Vrtis, M.C. The Effectiveness of Energy Based Healing:
A Review of Five Years of Clinical Trials
Holistic: Harmonizing Pathways to Wholeness  (Fall 2006):26-38.  
Available at URL: www.holisticjournal.org.
The Effectiveness of Energy
Based Healing: A Review of Five
Years of Clinical Trials

By Mary C. Vrtis, Ph.D., RN
Energy based touch therapies are based on the concept that the human energy field extends
not only throughout, but also beyond the human body.  The practitioner is a conduit and taps
a universal energy thus restoring balance in the client’s energy field.  These therapies are
rooted in the belief that energy within the human (or animal) body should flow freely and be
continuous with the universal energy source.  When the energy field of a being (human or
animal) is blocked, fixed or unbalanced, then a state of dis-ease results.  

There are a number of types of energy work, including, but not limited to Reiki, Therapeutic
Touch™, Healing Touch™, Quantum-Touch® and Polarity Therapy.  For most of these
therapies, the belief is that everyone has the ability to learn to use the technique with a
positive intent to help others in rebalancing their energy – thus assisting the other person
toward healing.  

Energy based touch is not new.  Jesus practiced “laying on of the hands” to heal over two
thousand years ago.  Dr. Mikao Usui, a Japanese teacher, developed Reiki (which means
universal life energy) in the mid-1800’s.  Randall Stone, DO, DC, ND published work on
Polarity Therapy, a form of energy-based bodywork that is combined with diet, exercise and
self-awareness, in 1947 (1).  Dolores Krieger, Ph.D., RN, working with healer Dora Kuntz,
developed Therapeutic Touch in 1972 (2).  Richard Gordon, the founder of Quantum Touch
was learning the basis for this technique from healer Bob Rasmussen in 1978 (3).  Janet
Mentgen, RN, BSN developed Healing Touch in 1980 (4).

The general public is becoming increasingly interested in healing techniques that provide
alternatives to medications and other forms of conventional medicine, but energy based
therapy is not well known.  To evaluate the degree to which Americans utilized techniques that
are alternatives to or complementary with conventional medical treatments, Barnes, et al.
(2004) conducted 31,044 computer-assisted personal interviews in 2002 (5).  Whereas 74.6
percent of the sample had used some form of complementary or alternative therapy, only 1.1
percent had used energy healing therapy/Reiki.  For the eighty-six respondents who used
energy healing therapy/Reiki, the reason given was:
  •  Conventional medical treatments would not help (46.5 percent).
  •  Conventional medical treatments were too expensive (22.9 percent).
  •  Energy work combined with conventional medical treatments would help (60.6
    percent).
  •  Energy work was suggested by a conventional medical professional (18.0 percent).  
  •  The respondent thought it would be interesting to try energy work (50.4 percent).

There is a great deal of anecdotal data (published and unpublished) to support that these
therapies work – and work well – to help the body to heal itself.  There is also a growing body
of empirical research to support the use of energy based healing techniques to complement
or as a holistic alternative to conventional medicine.  

A Medline search for recently published clinical trials for energy-based therapies, including
the therapies discussed above, was conducted in September 2006.  The purpose was to
identify empirical studies that evaluated energy based healing techniques.  To assure that the
studies reviewed met the rigorous scientific standards expected for publication in nursing and
medical literature only studies published in peer-reviewed journals within the last five years
were evaluated.  All clinical trial studies found with the Medline search were included,
regardless of author conclusions.   


                                    Reiki

Reiki, the oldest of the therapies discussed above requires that the practitioner receive
attunements in order to channel the universal energy.  In order to reach Reiki Master status,
the practitioner needs to complete a series of classes that include multiple attunements and
she/he should have several years of experience.  In additional to traditional Usui Reiki, there
are various forms of advanced Reiki education.  This form of energy-based healing has
recently become integrated into several conventional health care settings.  Miles and True
(2003) list twenty-two hospitals and community based health care programs throughout the     
U.S. that offer Reiki services (6).  

The National Institute of Health (NIH) National Center for Complementary and Alternative
Medicine (NCCAM) has recently provided grants for five Reiki clinical trials, and three of these
studies were completed, however, published results could not be found on the NIH website or
through Medline (7).   Six clinical trial studies were identified through the Medline search:

  •  Mackay, Hansen and McFarlane (2004) conducted a pilot study and randomly
    assigned forty-five subjects to one of three groups.  One group received no treatment
    (the control group), the second received sham Reiki treatments from someone with no
    Reiki training (the placebo group), and the third group received Reiki treatments from
    an experienced Reiki practitioner.  Measurements of autonomic nervous system
    function, including heart rate, cardiac vagal tone, blood pressure, cardiac sensitivity to
    baroreflex and breathing activity were continuously measured before, during and after
    treatment and compared to the participant’s baseline values.  Reiki treatments resulted
    in a significant decrease in both heart rate and diastolic blood pressure, whereas there
    was no statistically significant change in either the control group or the Reiki mimic
    group (8).

