Dr. Barbara Brewitt, (1997) M Div, PhD, Biomed Comm, Inc., Seattle planned and conducted a Reiki research project with chronically ill clients.

Five patients with illnesses of multiple sclerosis, MS(n=2), lupus, fibromyalgia, or thyroid goitre were given eleven one-hour Reiki sessions using four different Reiki Level Two practitioners and one Reiki master over a ten-week time period. There were three measurements per person of electrical skin resistance on the hands and feet of patients in the Reiki Study.

Out of the forty-five skin points measured, three points showed significant difference during and after Reiki sessions. All patients made written comments regarding increased relaxation or sense of "centeredness" after Reiki sessions. All patients reported to practitioners that there was a reduction in pain and an increase in mobility.

We refer to these studies to support our claim that giving Reiki induces more than a placebo response in clients. In our experience, it seems to have physical, emotional and even spiritual effects during the treatment and post treatment phases, which we will illustrate more clearly when discussing our experience in the Reiki clinic.

During Reiki treatment, the energy is not manipulated or modified by the practitioner. Rather the practitioner, who has been attuned to the energy, is a conduit through whom the energy flows to the receiver as soon as the practitioner's hands are placed on the recipient's body or enter their energy fields.

Empirical evidence indicates that the receiver cannot receive too much Reiki energy as the flow ceases once sufficient has been transmitted. Both giver and receiver of Reiki are often aware of this automatic switching on and off, of the energy flow.

REIKI TREATMENT AT WINDANA
The Reiki Clinic, on which our findings for this paper are based, has been providing treatments on a weekly basis since September 1992, to residents in the Windana Drug Withdrawal House (DWH) program. This is a residential program in Melbourne for people in withdrawal from substance abuse.

In that time, approximately fourteen hundred treatments have been given to residents in the program at the Reiki Clinic. The Clinic, which is conducted with professional guidelines, is overseen by a paid supervisor who coordinates a team of volunteers. Treatment records are kept and after each session, a debriefing is held and a handover made to staff in the DWH.

The two forms of Reiki treatment practiced in the Clinic are Reiki Jin Kei Do (the traditional eastern method) and the Usui System of Reiki Healing (the system originally brought to the West). Both stem from the teachings of Mikao Usui, although Reiki Jin Kei Do has more direct linkage to the origins of Reiki practice in Nepal and the Himalayas.

The importance of practising according to a form will be dealt with in the Workshop on the Reiki Clinic at Windana, later in this (paper).

Since its inception, the Clinic has, apart from being the source of the 1995 paper mentioned above, also been the inspiration for the creation of a Reiki Practitioner Development Course and the establishment of the professional Reiki association, 'Reiki Association of Practitioners and Masters Inc.' (RAPMA). The RAPMA Practitioner Codes of Ethics and Practice were largely informed by the observed needs for professionalism in the Reiki Clinic.

Originally the Clinic operated informally with clients from the general community. In the early stages residents of the DWH were offered treatments only when there were free treatment times available.

It was soon noticed, by those undergoing withdrawal, that Reiki appeared to have significant benefits, and more residents began to volunteer for Reiki treatments. DWH staff, noticing the benefits that clients appeared to have from receiving Reiki, began to actively encourage the clients to attend the Clinic.

The Reiki Clinic is now an integral part, along with other natural therapies, of the DWH program.

The majority of the clients residing in the DWH, at first contact, know little or nothing of Reiki and therefore have no expectations. Quite a few declare themselves to be skeptical and even at times, apprehensive. The latter often report great surprise at the depth of relaxation felt.

As previously stated, given the scarcity of research on Reiki in general and specifically in relation to the area of drug and alcohol withdrawal and rehabilitation programs, we have had to rely on the empirical evidence of the effects of Reiki reported by clients post treatment.

However, client records taken in the nine and a half years of the Clinic's operation indicate some very clear themes of the effects of Reiki on those DWH residents who have come for treatment. These themes are supported by a recent survey of DWH staff.

The main themes consistently identified from clinic records, as reported by DWH residents, were improvement in:

• behaviour
• mood
• sleep pattern
• relaxation
• thought clarity
• insight into past experiences and current situation
• imagery
• pain relief

The first was staff observation of behaviour change in residents following Reiki treatment.

Their comments included:

• "directly after a session many residents appear extremely relaxed";

• "difficult, (to say) because their minds are in many places .. (they are not) usually able to retain information or recollections for too long";

• "changes are more apparent immediately following treatment";

• "more relaxed for several hours, and after reported better sleep";

• "calmer after Reiki for that night, although given the nature of detox and other pressures ... the effects don't last long".

However, there was a stronger perception of mood change after Reiki.

Comments included:

• "I think it does calm, relax and make residents feel better about themselves"
  

• "directly afterwards there is often a huge change in mood, even if, in some cases, it is only temporary"
  

• residents are "less angry - more relaxed"

Many of the staff were unsure, or unable to comment about any changes in the residents sleep pattern, because of the times they are in contact with them. However, there were some responses to this question.

