There is absolutely no scientific or biblical basis for the
belief that “energy fields” surround the human body. Nor is there evidence that
these fields can be manipulated by hovering hands to heal any ailment. If
someone becomes extremely relaxed under these conditions, and it benefits them,
enjoy! The placebo effect has been shown to work from time to time. Any belief
that there is healing taking place in the “energy” or spiritual realm is
completely unsubstantiated. Some Reiki practitioners go deep in their beliefs
and claim contact with and direction from a “spirit guide”. This is problematic
in that even a cursory examination of Bible teachings reveals the practitioner
is in all likelihood in contact with a demon (see Further Reading below).
Scientific study after study
exposes Reiki to be unproven:
“The searches identified 205 potentially relevant studies.
Nine randomised clinical trials (RCTs) met our inclusion criteria. Two RCTs
suggested beneficial effects of reiki compared with sham control on depression,
while one RCT did not report intergroup differences. For pain and anxiety, one
RCT showed intergroup differences compared with sham control. For stress and
hopelessness a further RCT reported effects of reiki and distant reiki compared
with distant sham control. For functional recovery after ischaemic stroke there
were no intergroup differences compared with sham. There was also no difference
for anxiety between groups of pregnant women undergoing amniocentesis. For
diabetic neuropathy there were no effects of reiki on pain. A further RCT
failed to show the effects of reiki for anxiety and depression in women
undergoing breast biopsy compared with conventional care.
“In total, the trial data for any one condition are scarce
and independent replications are not available for each condition. Most trials
suffered from methodological flaws such as small sample size, inadequate study
design and poor reporting. In conclusion, the evidence is insufficient to
suggest that reiki is an effective treatment for any condition. Therefore the
value of reiki remains unproven.”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18410352/
Therapeutic Touch is
fundamentally similar to Reiki and rigorous scientific studies have proven it a
sham:
“Therapeutic Touch (TT) is a widely used nursing practice
rooted in mysticism but alleged to have a scientific basis. Practitioners of TT
claim to treat many medical conditions by using their hands to manipulate a ‘human
energy field’ perceptible above the patient's skin.
“Twenty-one practitioners with TT experience for from 1 to 27
years were tested under blinded conditions to determine whether they could
correctly identify which of their hands was closest to the investigator's hand.
Placement of the investigator's hand was determined by flipping a coin.
Fourteen practitioners were tested 10 times each, and 7 practitioners were
tested 20 times each.
“Practitioners of TT were asked to state whether the
investigator's unseen hand hovered above their right hand or their left hand.
To show the validity of TT theory, the practitioners should have been able to
locate the investigator's hand 100% of the time. A score of 50% would be
expected through chance alone.
“Practitioners of TT identified the correct hand in only 123
(44%) of 280 trials, which is close to what would be expected for random
chance. There was no significant correlation between the practitioner's score
and length of experience. The statistical power of this experiment was
sufficient to conclude that if TT practitioners could reliably detect a human
energy field, the study would have demonstrated this.
“Twenty-one experienced TT practitioners were unable to
detect the investigator's ‘energy field.’ Their failure to substantiate TT's
most fundamental claim is un-refuted evidence that the claims of TT are
groundless and that further professional use is unjustified.”
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/187390
Only ONE person out of
40,000 had the courage to be tested to prove the authenticity of “human energy fields”:
“Practitioners of Therapeutic Touch (TT) are generally
reluctant to be tested by people who are not proponents. In 1996, the James
Randi Educational Foundation offered $742,000 to anyone who could demonstrate
an ability to detect a ‘human energy field’ (HEF) under conditions
similar to those of our study. Although more than 40,000 American practitioners
claim to have such an ability, only 1 person attempted the demonstration. She
failed, and the offer, now more than $1.1 million, has had no further
volunteers despite extensive recruiting efforts.”
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/187390
Reiki and Therapeutic Touch
con artists rely on the placebo affect for any alleged “benefits”:
“When it comes to therapies that claim to alleviate your pain
or elevate your mood, never underestimate the power of your own expectations.
Your mind plays a major role in how Reiki treatments affect you. We all want to
believe that there is an amazing treatment out there that will help us feel and
function better; fortunately, thanks to the poorly understood phenomenon of the
placebo effect, we do sometimes, but only for a while, benefit even from the
most bogus intervention. Essentially, we fool ourselves into thinking that
Reiki works. After all, you’ve just spent a lot of money on this treatment.
