What is Reiki-assisted therapy?
Reiki is an energy healing practice that focuses on connecting the physical body, the energy body, and the mind all in the present moment. It’s based on the idea that people have “life force energy” that fuels our souls and keeps us alive, and when that energy gets too low or off balance, it can lead to stress, injury, or illness.
Reiki-attuned practitioners are able to pass on this “life force energy” and guide it in ways that promote healing to the mind, body, and soul.
While any Reiki-attuned practitioner can provide Reiki to people, only licensed therapists who are also Reiki-attuned can provide Reiki-assisted therapy, or psychotherapeutic Reiki.
What does Reiki actually do?
Reiki is a Japanese healing practice in which a Reiki practitioner transfers energy to a client to bring about relaxation and energy regulation. Oftentimes practitioners may focus on chakras, or energy centers in the body, and use Reiki to release blocked energy, or slow down excessive energy. Similarly to how our bodies heal when we rest or sleep; when the body is able to return to a state of relaxation, it’s able to repair itself from issues related to stress.
With traditional Reiki, some people notice a shift in how emotions feel or the intensity of emotions, increased sense of grounding, and improved relaxation. This can also support improved mental clarity, focus, and sleep after Reiki sessions are completed.
In Reiki-assisted therapy, Reiki supports clients in better understanding their emotions or symptoms, exploring the mind-body relationship to their emotions and symptoms, increasing heartfulness and self-compassion, releasing energy blocks that may have kept traditional therapy alone stagnant, and shifting mindsets in ways that promote healing.
In fact, research demonstrates that Reiki can be effective in alleviating anxiety! When Reiki is combined with therapy in psychotherapeutic Reiki, its effectiveness increases even more!
What is Reiki therapy good for?
Reiki-assisted therapy can be effective for many mental health concerns, though is meant to supplement and not replace evidence-based therapy.
Reiki-assisted therapy can be particularly helpful for overthinkers and perfectionists who often have a lot of energy in their (over)thinking brains, and experience a disconnect with their feeling body. Through the interventions used to bring Mindfulness into the feeling body, Reiki can support clients with anxiety in reconnecting with these parts without the overthinking and overanalyzing brain stealing the stage quite as easily.
Several of the psychotherapeutic Reiki techniques also support clients in investigating their emotions and symptoms from a curious mind, and increasing awareness of how the body experiences and holds onto different emotions and experiences.
What happens during a Reiki session?
During a traditional Reiki session, you may have more of a spa-like experience. Many providers will have you lay on a massage table and either hover their hands over you or gently rest their hands on you as they provide Reiki. Distance Reiki can be just as effective, though it is done with the client and provider in different locations and therefore can look a little different. Either way, it is often a silent experience, sometimes with the practitioner guiding you through a meditation at the beginning and/or end of the session.
Reiki-assisted therapy works differently though. Reiki in therapy is much more interactive, and the client and therapist are conversing through the experience. Reiki is used to supplement other therapy interventions that include mindfulness, body scans, self-compassion work, breathwork, and other emotion regulation techniques.
Because of the highly interactive nature of Reiki-assisted therapy, Kimberleigh is able to effectively provide the interventions through online therapy for clients in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Illinois.
What is the drawback of Reiki?
One of the challenges with Reiki is that people can have different experiences, and even the same person may have different outcomes each time. Some people notice physical, mental, and/or emotional benefits right away, others notice the benefits in the days following a Reiki session, and others may not notice the changes as clearly.
It’s important to note that while Reiki doesn’t have known side effects, it is not meant to replace medical or psychological treatment. When Kimberleigh uses Reiki in therapy, it is to complement and strengthen existing evidence-based therapy interventions.
Ready to see how Reiki-assisted therapy could work for you?
Kimberleigh can help! As a attuned Reiki Master as a trained psychotherapeutic Reiki practitioner, she is able to guide you in this practice.
To begin online therapy with Mindfully Balanced Therapy:
Schedule a consult call with Kimberleigh or fill out a contact form on our website.
Meet with Kimberleigh to talk about what what your anxiety currently looks and feels like, what your experience has been with Reiki and other holistic practices, and learn about how Mindfully Balanced Therapy uses holistic therapy methods to support healing with overthinking and perfectionism.
Experience psychotherapeutic Reiki and see how it can shift your therapy experience!
