OK, one more attempt to present the facts about energetic healing, chronic pain and Reiki as practiced in Canadian hospitals today.

For those who can't be bothered to click on the link and read the article, here's a couple quotes:

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the US National Institute of Health (NIH), classifies Reiki as a "Biofield Medicine, which involves systems that use subtle energy fields in and around the body for medical purposes"[ii]. Reiki is a 2,500-year-old hands on system of healing which was introduced to Western cultures in the mid 1900s, and more recently has been adopted by a number of hospitals, and other health care settings, given increased attention in those settings to alternative health care strategies. Nurses often practice Reiki as an adjunct to conventional Western Medical treatment. As of 2001[iii], 47% of US state nursing boards recognized providing alternative therapies including Reiki as being within the scope of nursing practice (if the nurse is qualified in that therapy).

Reiki therapy is safe and non-invasive. It is proving useful in hospices, nursing homes, emergency rooms, operating rooms, organ transplantation care units, pediatric, neonatal and OB/GYN units; facilitating relaxation and recovery and decreasing anxiety and pain[iv]. It can be a helpful addition to conventional therapy for HIV/AIDS and cancer patients[v], [vi]...

Reiki programmes exist at a number of other palliative care centres, chronic pain clinics or clinics for condition for which pain management is vital, including: New Hampshire's Center for Integrative Medicine, the Pain Management Center at Elliot Hospital in NH, Ottawa's Sandy Hill Community Health Centre (for treating the HIV/AIDS community), Bruce House AIDS hospice, the AIDS-Committee of Ottawa, The Marvelle Koffler Breast Centre recovery centre for breast cancer patients at Toronto's Mt. Sinai hospital, Portsmouth Regional Hospital's Pain Management centre and Oncology Clinic, the women's health centre at the University of Connecticut's Charlotte Johnson Hollelder Center, and the Yale/New-Haven Hospital.

The results: one double-blind study[viii] found that "Reiki is an effective modality for reducing pain, depression, and anxiety"; Hartford hospital reports that Reiki provides significant pain relief for surgery patients[ix]; Edmonton's Cross Cancer Institute concluded that Reiki showed a highly significant reduction in pain in a pain management study including cancer; in a study of Reiki for treating HIV-related pain and anxiety[x], Pamela Miles found that newly trained Reiki practitioners perceived reductions in pain and anxiety when they performed Reiki on themselves or classmates.

This last item is key: they improved through performing Reiki on themselves. The importance of self-sufficiency, of being able to reduce pain by oneself cannot be overstressed. And they can accomplish it without additional medication...

Summary

Reiki provides a chronic care patient and any family caregiver that they may have with a proven tool to deal with pain. Reiki works with the body, mind, and spirit, all of which have to be taken care of, especially if the pain or condition has been present for a long time. Reiki can be learned by anyone, it is useful immediately upon learning, and can improve the quality of life of many chronic pain sufferers.

Anyone wanting to learn more about or experience the benefits of Reiki or HUNA for themselves is MOST welcome to contact me - just PM me if you'd like my private eMail and/or phone number. I teach both systems privately and in workshops, and I do energetic healing work absolutely free of charge.

daylia