ITEC Reiki Qualification - is it worth doing?
74Reiki is a story, not a theory
ITEC is an international examining board that offers vocational qualifications recognised around the world and it now offers an award in Reiki, the alternative therapy based on the idea of healing energy.
Despite research and trials, no-one has ever been able to detect this healing energy, nor show any consequence of it. Not only can Reiki practitioners not demonstrate its presence, but they cannot distinguish between real and fake Reiki either. The problem is that if the practitioner simply moves their hands in the right ways and says the right things, the customer cannot tell the difference. Since there is no tangible evidence for healing energy, there can be no credible therapy based on it.
Nevertheless, through persistent marketing, educational establishments are being led into offering these courses. Through financial pressure on the institutions, they have to continue to get bums on seats and that means offering popular courses. ITEC is one of the accreditation bodies issuing qualifications through such institutions.
But what is involved in getting qualified in such a therapy? If healing energy cannot be detected, then how can anyone assess whether it has an effect on people? And if it is supposed to be used in a therapy, how can anyone actually be examined in it if there is no tangible measurable effect?
Fortunately ITEC publishes documents about the course on its website. The UK Level 3 Diploma in Reiki is on their website.
What's in the syllabus?
Under Unit 53 (Holistic Reiki Theory) students are expected to learn about "how to ensure energy integrity (protection, clearing, recharging, checking and energy interactions)". Unfortunately, since the proposed healing energy cannot be detected, any concepts which describe doing something with it are completely meaningless. They cannot mean anything. A student can simply say anything they like about this supposed energy, and no-one can contradict them because there is no evidence even of its existence.
The unfortunate truth is that this healing energy simply doesn't exist. So students are studying the manipulation and control of a non-existent entity.
They are also expected to "understand and explain the concepts and theories of energy and vibrational medicine, the mind body link and use of symbols." Alas here too, the content is vacuous. They are expected to learn about the attunement process, how energy comes into form, chakras, auras, meridians, tissue memory, kinesiology, and lots of other non-existent stuff.
Nowhere on the syllabus is there any study of any evidentiary basis for Reiki, nor of how its efficacy might be assessed, nor of how what the Reiki practitioner does is supposed to affect the body. The content is purely imaginary.
Reiki Assessment?
Clearly the effectiveness or otherwise is never looked at. That makes it rather difficult for any kind of student assessment. If you are learning a trade, then you are expected to demonstrate your practical skill, showing the effect of what you do. Here that simply can't be done because there is no effect. Any customer who comes to relax will confirm that they did so but there's no evidence that the practitioner's actions had any effect on them, far less that there was a transfer of any energy.
So the assessment has to be different. The syllabus contains details of what must be parroted, statements about auras and chakras and meridians and vibrational medicine, and so on, none of which has any meaning in the real world. But that doesn't matter because what is being tested is the candidate's memory of learning the text, not doing any real healing or therapy. Without evidence, none of that can be assessed so the qualification cannot be a recognition of any healing skill.
Instead there is "continuous assessment" which means that someone else with a fictitious Reiki qualification watches as the students go through the required motions. When the right number of hours is clocked up, the student sits a 30 minute multiple choice examination. They need 60% to pass. Of the 25 questions, just seven are concerned with Reiki concepts.
What is the rest of the Diploma?
There is a required course on anatomy and physiology which covers all of the major organs, the musculo-skeletal system, circulatory system, endocrine glands, and so on, and this has a susbstantial content. The syllabus makes no mention of Reiki nor healing energy and in fact the principles taught on this section of the course completely contradict Reiki teachings.
So there is at least some genuine scientific and clinical content but not anything to do with Reiki. The Reiki section is tagged on to an otherwise worthwhile qualification rendering it meaningless. If the Reiki section is taken seriously, then the practitioner cannot accept the content of the anatomy and physiology sections. You cannot consistently accept both parts of the course since one is based on demonstrable science, and the other alleges causes and effects for which there is absolutely no evidence.
Worthwhile qualification?
Unfortunately as a Diploma in Reiki, it is worthless since Reiki is nothing more than a story about how some people want human biology to be. It doesn't work and human biology works the way clinical science explains. But within the course for the Diploma, there is a worthwhile section on anatomy and physiology. Since this is the only part of the course with anything remotely clinically trustworthy, students are better advised not to waste their time and money studying Reiki ideas.
If they are interested in medical or clinical qualifications, they are much better advised to treat the matter seriously and learn the science.
