Update - CRR

Advocating For Scientific Rigor in Reiki Research

11 February 2026/0 Comments/in Update /by Ruth McKlusky

As part of CRR’s efforts to promote scientific rigor in Reiki research, we’ve successfully connected with the scientific journals Epilepsy & Behavior, Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, and Journal of Nursing and Education.

CRR director Ann Baldwin authored three letters to the editors, referencing Biofield Therapies: Guidelines for Reporting Clinical Trials which outlines the steps required to produce scientifically sound research papers. Since the guidelines are applicable to designing studies as well, CRR recommended the three journals augment their “Instructions for Authors” with a copy of, or reference to, these guidelines.

All three letters have been published:

CRR’s mission is to validate and foster the acceptance of Reiki biofield therapy as an integrative healthcare practice. Only rigorous, scientifically robust studies can provide the evidence necessary to support the use of this low risk, non-invasive modality in clinical settings.

feb 18 webinar promo with Jane Van De veld

Live Webinar February 18th: Reiki For The Cancer Community

26 January 2026/0 Comments/in Update /by Ruth McKlusky

Join us Wednesday, February 18th and learn from Jane Van De Velde how a professional approach, good communication skills, and persistence are key to introducing Reiki into healthcare settings.

With an extensive nursing background, Reiki master practitioner and teacher Jane Van De Velde focuses on implementing Reiki programs within health care systems and community-based organizations. In 2009, she established The Reiki Share Project, a nonprofit organization near Chicago, Illinois to teach Reiki to individuals managing serious and chronic illnesses.

Since 2006, she has been affiliated with Wellness House, a nonprofit cancer support center and has provided hundreds of Reiki sessions as a volunteer. Jane has also been associated with Elmhurst Hospital since 2008. She established the Reiki Volunteer Program (2012–2020), which provided Reiki sessions to patients, families, and staff in the outpatient infusion center. Jane was also on staff at the Integrative Medicine Clinic part of the Endeavor Health System (2016-2026).

The 20-minute presentation will be followed by a 10-minute Q&A; and all CRR associate and professional members will be automatically registered.

A Survey of Integrative Health Therapies in the United States Healthcare System

2 December 2025/2 Comments/in Update /by Ruth McKlusky

We are looking for volunteer research assistants (RAs) to help with a nation-wide survey of integrative therapy use in the U.S. hospital system. RAs will assist with data collection, including obtaining appropriate hospital contacts, conducting telephone calls with hospital staff, and inputting data.

Responsibilities:

Obtaining appropriate hospital contact information
Contacting hospitals through phone and email
Speaking in a courteous manner to all hospital staff
Following a script in a natural way
Recording information accurately in Word and Excel
Use of online software to input data

Skills and Qualifications:

Highly experienced with Microsoft Office including Word and Excel
Customer service skills; courteous and polite
Ability to speak and understand English
Data entry skills, accuracy is essential
Ability to work well within a team and independently
Access to the Internet and ability to make telephone calls through the United States
Connections/working within the US healthcare system is an additional asset
Background in research methodology, data analysis and publication a strong additional asset
Human subjects training (CITI program) is also an asset but not required

Time commitment: A minimum of 5 hours per week for up to 9 months. Includes one biweekly team meeting and time surveying hospitals.

Benefits: Contribute to integrative medicine research. Receive acknowledgement in the scientific publication and potential opportunities for co-authorship depending on skills and experience.

If you are interested, please send your cover letter and CV to Natalie Dyer at dyern@uci.edu

Biofield Therapies Research Overview

12 March 2025/1 Comment/in Update /by Ruth McKlusky

The recent open access paper by Meredith Sprengel et al. titled Biofield Therapies Clinical Research Landscape: A Scoping Review and Interactive Evidence Map published in the Journal of Integrative and Complementary Medicine provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of clinical research on biofield therapies – including Reiki.

The authors conducted a scoping review to map the existing evidence on biofield therapies and created an interactive evidence map to visually represent the findings. The review aimed to identify the diverse populations, health conditions and outcomes that have been studied in relation to biofield therapies, the methodologies used, and the geographical distribution of the research.

