For many their first experience of Reiki will be from receiving a Reiki treatment, the start point of which would be selecting a Reiki practitioner and booking their first Reiki treatment. The aim of this article is to provide some considerations with the aim to help you in your selection of a Reiki professional who could help you.

The first point I would say is that there is a huge variation in professional training, approaches and indeed understanding of Reiki between Reiki professionals, a practitioner’s own Reiki training heavily influences how any Reiki treatment is delivered in the first place, as it provides the reasoning to why they are doing what they are doing, as well as the techniques available to them, etc. People have had great results from many different approaches, yet just be aware there is a huge variation in approaches.

An observation I have found, having been trained in and taught various approaches to Reiki, I have observed both my own Reiki students who are Reiki professionals themselves as well as those who are already Reiki professionals who have then taken Jikiden Reiki training with me report that they have seen better results with their Reiki treatment clients after taking traditional Jikiden Reiki training.  Indeed many of the people I have helped with Reiki treatments personally have had Reiki treatments from other Reiki professionals before, yet our results are different, the point I wish you to take from this is that booking a Reiki treatment is not a standard commodity like buying a pint of skimmed milk, which wherever you buy it from, you are going to get a standardized product, or in this case experience.  

It can be a bit of a mind field when you go online and search Reiki in your area, you are likely to find quite a few differing choices in Reiki professionals. So how do you work out what might be a good choice for you? The choice of Reiki professional you select for Reiki treatments would have less bearing than say selecting a Reiki teacher to teach you Reiki, for training in Reiki I believe is imperative that you make that selection with great consideration. With regards to Reiki treatments, there can be many different approaches and a lot of times methods from other non-Reiki methods find their way into a Reiki treatment with many Reiki professionals out there, which although might not technically be Reiki if it helps you, great.

With finding a Reiki professional to deliver Reiki treatments, location does play a part, just logistically to get to them regularly, to see the best results, I would also advise you to consider receiving Reiki treatments as a process, rather than a one-off event. As to the right Reiki professional to deliver Reiki treatments, there are various factors that can come into the mix, I will discuss a few below for you to consider;

Firstly a question that some people ask me, or consider is- is it helpful to seek out a Reiki professional who is on an industry register, or a member of professional organizations? This can from a consumer perspective, give an indication that the professional is a commitment to professionalism, ongoing high standards, and best practice. I myself am registered to the highest professional standards for delivering Reiki treatments in the UK, as well as being a member of Reiki professional organizations, that ensure ongoing professional development, etc. However does such registration or membership translate to such a professional is going to help you get better treatment outcomes than a professional not meeting such standards, I would say not necessarily. My view is that yes it is suggestive they are professional and committed to best practice and have a good level of experience, but more a nice to have.

Another consideration is the Reiki professional qualification level. In the UK gaining insurance tends to require what is termed a level 2, what we call Okuden in Japanese Reiki, to work with the public professionally). Although with original Jikiden Reiki, you learn all you need to deliver treatments in level 1 Shoden, so it’s more an insurance industry thing than a technical thing. I will refer to this group as practitioners, but again huge variation in what they would have been taught. Beyond that, the next level up is a Reiki teacher, whom many will deliver Reiki treatments as well as teach Reiki as I do. The traditional term for this is Shihan (teacher), however, you will find many teachers use terms such as Reiki master, but that’s just a different name, they are a teacher. Some other terms have been created by styles of Reiki as they move further away from the original Reiki teachings, but are nothing to do with Reiki. I would just consider Reiki professionals in two camps, practitioners and teachers. I have seen variations in results between teachers as well as practitioners, so it’s not a guarantee, however, you tend to get much greater experience and skill level with teachers, but not everyone needs a Reiki professional at such a level to get great results with Reiki.

Tying in with the above point is considering a Reiki professional’s experience, I have found that yes my experience delivering thousands of Reiki treatments and practicing over the years gives you the skill, speed, and awareness to get right to the root of things, maybe faster which can lead to better treatment outcomes. However, I have taught people Reiki to just the first level (Shoden- beginner level)- level 1, on a weekend, who have then gone out the next day and delivered a Reiki treatment to a family member with great results. So I would say that experience is a consideration, but not the be-all and end-all. The same goes for a specific experience. Many people when enquiring regarding Reiki treatments ask ‘How long have you been doing Reiki professionally and do you have experience with XYZ?’ As I look back over the years, I have experienced some strong results in areas I had no previous experience! At a deep level a person’s own wisdom, using Reiki energy and creating results, beyond our comprehension as individuals. So think of us as Reiki professional’s as vessels, or channels for the energy, I would say it is less of a factor than it might be in other professions, where skill and experience of the individual are key, say in a coaching environment, r something like acupuncture. It can be a helpful exercise to view any testimonials of a Reiki professional, as you may find they have experience in the same thing you are looking for help with, which may reinforce your confidence in that professional generally, but again if they are a new Reiki professional you would not expect to see many testimonials. Or although I don’t present myself as an anxiety specialist, I well may get better results helping someone with anxiety, than someone who does, and I have actually had some great results and helped many people with that concern. So with the more logical evaluation points covered so far, it appears less clear-cut.