  •  Olson, Hanson and Michaud (2003) compared pain levels, quality of life, and
    analgesic use for twenty-four participants with advanced cancer.  Participants were
    divided into two groups and received standard opioid (narcotic) pain management plus
    rest or standard opioid pain management plus Reiki.  Participants who received the
    Reiki treatments had improved pain control and quality of life, though they did not have
    a reduction in opioid use (9).

  •  Shiflett, et al. (2002) conducted a study with three objectives:  1.) To determine if
    Reiki was effective as an adjunct therapy post stroke.  2.) “To evaluate a double-
    blinded procedure for training Reiki practitioners.”  3.) “To determine whether or not
    double-blinded Reiki and sham practitioners could determine which category they were
    in.”  Fifty inpatients with subacute ischemic stroke were placed into one of four
    groups:         
 *  Treatment by a Reiki master who had actually received Reiki training
 *  Treatment by a Reiki practitioner who had actually received Reiki training,
 *  Treatment by a sham Reiki practitioner who thought she/he had received
     Reiki training, but had actually received fake Reiki training, or
 *  Usual care.  
The authors concluded that:
 *  Blinded practitioners were unable to tell what category they were in – whether
    they had received real or sham Reiki education.
 *  Reiki did not have any clinically useful effect on stroke recovery.
 *  Reiki may have had limited effects on mood and energy levels (10).

  •  Engebretson and Wardell (2002) interviewed 23 volunteers immediately after
    receiving a Reiki treatment from a Reiki master.  The authors found that sensation and
    symbolic phenomena were experienced in an individualized manner, suggesting that
    many of the linear models used to research touch therapies may not be complex
    enough to capture the participant’s experience (11).

  •  Wardell and Engebretson (2001) evaluated the biological effects of Reiki treatments
    on 23 healthy volunteers.  There were no changes in salivary cortisol levels (a measure
    of the stress response) and though skin temperature increased and muscle tension
    decreased, the results were not statistically significant.  Reiki treatments did result in
    statistically significant reductions in anxiety and systolic blood pressure.  Salivary
    immunoglobulin A levels (a measure of immune system function) increased significantly
    (12).

  •  Shore (2004) randomly assigned forty-six participants to one of three groups to
    receive hands-on Reiki, distance Reiki or distance Reiki placebo.  Participants received
    one to one and a half hours of treatment weekly for six weeks.  Symptoms of
    psychological depression and stress were measured (using the Beck Depression
    Inventory and the Beck Hopelessness and Perceived Stress scales) pre and post
    treatment.  The author found that there was a significant reduction in symptoms of
    psychological distress in both treatment groups and that these differences continued to
    be present one year later (13).  


                      Therapeutic Touch

Therapeutic Touch (TT) has probably been the most studied energy-based touch therapy, as
Dr. Krieger conducted empirical studies to determine how well the technique worked from the
beginning of its development.  The Therapeutic Touch Organization maintains a full
bibliography of these studies.  Expertise in TT also requires a series of classes and those
educated in this discipline practice at various levels from beginner to advanced practitioner.  
Reaching an advanced status requires several years of practice.  The six clinical trial studies
published in peer-reviewed journals over the last five years, listed in the Medline search
include:

  •  Movaffaghi, Z., et al. (2006) randomly assigned healthy students to one of three
    groups.  One group received TT, the second received mimic (or sham) TT, and the
    third was a control group that received no treatment.  Blood hematocrit (the percentage
    of red blood cells compared to plasma) and hemoglobin levels (the component of the
    red blood cell that carries oxygen to the body cells) increased significantly in the group
    that received TT and in the group that received sham TT.  No significant changes were
    found in the control group.  The authors concluded that “more careful precision might
    be needed while selecting individuals as sham therapists in further experiments” (14).

  •  Woods, Craven and Whitney conducted a randomized, double-blind experimental
    study and placed fifty-seven nursing home residents into one of three groups.  The
    experimental group received TT, the placebo group received sham TT and the control
    group received the usual care.  Behavior was observed every twenty minutes pre and
    post intervention by trained observers who were not aware of which treatment the
    resident had received.  TT was given twice a day for five to seven minutes for three
    days.  TT was significantly more effective in decreasing behavioral symptoms of
    dementia than the usual care.  The authors concluded that TT offers a non-
    pharmocological method of decreasing disruptive symptoms, especially restlessness
    and vocalization (15).