Key findings from the review of 353 peer-reviewed studies published in English (including 96 Reiki studies) indicate that biofield therapies have been explored across a wide range of health conditions, including cancer, pain management, mental health disorders, cardiovascular diseases, and chronic illnesses. Most studies employed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and observational designs, with varying levels of methodological rigor. While some studies reported positive outcomes, such as reduced pain, improved mood, and enhanced quality of life, others showed mixed or inconclusive results.

Interactive Evidence Map

The publicly available, interactive Biofield Science Evidence Map created by the authors serves as a valuable tool for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. Intended to be updated yearly, it allows users to filter and navigate through the research landscape by health condition, study design, and outcome measure, providing a clear and accessible way to understand the scope and quality of biofield therapy research.

The paper also highlights several gaps and challenges in the current research landscape. These include the need for more high-quality, large-scale RCTs, greater standardization of biofield therapy protocols, and improved reporting of intervention details. Additionally, the authors call for increased collaboration and interdisciplinary approaches to advance the scientific understanding of biofield therapies and their potential mechanisms of action.

Overall, the scoping review and evidence map presented in this paper offer a comprehensive and detailed overview of the clinical research landscape for biofield therapies. They underscore the importance of continued research in this field to validate the efficacy of these therapies and to adopt them as integrative care options in allopathic medicine.

Current Status of Reiki Research 2024

11 October 2024/0 Comments/in Update /by Ruth McKlusky

By Ann Baldwin, PhD, Professor Emerita of Physiology, University of Arizona; Director of Mind-Body-Science; and Editor-in-Chief, Center for Reiki Research

According to the NIH National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health web site entry for Reiki (last updated in December 2018):

“Reiki hasn’t been clearly shown to be effective for any health-related
purpose. It has been studied for a variety of conditions, including pain,
anxiety, and depression, but most of the research has not been of high
quality, and the results have been inconsistent.”

The evidence suggests otherwise.

As of July 2024, there are 140 Reiki research papers that have been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, but most are pilot studies with small numbers (fewer than 20) of participants per group, and many do not include appropriate control groups. For these reasons, the medical profession often dismisses these studies as inconclusive. A closer examination of overlapping data from some of the stronger pilot studies and the 13 larger scale clinical trials with 30 or more participants per group (see list below) supports the ability of Reiki to reduce anxiety and pain, and suggests its usefulness to induce relaxation, improve fatigue, burn-out and depressive symptoms, and strengthen overall wellbeing.

Four published literature reviews of Reiki research (see list below) state that there is sufficient evidence to conclude that Reiki is more effective than placebo in reducing pain and anxiety and that it has the potential for managing chronic health conditions and postoperative recovery. The research on Reiki’s effectiveness is promising, but more large studies are needed to convince medical professionals to invest their time, finances, and effort in researching how Reiki can serve as an adjunct to allopathic medicine. Only through successful, scientifically robust, large-scale clinical trials will the decision-makers at top scientific and medical institutions be convinced to support the widespread use of Reiki in hospitals, clinics, and hospices.

Published Reiki clinical trials with at least 30 participants per group:

Published Reiki research literature reviews:

McManus, D.E. (2017). Reiki Is Better Than Placebo and Has Broad Potential as a Complementary Health Therapy. Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine, 2017 Oct; 22(4): 1051–1057. doi: 10.1177/2156587217728644
Morero, J.A.P., de Souza Pereira, S., Esteves, R.B., Cardosos, L. (2021). Effects of Reiki on Mental Health Care: A Systematic Review. Holistic Nursing Practice, 2021 Jul-Aug;35(4):191-198. doi: 10.1097/HNP.0000000000000456.
Zadro, S., Stapleton, P. (2022). Does Reiki Benefit Mental Health Symptoms Above Placebo? Front Psychology, 2022 Jul 12:13:897312. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.897312. eCollection 2022.
Humphreys, E., Cabrera, E., Downey Luhrmann, S. (2023). The Effectiveness of Treating Anxiety With Reiki. Journal of Behavior Therapy, DOI:10.14302/issn2474-9273.jbtm-23-4712 Corpus ID: 264051702

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