Reiki’s History and Use in Western Medicine Settings
Reiki (pronounced Ray-Key) is an ancient Japanese hands-on healing art, often described as “energy healing.” It was developed in Japan in the 1920s by Dr. Mikao Usui and brought to the United States in 1937 by Hawayo Takata. Reiki continues to gain popularity in the West as a useful Complementary and Alternative Medicine, with The Center for Reiki Research (2019) listing “76 hospitals, medical clinic and hospice programs where Reiki is offered as a standard part of care,” including prestigious medical institutions such as Duke, Columbia Presbyterian, and John Hopkins. According to Miles (2008), Reiki “is being delivered in the most stressful of settings—the cardiac-care unit, the delivery room, the operating room, intensive-care units, and the emergency room (p. 205).