Comments included:

• "random improvement depending on what happens in the detox house after Reiki"

• "that night (Mondays) I believe (from handovers) residents are more settled. It also depends on how the resident has experienced Reiki for themselves"

• residents "often report better sleep"

In relation to an improvement in the residents relaxation, communication and clarity of thought after Reiki, there was a strong perception that Reiki had a relaxing effect, but more uncertainty about improvement in communication and clarity of thought.

In reference to relaxation, staff made comments such as:

• "it can relax clients for some time afterwards, relieving them of some anxiety"

• "all clients vary, but most seem more relaxed"

Their responses were as follows:

We asked these two questions because these outcomes have frequently been attributed to the Reiki treatment over the 9 years of clinic operation, by both residents and staff.

It is interesting that improvement is not reflected in the staff responses. However improvement in insight by residents was a consistent factor in their comments at the Reiki clinic, and this will be illustrated later in this paper.

The last question we asked was staff perception of improvement in the residents' feelings about the rehabilitation program and of life in general, after having Reiki treatment.

Again, it was difficult for staff to comment about any one treatment in all the therapies offered by Windana. However, their responses were generally positive, as shown in the next graph:

Fig. 9. Perceptions about residents' feelings about rehabilitation.

Comments included:

• "most of the residents I have spoken to enjoy the Reiki and find that it relaxes them"

• "Reiki treatments appear to deal with the person at the time rather than 'stir up' emotional issues which acupuncture can sometimes do"

• "often contributes a sense of 'hope', with the experience of something inexplicable (which) connects them to a 'greater source'"

• "very difficult to measure the source of improvement, but I believe Reiki is very useful for our clients. In such a group of people (who) often … consider themselves as hopeless and helpless, Reiki seems to nurture, relax, calm and restore some measure of belief, and relief from anxiety. I believe it to be beneficial for all and it is something our residents do look forward to and are eager to have ."

As practitioners at the clinic, we believe that after a Reiki treatment we often see the person as we believe they more truly are. More importantly, they themselves appear to experience or begin to experience who they are.

A staff member made the observation that this experience provides the possibility for change because they are released from the self perception of victim-hood and begin to see themselves as a person, who happens to have a drug habit or addiction, rather than saying to themselves, "I am a drug addict - or alcoholic."

A clinical psychologist, who visited the clinic twice to observe, commented that:

"The Reiki treatment appears to permit a profound shift in awareness to occur which allows clients to connect with aspects of self (mind and body) normally not freely accessible and in so doing, offers the potential for meaningful self-understanding to emerge. Integrally associated are relaxation, comfort and ease" (Alexander, in Chapman 1996).

Alexander goes on to say that there are a number of other clinical techniques and methods which would similarly re-create emotional and memory connections, previously out of awareness; such as hypnosis and Gendlin's Focusing (1981).

In this respect, however, it is interesting to note that Reiki, unlike other clinical techniques, creates altered states spontaneously, without intervention by the practitioner (other than routine hand placement).

PAIN RELIEF
Pain is one of the reasons, some people continue to use drugs and find it difficult to deal with the detox program.

Obviously, therefore, the pain relief experienced by many of the people in detox is a contributing factor in enabling them to stay in the programme and to make positive choices for their future.

Many of the clients in the DWH program are so used to having pain that they do not mention it when presenting for treatment and simply report, with surprise, that the pain has either lessened or gone completely. All who report with pain report some pain relief.

One DWH client reported that the pain he had been experiencing in his arm following a recent operation and which, according to him had been "driving me mad", had eased considerably. Others experience relief from the aches, pains and physical spasms of withdrawal.

Sometimes the pain is relieved in an area which has not had hand contact from the practitioner, as illustrated in the following case study.

CASE STUDY 1
Michael (not his real name) did not mention any pain or injury, on presentation.

After treatment, he reported the sensation of energy travelling from where the practitioner's hands were placed on his chest, to his hip which he said was almost always painful due to arthritis, resultant from a road accident some years previously.

He said that "the energy created an increasing sensation of pain in my hip which became almost intolerable and then gradually subsided".

When asked how his hip was feeling after the treatment he said that it was pain free. As this was a chronic condition, it was explained to him that the pain could re-occur.

When we saw him again some weeks later, he told us that the pain had indeed returned - but never to the degree that it had been prior to his previous Reiki treatment.

We invite comment on the content and direction of this paper from practitioners of Reiki who either are already working, or are contemplating working in the professional field, such as in hospital, hospice, or clinic situations.

We are also creating a dossier of case studies dealing with the effects of psychic practice in Reiki - both harmful or otherwise - and will appreciate the receipt in writing of any relevant case studies. We would stress that confidentially will be maintained in these case studies: where appropriate, names of persons involved will be omitted or changed.