title: Experience of a Reiki session.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Touch therapies, including Reiki, are increasingly popular complementary therapies. Previous studies of touch therapies have yielded equivocal findings.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Exploring the experiences of Reiki recipients contributes to understanding the popularity of touch therapies and possibly elucidates variables for future studies.
  
  
  METHODS
  Descriptive study with quantitative and qualitative data. This report focuses on qualitative interview data. Thematic analysis was used to discern patterns in the experience.
  
  
  METHODS
  All Reiki treatments were given in a sound proof windowless room by one Reiki master. Audiotaped interviews were conducted immediately after the treatment in a quiet room adjoining the treatment room.
  
  
  METHODS
  Generally healthy volunteers (N=23) who were naive to Reiki.
  
  
  METHODS
  Standardized, 30-minute Reiki session.
  
  
  METHODS
  Interview data supported by quantitative data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants described a liminal state of awareness in which sensate and symbolic phenomena were experienced in a paradoxical way. Liminality was apparent in participants' orientation to time, place, environment, and self Paradox also was seen in participants' symbolic experiences of internal feelings, cognitive experience, and external experience of relationship to the Reiki master.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Liminal states and paradoxical experiences that occur in ritual healing are related to the holistic nature and individual variation of the healing experience. These findings suggest that many linear models used in researching touch therapies are not complex enough to capture the experience of participants.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, USA.
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Engebretson
authors.forename: Diane Wind
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Wardell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D001364:Awareness; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012107:Research Design; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D019124:Therapeutic Touch; D016896:Treatment Outcome