Patients also often wish to please their therapist by claiming immediate relief
– that is the most obvious evidence for the placebo effect.”
https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/your-brain-food/202006/reiki-nonsense
There are numerous sham
“scientific” journals that will publish any “research” as long as the
fabricator pays a hefty amount for publication:
“In defense of their profits, purveyors of this pseudoscience
will always point to articles published in poorly-rated journals that require
the authors to pay high prices for ‘publication’ on the internet. We call these
predator journals and they will publish literally anything at all. Libraries
will never bother buying a hardcopy of these journals. The authors of articles
about Reiki also usually, rather foolishly, acknowledge their devotion to the
wisdom of their Reiki master, a practice that you will never witness in real
scientific journals.”
https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/your-brain-food/202006/reiki-nonsense
Reiki and Therapeutic Touch
practitioners use the exact same deceptive methods as all other purveyors of
alternative medicine:
“How do we account for the popularity of no-touch therapies,
which don’t have much to offer, not even the tactile luxury of a good massage?
Other than the enthusiasm of belief, they probably owes quite a lot to the
simple pleasure of being paid attention to, reinforced by autonomous sensory
meridian response (ASMR), a distinctive pulse of euphoria with tingling over
the upper body — inevitably interpreted as ‘feeling the energy’ by eager
customers.
“ASMR is an odd bit of sensory sorcery triggered by
attentiveness, a soft voice, quiet and repetitive actions, and interesting and
gentle tactile stimulation (especially around the head). It isn’t well
understood, but it’s probably a sensory reward for grooming behaviour (in the
same way that orgasms are an evolutionary incentive to reproduce). It’s
motivating, in other words.
“To me, a Reiki session looks like an ASMR-generating ritual
with a New Age paint job — satisfaction guaranteed not by spooky healing
powers, but by primate neurology. The ASMR is not only inherently pleasing, but
artfully reinforces the vitalistic story the practitioner is telling.”
https://www.painscience.com/articles/therapeutic-touch.php
Thousands of self-appointed
“health-care professionals” across the US and Canada have bought expensive
“energy field” devices and dupe patients by misdiagnosing diseases and draining
their bank accounts:
“A Seattle Times investigation has uncovered a global network
of manufacturers who sell unproven devices, and practitioners who prey on
unsuspecting patients. Capitalizing on weak government oversight, they have
used these devices — some illegal, others potentially dangerous — to drain
patients’ bank accounts, misdiagnose diseases, and divert critically ill people
from life-saving care.
“These victims are casualties in the growing field called ‘energy
medicine’ — alternative therapies based on the belief that the body has energy
fields that can be manipulated to improve health. Energy devices range from
handheld machines the size of television remotes to behemoth machines that
weigh hundreds of pounds, with costs ranging from $1,200 to $55,000......
“Many energy-medicine operators dupe the public by posing as
highly trained health-care professionals through the use of deceptive
credentials and unaccredited degrees. Some of the largest and seemingly
independent credentialing organizations are in fact controlled by two men who
run competing mail-order operations.......
“In the past decade, the machines exploded into the
mainstream, fueled by the Internet, which quickly and cheaply reached
prospective buyers and patients. Today, dozens of energy-device manufacturers
present flashy Web sites with video testimonials and fake science. ‘The message
itself has stayed the same for centuries: ‘This is the cure that I discovered
and it’s backed with testimonials from lots of people snatched from the grave
by using it,’’ said James Whorton, professor of medical history at the
University of Washington’s School of Medicine.”
When
there is zero evidence, one can always revert to political correctness as well
as craft a new religion:
“In their attempt to create a
non-disproveable theory of Therapeutic Touch (TT), they
have instead created a religion; and they expect nurses to believe on faith
that this method works despite its lack of scientific credibility. Their
fundamentalist stance encourages disdain for science and rationalism, and
betrays the basic tenets of modern nursing. They have used their positions
of power in the nursing profession to spread their religion, and have
craftily used the political dynamics of the late 20th century to stage their
holy war as a post-modern feminist cause, rather than a treatment intervention
whose effectiveness can be determined scientifically.
“Early in the Colorado State University
investigation, the panel heard testimony from the school of nursing that a
negative finding on TT would be viewed as male-dominated medical imperialism
against female-dominated nursing. They warned the committee that nurses
would not sit still for one more instance of men attempting to keep women in
their place, this time denying women the all-important opportunity to be ‘healers.’ The goal is to keep the discussion out of the
realm of science, where a measure of validity and proof of efficacy could be
determined, and plant it firmly in the realm of politics and belief. We should
not accept this subterfuge.”
https://quackwatch.org/related/tt2/
I Was a New-Age Healer. Then I Realized I Wasn’t
the One Doing the Healing https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2020/may-june/nicole-watt-reiki-master-new-age-healing.html
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Photo: https://www.thecut.com/2017/09/what-the-heck-happened-to-my-body-during-reiki.html
Jerry De Luca is a Christian freelance writer who loves perusing dozens of interesting and informative publications. When he finds any useful info he summarizes it, taking the main points, and creates a (hopefully) helpful blog post.
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