  •  Larden, Palmer and Janssen (2004) conducted a study of fifty-four pregnant,
    hospitalized women with chemical dependency issues.  The women were divided into
    three groups.  One group received a twenty -minute TT treatment daily for seven days,
    the second received twenty minutes of shared activity with an RN every day for seven
    days; the third received standard ward care.  Anxiety scores as measured using
    Spielberger’s State-Trait Anxiety Inventory were significantly reduced for the TT group
    (16).  

  •  M. Smith, et al. (2003) randomly assigned 88 subjects who were receiving bone
    marrow transplants into one of three group.  Participants received TT treatments,
    massage therapy treatments, or a friendly visit every third day beginning the day of
    chemotherapy and continuing until discharge from the program.  Those who received
    massage therapy had significantly lower scores for central nervous system and
    neurological complications.  Mean scores on the comfort subscale were significantly
    higher for participants who received TT or massage therapy.  There were no significant
    differences for other complication outcomes evaluated (17).

  •  D. Smith, et al. (2002) conducted a pilot study to investigate the use of TT plus
    relaxation as an adjunct to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for participants with
    chronic pain.  Participants were randomly assigned to a control group to receive
    relaxation training or to the TT plus relaxation group.  Results suggested that TT
    combined with CBT improved clinical outcomes, reduced program attrition and
    “promoted unitary power” in people with chronic pain (18).

  •  Woods and Dimond (2002) studied the effect of TT on people with Alzheimer’s
    disease.  Ten subjects were observed every twenty minutes for ten hours a day and
    physical activity was monitored twenty-four hours a day.  TT was administered for five to
    seven minutes twice a day for three days.  Salivary and urine cortisol levels were taken
    daily and results were compared at baseline, during the treatment period, post-
    treatment for eleven days and during the washout period of three days.  The authors
    found a significant decrease in overall agitation, vocalization and pacing or (aimless)
    walking during the treatment and post-treatment periods.  Salivary and urinary cortisol
    levels (a measure of stress) showed a decreasing trend (19).

  •  Blankfield, et al conducted a study to determine whether or not TT would have an
    impact on carpal tunnel syndrome.  Twenty-two participants were assigned to receive
    either TT or sham TT once a week for six weeks.  The authors found that there were
    improvements from the baseline for the outcome variables, pain scores, relaxation
    scores and median motor nerve distal latencies (the interval between stimulation and
    response) for both the TT and the sham TT group, suggesting a possible placebo
    effect.   Outcome measures did not, however, significantly differ between the TT and
    the sham TT groups (20).


                              Healing Touch

Healing Touch (HT) is also an energy based treatment modality.  Certification for this modality
also involves several classes and multiple practice levels.  Four clinical trial studies on Healing
Touch were also found, as follows:

  •  Wang and Hermann (2006) conducted a pilot study to evaluate the use of HT on
    people with dementia.  The authors found that agitation levels, as measured by the
    Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory, were significantly lowered following HT treatment
    (21).

  •  Wilkinson, et al. (2002) conducted a study to: 1.) Determine clinical effectiveness of
    HT.  2.) To evaluate whether practitioner training level made a difference.  Twenty-two
    participants were assigned to one of three categories and received no treatment,
    standard HT, or standard HT plus music plus guided imagery.  The authors found that
    clients of HT practitioners with more training had statistically higher secretory
    immunoglobulin A (a measure of immune system function) levels, whereas clients of
    less skilled practitioners did not.  For both the better trained and the less well-trained
    HT practitioner groups, fifty-nine percent of participants perceived an enhancement of
    health, and pain relief was reported by fifty-five percent of recipients with pain.  In both
    cases, participants perceived a reduction in stress (22).

  •  Taylor and Lo (2001) assessed the impact of HT on coping, self-esteem and general
    health of nursing students.  For first year students, there was no effect.  There were
    some slight positive effects for third year students.  All students found the HT
    experience to be a positive one.  The authors concluded that the project’s design may
    have been ineffective in measuring the effects of HT as the questionnaire may not have
    tested for the actual effects of therapy (23).  

  •  White, et al. (2003) compared the effects of massage therapy and healing touch to
    presence alone or standard care in 230 participants receiving cancer chemotherapy.  
    Both massage therapy and HT lowered blood pressure, respiratory rate, heart rate,
    mood disturbance and pain levels.  MT also lowered anxiety and resulted in decreased
    non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) use.  HT also lowered fatigue (24).