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Mary:
A friend of mine once said that headaches could be cured by eating peanuts and of course I was very sceptical. I couldn't see how they could be related and it just seemed absurd to me.
But then one day I had a headache and decided to give it a try. I ate some peanuts and within half an hour my headache had gone. Well, imagine my surprise!
I can't explain how it worked, but I'm now a convert to a new way of healing.
Of course, that's all nonsense but I offer it as a similar explanation to the one you propose. It's absolutely as consistent as your account, based on the same reasoning, and unfortunately has the same flaws.
Let's think about the ankle for a minute. We don't know the cause of the pain but there are some obvious possibilities. One is that an initial strain was aggravated and lasted several months as a consequence. As it continues to heal itself, there are occasional twinges, quite paintful but temporary.
Near the last occurrence of these twinges, you decided to give it your special treatment. It did nothing, but the healing was already well under way and caused no more pain.
That's a very simple explanation. Let's compare it to my peanut cure for headaches. The vast majority of headaches last a short period of time so they will disappear on their own (like ankle strains) so associating the cure with what I did is no real explanation at all. The headache went away and I just associated the disappearance with my miracle cure.
Any associated miracle cure would have the same flaw, whether it was healing energy, candles or magnets, prayers or anything else.
I'm glad your ankle is better but ask yourself a question. If you had a hernia, or a dislocated joint, or a broken bone, or an infection of the gut, or TB or pneumonia, would you trust Reiki to be able to heal them? Of course not. Now ask yourself why you insist on such a high standard of evidence.
Reiki can only be expected to appear to work when the condition clears itself up on its own. Otherwise, it is very obvious that is nothing more than a scam.
Bob, First of all there is no way these ankle pains just went away I was having very sharp pains just before the reiki. Then yesterday I went to my fathers house. He told me that after i did the reiki on him his muscle pain was much much better. Then I preformed the reiki on my step mother who absolutely thought I was nuts. I even sigguested it and she said you said it not me. After her reiki session was over she said it totally took her breath away. She could feel heat and energy and her stiff neck was gone. I'm not saying the peanut theory isn't a definite placebo effect but if reiki seems to be working on all these people how can you compare these circumstances. I don't feel its a scam I feel better every time I do reiki on someone and I've never seen my mother who has fatigue from multiple sclerosis have more energy or less pain. You can feel how you want about it it's a free country after all but although I have no solid proof that reiki does work you have none that says it doesn't.
Mary:
What you are reporting are self-convincing anecdotes which is a classic example of the placebo effect. Of course we can often convince ourselves that something is true even when it isn't. For that reason, we don't trust these subjective reports and insist on a higher standard of evidence when we are judging medical treatments and therapies.
We insist that medical treatments offered by clinicians has to prove their efficacy independent of the views of the participants. We insist that there is no chance of bias. We use control groups to test for these subjective influences, and insist on the objective measurement of changes.
When this is done with Reiki, we know that the effect is nothing more than the placebo effect. I have written a detailed explanation of how the placebo effect works: http://www.leavingthelandofwoo.com/documents/24-ho
You have clearly convinced yourself that Reiki works for you and I'm sure that you are getting the placebo effect. But before you decide that it works as a therapy, you should check out the placebo effect and what it means. You might also want to look at the studies of Reiki that have been done using controlled double-blind trials which you can access by putting Reiki into the search bar on the Cochrane Reviews page: http://www.cochrane.org/cochrane-reviews
I'm glad you feel better but your argument about Reiki is no more rational than my suggestion that peanuts are the way to go.
Mary,
There will always be sceptics like Bob. Best way to deal with them is not to comment. You either know this energy exists and the only way to get proof of this is to open yourself to it. Once you have felt it, as you clearly have, then there is no longer any doubt.
Bob isn't open to it as much as he likes to think he is. If you are adament you want proof first then you shut down those centres needed for expperiencing Reiki energy. Be open minded as you were and proof will come.
Yes the placebo effect is very powerful but the belief itself is part of this energy in itself. In fact the placebo effect is one of the greatest healing tools we have.
It is not about arguments or rationality. It is about feeling. Only when Bob understands this will he hope to know this energy.
I'm not interested in debate here Bob and will not reply to any posts by you. No point. I have said what I needed to say.
Nice to meet you Mary and please carry on with your Reiki studies no matter what anyone else says.
Taliessa:
Your argument can be used to justify literally any claim at all. For example, if I say that your body is controlled by energetic green goo which connects to a higher interplanetary intelligence but that you will only appreciate that it is true if you let yourself accept the feeling that it is true, your own argument insulates you from any posible doubt - you don't have any basis for questioning it. The claim is that it is "true" but only accessible to those who believe it, and your close-minded attitude to doubting it means that it can never be challenged. You just have to accept it as true - as true as Reiki!
