System. Windpferd , 3. Auflage 2003, Aitrang 2003, p. 124).
The „symbol of freedom: ‚SHK’“ „is connected to the Bodhisattwa Avalokiteshavara (sanskrit). This divinity corresponds to a jananese goddess Kannon, who is known in China as Kuan Yin and in Tibet as Tara....SHK [is] also the symbol of spiritual purification from attachments, which in Buddhist context probably also related to Buddha Amitabha (in japanese Amida)“ (Ibid., pp. 126-127).
The „mastersymbol ‚DKM’“ „opens up the Buddha-nature [...] The DKM garantees the Buddha-consciousness. This is in close connection with the central divinity of Shingon [a japanse-Buddhist school], Dainichi Nyorei, who in China, India, and other asiatic countries is known as Buddha Vairochana (sanskrit name for „resemblance of Sun“)“ (Ibid., p. 129).
Translated from „Reiki: Heilmethode oder Religion?“ [Reiki: healing method or religion?] by Ermanno Pavesi (vobiscum. Publikationsorgan des Erzbistums Vaduz, 8. Jahrgang, 05 2006, 36-43) at http://www.cesnur.org/2006/reiki.htm
--K