This next point to consider is something beyond a logical consideration, in that in my experience at a time that is right for you the right person to help you will show up. I would say that over 75% of the people who I work with have found me by what they term as a coincidence, or are ‘drawn’ to me, be that via referral, my website, or another route.  It is no coincidence to be where you are- you, your body/ heart/mind in its wisdom know something you may not be aware of at this time. It’s like your inner subconscious, the core of you (your tamashi or soul in Japanese culture) knows what you need more than your conscious mind does. I would say that this trumps all other factors hands down. Yes get a shortlist, and factor in the above points, but if you quieten your mind and your heart, you are drawn to a specific Reiki professional I would say book a Reiki treatment with them. Looking back now I could have just written the above paragraph and saved a whole lot of writing, but I wanted to present the other considerations as well for you.

To dovetail into the last point there is a consideration, that as I write this I will term it as the ‘born to do’ factor. Some people are just born to do something, over the years I see this with people I teach Reiki, some people are just natural-born healers, independent of specific qualifications, or experience. Yes, we are all born to access Reiki and have the capacity to heal ourselves and others, just some stand out. Added to this some people in my experience are just tailor-made to help certain people in a certain way, not from an ego-based ‘ I’m an amazing healer’ view, more factors that facilitate certain healing situations well).

I cannot count the number of times people I have helped say to me after working with me that they are surprised they chose me to work with, with statements like- “I never would have picked a male practitioner before, I’m surprised I did”. or “You don’t fit the usual person I would have chosen to help me with this”. Heads -up, 98% of the people I help are women, and most of my work is in the area of emotional healing, and for a reason I am unaware of I seem to be very suited to helping women with healing emotional trauma. With these examples as soon as we highlighted this, it all fell into place for them- why they found me. (as that’s what I was helping these women with). Although they may have come to me for another reason, that’s what they needed. I then know that was why they were here in front of me, rather than another Reiki professional.  There are various factors within my nature and my skill set that seems to bring out deep healing in such situations.  I have no clue why this is the case, the point being for them to find me in these cases was the best course of action to help them, yet was independent of logical decisions. The same might be true for someone you are drawn to. On the flip side of this, I find people that are a great fit with other Reiki professionals tend to find them instead of me.

As a final point pricing is something to consider, but it should be a secondary consideration. The priority is getting to the right Reiki professional to help you. The Reiki industry will have a huge variety in pricing for Reiki treatments and is one of those professions for various reasons you will find chronic devaluing of what is delivered by many professionals. What I would encourage you to do, is to consider who feels like the right Reiki professional for you, then consider pricing.  In all other professions, you see very experienced professionals, with a track record of results, with high qualification levels, having trained with the top people in the world in their field, and having higher professional fees than those newer to a profession, so I would view selecting a Reiki professionally in the same light. As if you approach a Reiki professional with the ‘how much do you charge’ as the sole factor for your decision, (as if you were buying a pint of milk) you will likely miss the opportunity right in front of you.

Also to give Reiki treatments a chance to help you in your life, whoever you choose to help you, I would suggest viewing Reiki treatments as a process. Many Reiki professionals will offer an option to book a one-off initial session, I would suggest doing that and seeing how you find the professional’s approach, then make a commitment to the process, say approximately 5 further treatments. At that point then consider Reiki’s effectiveness to help you. Many people make the mistake of having one Reiki session and then make the decision to continue treatments based on the immediate experience of that session (against whatever prior expectations they had) and do the same any session after that, rather than commit to the process. If your GP gave you a 28-day course of antibiotics, to take one a day, for example, you wouldn’t take one, conclude it hasn’t done the job so stop the course of treatment, yet many do this with Reiki treatments. If you are going to do it, commit to the process and give yourself a chance to benefit from it. I hope this article has given you a few things to think about to help you find the right Reiki professional to help you. For those who wish to find out more about having Reiki healing with me, have a look at my Jikiden Reiki treatments page. It would also be helpful for you to see my Reviews page for examples of the experiences of others working with me.

I am mainly known nowadays for my work with Reiki, as a specialist in authentic Japanese Reiki. I am an experienced, Reiki teacher and practitioner with a proven track record of results. I offer Jikiden Reiki training courses, promoting authentic Japanese Reiki teachings. I am based in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, in the UK. I have a background in coaching and training in the areas of exercise coaching, holistic lifestyle, fitness, and performance coaching. I also have a BSc.(Hons) degree in Sport and Exercise Science, for more information visit: www.shaunmckeown.com

The information contained above is provided for information purposes only. The contents of this article are not intended to amount to advice and you should not rely on any of the contents of this article. Professional advice should be obtained before taking or refraining from taking any action as a result of the contents of this article. Shaun Mckeown, disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on any of the contents of this article.