In that way, you can insist on being right and close your mind to anything that questions it. That's very narrow-minded and biased, ruling out any doubt because it conflicts with a belief. Most people call that prejudice.
In contrast to that close-minded approach which rules out doubt on the flimsiest of criteria, namely simply not liking it, there is science which offers everyone the opportunity to demonstrate in an unbiased way, the evidence they have for their claims.
You can propose anything you like, the most fanstastic and challenging theories you want to, and everything is considered equally. All you have to do is provide the merest shred of evidence and you get taken seriously. If you can't produce even that merest shred of evidence, then your idea remains considered just as an idea, and not as fact.
The childish belief that what we believe automatically becomes true is something we grow out of. Reiki relies on completely unfounded beliefs in an undetectable energy. The only defence anyone has for this belief is simply... that they believe it. Small children argue the same way in defence of the existence of their imaginary friends.
Reiki is a fraud. But having spent money on it, the gullible victims become defenders rather than admit they were conned.
Bob, I put this to you...do you agree that there are things that exist beyond our current comprehension? Or do you think we know it all already? The importance of the mind body connection is finally starting to be acknowledged by orthodox medicine.
Your statements are offensive to the millions of people Reiki has helped worldwide- I suggest you do some further reading on the history of Reiki (actual books and not just on the net). By the way I am a massage therapist so I highly value tangible physical results, but in my experience if you can treat the spiritual (or energy, life force, emotional or whatever you want to call it) person as well as the physical body you will see the benefits.
And for the record I agree that you cannot 'examine' someone on their Reiki ability, but for a different reason to you, because it is not purely about knowledge of facts, it is a daily practice and way of life- a journey (if you know anything about Japanese culture/traditions/martial arts this will make perfect sense to you)
Ali, there's absolutely no reason to be offended by the rational examination of claims of undetectable energy treatments. If there is evidence for the claim, it stands up. If there isn't, it falls. No-one needs to feel offended or insulted. At the same time, if, knowing that there is no evidence beyond biased anecdotal accounts, it is quite simply unjustified to make claims of treatments and therapies. Incidentally, to knowingly make such claims when aware of the absence of evidence is in fact against the law. That's why there is such equivocation in the alternative medicine industry over what constitutes evidence.
As an example, if I invent a new kind of therapy, claim to be able to transfer a kind of energy for which there is no evidence, and then convince people to give me money, and on the way elicit testimonials approving of what I am doing, how can you ever be sure I am not simply a charlatan, a fraud? That's the reason we have consumer legislation, evidence-based tests of claims, etc.
But you ask an important question: do I agree that there are things that exist beyond our current comprehension? I unhesitatingly say yes, I do agree with that. There are very many things that are bound to exist that are currently beyond our comprehension. And for that reason, we CANNOT make any claims about such unknown things. We CANNOT for example claim that a healing energy exists. We CANNOT make claims about any mind-body connection. All the currently known evidence points to mind as a property of the physical brain and there isn't any that supports a claim that they are separate.
None of that in any way undermines the importance of psychological aspects of medicine. Mental attitude can significantly reduce stress and as a consequence, encourage the healing process - but it is not itself that healing process. It is very clear that we can reduce stress WITHOUT there being any healing of medical conditions going on. That's why we have to remove the bias of placebo effect when assessing treatments.
Reiki, despite the fervent beliefs of the advocates, is a faith exercise promoting a business of selling undetectable energy. That's why ITEC has had problems getting its assessment scheme accepted - it can't provide any evidence of anything happening at all, except students making their own notes in notebooks, and the believers saying they feel better. For those going into the Reiki business, they really do have to be very aware of the law to avoid making unfounded claims and taking money under false pretences. It's a real risk to Reiki businesses.
Mary 20 months ago
I too was sceptical about the reiki process. I didn't see how it could possibly work. But after my reiki attunement whenever i placed my hands eith on myself or someone else i could feel this heat and i don't mean normal body temperature. Still I wasn't quite convinced...until...I was walking across my living room experiencing the worst ankle pain I have ever had (I've been having constant pain in this ankle for months)I decided to try the reiki on my ankle. My mind is definitely changed about the power of reiki. My ankle hasn't been hurting since I did the treatment. Not at all. Now you may say there is no proof but for me I definitely found a new way to heal.