Healing Space Reiki Therapy: Effectiveness and Experiences

Prospective Observational Study of Self-Reported Outcomes in Reiki Healing in the Netherlands Using the Measure Yourself Medical Outcomes Profile (MYMOP)

Reiki is an energetic healing method in which a therapist uses his hands on or near the clients body to channel life energy and send it to the client. This activates healing within the client and restores balance.

In this study clients at the Reiki training institute Healing Space are monitored for 4 weeks during 4 weekly Reiki healing sessions. Any client 18 years or older with any complaint can participate. A validated MYMOP questionnaire is used to monitor one main complaint, one secondary complaint and overall wellbeing after each of the 4 treatment sessions and before the start of treatment. A small number of clients will be interviewed for additional in depth data about their experiences. The aim of the study is to gain understanding about the effectiveness of Reiki.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: The Focus of the Study is on Any Volunteer With Any Symptom or Condition
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Reiki healing

Detailed Description

Given the substantial international socio-economic burden of healthcare, the development of inexpensive, safe, and evidence-based treatments is highly desirable. Reiki, as a non-invasive and low-cost therapy, holds potential as a complementary approach to conventional medical treatments. However, the lack of consensus on its efficacy and mechanisms necessitates further investigation. This study aims to address these gaps by exploring the conditions clients report when visiting a Reiki healer and evaluating the subjective effectiveness and experiences of Reiki therapy. By doing so, the study seeks to contribute to the growing body of evidence on Reiki and inform its potential integration into healthcare systems.

This study is an observational prospective pre-post study with a convenience sample. The study is conducted at the Healing Space Reiki center in the Netherlands by Reiki practitioners trained at Healing Space. Each Reiki session lasts 1 hour and is conducted by 2 Reiki practitioners supervised by the founders of Healing Space. MYMOP questionnaires are provided before the first treatment (baseline) and then after each of the 4 treatments. A number of interviews is conducted after the complete treatment. All participants provided written informed consent. A waiver for full ethical assessment will be obtained from an ethical committee.

The MYMOP complaints are categorized into four primary groups: pain, psychological problems, fatigue, and other. Pre- and post comparisons of the four MYMOP measurements were performed usign paired t-tests and independent sample t-tests. Interviews are analysed thematically.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 93

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Netherlands
  • Utrecht
    • Bussum, Utrecht, Netherlands, 1402AD
      • Healing Space

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Any adult person with any complaint contacting Healing Space for treatment

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Presence of any self reported complaint
• 18 years or older
• No other treatments for this complaint during the intervention period

Exclusion Criteria:

• Other treatments for the complaint during the intervention period

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Self reported main symptom	Self reported main symptom measured with the MYMOP questionnaire.	1 week

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Self reported secondary symptom	Self reported secondary symptom with the MYMOP questionnaire	1 week
Overall wellbeing	Self reported overall welbeing with the MYMOP questionnaire	1 week

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Louis Bolk Institute
• Collaborators: National Research Centre of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Norway; Healing Space

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 1, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): October 1, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): November 1, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 9, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 17, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): April 22, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 22, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 17, 2025
• Last Verified: April 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Reiki; symptoms; MYMOP
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2025HSR

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Anonymized MYMOP data and demographic data
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: September 2024 till end of 2026
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: NAFKAM will access anonymized MYMOP and demographic data in excel format
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; ICF; ANALYTIC_CODE; CSR

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No