                     Polarity Therapy

Clinical trials conducted within the last five years to study Polarity Therapy were not found.  
NIH NCCAM is currently funding one study, but that is still in the subject recruiting stage.  This
is an older therapy, and though there is a lot of information available on it on the Internet and
in various books, a Medline search using the keywords Polarity Therapy returned no results
related to this therapy that were published within the past five years.


                     Quantum-Touch®

Quantum-Touch® (QT) is an energy based healing method developed by Richard Gordon
and it is based on the work of healer Bob Rasmussen.  There is a great deal of anecdotal
data found in the book(3) and on the website, but the Medline search returned “no results,”
for this method.  However, based on information from the Quantum Touch organization,
several research projects are currently underway.  


        The Need for Further Research

Researching outcomes for energy work is important for several reasons:
  •  Scientific documentation of therapy efficacy may broaden the views of traditional
    medicine, insurance company and political decision makers, thus increasing the
    availability of holistic techniques to underserved populations.
  •  Reporting of such results will guide health care professionals and lay people toward
    the life long learning required for these techniques – thus expanding the network of
    practitioners.
  •  Americans are spending more money on holistic methods and they have a right to
    have information that will allow them to make appropriate decisions when faced with
    multiple alternatives.

Researching with the express intention to expose “quackery” is not appropriate.  This has
happened before when the newly minted American Medical Association (AMA) formed a board
to investigate “quackery” in 1848 (26).  At the time, the AMA was working to develop
standards for “regular” physicians, as well as solidifying the social and economic power of this
group.  “Quack” attacks increased with the first issues of the Journal of the American Medical
Association (JAMA) in 1883 and intensified to a frenzy during the editorial reign of Morris
Fishbein, MD from 1924 to 1949.  

“Quack cults” attacked during the 1920’s included most of the holistic approaches to health
care.  Osteopaths, chiropractors, naturopaths and homeopaths as well as a large number of
other holistic practitioners were deemed to be “cults” and “quacks” by Fishbein (27).  
Standards were undoubtedly necessary, given the state of conventional medicine at the
time.   Oppression of alternative practitioners was occurring at a time when “regular”
physicians had very poor outcomes, and their patients experienced many adverse effects
secondary to therapies that have since been proven harmful.  Undoubtedly, some real quacks
were driven out of business, but there were also a lot of viable therapies and techniques that
the American public was, at least temporarily, deprived of.


       Considerations for Research Design

Assuring appropriate outcome measures:  The experience of an energy based healing
session is very individualized and people tend to report what they sense in different ways,
which makes comparisons difficult.  This causes some real difficulty in study design,
particularly in decisions regarding which outcome measures to evaluate.  It is unlikely (though
not impossible) that a recipient with a 100 percent blockage of the left anterior descending
coronary artery is going to experience re-vascularization in one session of energy based
healing.  It is, however, very likely that pain levels, heart rate and blood pressure may
decrease, helping the recipient to tolerate the wait for surgical intervention.  

Controlling for “Dosage:  It’s easy to control for dosage of a chemically formulated
medication, but not so easy to control for dose of an energy-based therapy.  Most energy
work is happening at a level that even quantum physicists do not fully understand, so how do
we determine an appropriate dose?  Are length and frequency of treatments adequate
measures of dosage when the ability of people to utilize life force energy that flows through
the practitioner varies?  There are no standards for dosage in energy-based healing, nor
should there be.  Reiki, TT and QT treatments, for example, all last until the practitioner feels
that the energy flow is balanced or the recipient feels the situation is improved.  Sometimes
one treatment is needed; sometimes many are needed over the course of months or years.  

Controlling for “Potency: Potency of the treatment is another variable that is difficult to
control for when developing a research design.  Every technique has a series of classes or
levels, but practitioner experience and individual abilities vary, even within a given level.  Does
practitioner skill level equate to potency?  Is the Reiki provided by the “Reiki Master” in study
one as potent as the Reiki provided by the “Reiki Master” in study two?  Does a Reiki Master
who just finished a two week course that began with level one have the same abilities as a
Reiki Master who has been practicing for fifteen years?  For HT, Wilkinson, et al (2002)  
showed that practitioner experience levels do make a difference.  How does the researcher
control for these issues (22)?

Controlling for the placebo effect:  Controlling for the placebo effect with energy-based
healing may not be as simple as one would expect.  It is extremely easy for almost everyone to
learn to channel energy for the purpose of healing.  Class participants are able to experience
the sensations involved in Reiki treatments immediately after the first attunement in an
introductory class.  If the Reiki level II practitioner makes an error when drawing the symbols in
the air, it does not matter, as Reiki energy will channel through, and work anyway.  
Introductory level TT is also extremely easy to learn.  This author once participated in a half
an hour class with at least two-dozen hospital directors and administrators who had no
exposure whatsoever to energy work.  They learned to use basic TT within fifteen minutes.   
Quantum Touch is so easy to learn that many people can begin to use the technique by
reading the introductory book or viewing the video class.  This ease of use and almost
immediate effectiveness of basic energy work makes it difficult to provide true “sham” or fake
treatments.  In the few instances where “placebo” effects are seen, is this really due to a
placebo effect or is it possible that attempts to mimic the treatment may actually cause the
treatment to occur?  

Despite the difficulties: Despite the fact that designing energy-based research studies to
meet rigid scientific criteria is extremely difficult, the studies cited above clearly support that
this can be done.  This research is very important not only in documenting the credibility of
solid techniques, but also in assisting practitioners to refine their individual practices.  This
author offers a huge THANK YOU to the authors cited above.


                              Summary

Recent studies on the energy based healing methods Reiki, Therapeutic Touch and Healing
Touch published within peer-reviewed, medical and nursing journals within the past five years
clearly show that there are positive outcomes from these interventions.  

Six Reiki clinical trial studies were summarized in this paper, and all six showed that these
treatments had statistically significant positive outcomes for the recipient.  Two studies
demonstrated an appropriate drop in blood pressure (8,12).  One study showed an
appropriate decrease in heart rate (8).  One study showed improvement in pain control for
participants with advanced cancer (9).  One study showed a decrease in anxiety (12).  One
study showed strengthening of the immune response (12).  One study showed a decrease in
symptoms of depression and stress (13).  One study showed that those experiencing Reiki
treatments had very individualized, positive experiences (11).  

For one study, the authors concluded that Reiki made no difference in clinical outcomes post-
stroke.  This study not only used fake Reiki treatments, but in attempts to be very scientific
and “double-blind” the practitioners, they also taught the fake practitioners a fake course so
that they did not know that they were fakes.  Becoming an effective Reiki practitioner,
especially when one reaches the level of Reiki Master, takes more than taking a single
course.  It involves a great deal of practice and even life-style changes so that Reiki becomes
a part of one’s life.  Even this study, however, concluded that Reiki resulted in limited effects
on mood and energy in post-stroke patients (10).  

Adverse effects were NOT reported in even one single study on Reiki!

Six studies evaluated Therapeutic Touch and all six showed statistically significant positive
outcomes.  One study showed an increase in the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood
through higher hematocrit and hemoglobin levels (14).  One study showed decreases in
anxiety (16).  Two studies showed increased ability to use relaxation techniques (18,20).  One
study showed a decrease in negative behavioral symptoms, especially restlessness and
vocalization for nursing home residents with dementia, (15) and a second showed a decrease
in agitation, vocalization and pacing for residents with Alzheimer’s (19).  Two studies showed a
decrease in pain for participants with chronic pain conditions (18,20).  One study showed an
increase in comfort for participants receiving chemotherapy treatments pre-bone marrow
transplant (17).    

In two studies, a possible placebo effect was evident in that participants receiving sham or
fake TT treatments also experienced positive outcomes.  One author concluded: “more
careful precision might be needed when selecting individuals as sham therapists” (14,20).  

Adverse effects were NOT reported in even one single study on Therapeutic Touch!

All four studies on Healing Touch showed statistically significant positive outcomes.  Two
studies showed a decrease in pain levels (22, 24).  One study showed decreased anxiety
levels in nursing home residents with dementia (21).  One study showed an increase in
perception of health and immune response (22).  One study showed a slight positive effect on
coping and self-esteem for third year nursing students (23).  One study showed appropriate
decreases in blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, mood disturbances and fatigue in
cancer chemotherapy recipients (24).  

Adverse effects were NOT reported in even one single study on Healing Touch!


                           Conclusions

The preponderance of evidence, anecdotal stories and research results, clearly indicate that
energy based healing techniques are very beneficial.   These techniques work better for some
conditions than for others, and they are particularly useful for management of symptoms such
as pain and biological indicators of stress.  They have also been shown to improve the body’s
immune response.  Exactly how they work is still not understood and our understanding of the
physical world is still too limited to effectively answer that question.  


                       References Cited

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