# Would you stay with a doctor whose practice started offering Reiki? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 14, 2011, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-stay-with-a-doctor-whose-practice-started-offering-reiki/599637 "2011-10-14T15:20:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![yams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/848f3c/32.png) [@yams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yams)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-stay-with-a-doctor-whose-practice-started-offering-reiki/599637/41 "2011-10-14T21:00:49Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > That’s true. I very much believe in the healing power of the mind. However, when a practitioner of Reiki taught it to me at my school, she presented it as 100% legitimate. Now I don’t know if she believed what she was selling, but clearly she wanted US to believe it, and I resented that. And I would resent it if a doctor or therapist, or what have you tried to convince me that I was receiving healing energy from their hands. It’s insulting to my intelligence. > > As a contrast, I loved the guided imagery section of our class - we would all lie on mats on the floor and listen to soothing music while a calm voice walked us through calming imagery. Lying there, thinking about walks on the beach and picnics in the woods did a lot to relax me, and I could very much see how a person in chronic pain could be soothed through distraction, loss of muscle tension, ect. _That_ kind of mental healing, I could get behind. Being lied to/being asked to delude myself, not so much. I think that just means that Reiki wouldn’t work for you. I feel the same way - I don’t think it would work on either of us, because we don’t think that the magical hand energy is real. We might both benefit from the relaxation and imagery, but others, who believe it is real, would benefit even more because of the placebo effect. And if other people don’ have to lie to themselves or delude themselves, and enjoy a very real benefit from something - more power to them. Someone else benefiting from something that you don’t believe in shouldn’t really have any effect on you. All and still - What kind of school are you at that they taught you Reiki? I would be plenty annoyed if they tried to teach Reiki at my school. love yams!! ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-stay-with-a-doctor-whose-practice-started-offering-reiki/599637/42 "2011-10-14T21:30:22Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Sure, why not offer quackery as long as someone wants it? It’s not like being a physician has ethical boundaries. Give the marks what they want. :rolleyes:I believe **Hyperelastic** is referring to 20th-21st century evidence-based medicine. Sure, I’m just saying the narrative of “medicine used to be so good, and now it’s so bad” is kind of problematic, unless you are conceding that the golden age of medicine was something like fifteen years long. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-stay-with-a-doctor-whose-practice-started-offering-reiki/599637/43 "2011-10-14T21:57:49Z")
I am a physician myself, and I do feel uncomfortable with it when I encounter quackery or BS at the offices of other providers (like when I went to a dentist who had Scientology materials in his waiting room). Honestly, most of the docs who are primarily focused on “cosmetic procedures” are viewed within the medical community of being the ones who are after “easy money”. That’s not to say that everyone who does cosmetics is only in it for money. It’s just that it’s kind of understood in the medical community that the general public doesn’t care about getting their blood pressure pills or their diabetes meds, but they’ll spend every dime they can scrounge up on cosmetic treatments. It does kind of make sense that someone who is already making their living off of the vain people would branch out into cashing in on the gullible as well. Still, just because a doc works at a clinic doesn’t mean that they call the shots on these things. I’d at least talk to the doctor about what the deal is before assuming that the doc agrees with Reiki. ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-stay-with-a-doctor-whose-practice-started-offering-reiki/599637/44 "2011-10-14T22:14:23Z")
People can and do harbor a really odd mix of rational and irrational knowledge- the key is compartmentalization. The key is in evaluating your recommended treatment plans - do they pass the relevant science and evidence based criteria? This sort of check is a good idea even in the absence of visible woo. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-stay-with-a-doctor-whose-practice-started-offering-reiki/599637/45 "2011-10-14T22:19:58Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Now to me, that’s a huge red flag, and I’d instantly question the sanity and/or integrity of any physician who would stay associated with a practice that offers such nonsense - either they’ve given up on the scientific method & clinical trials, or they’re trying to fleece their patients. I’d immediately find another doctor. But my wife really liked the doctor, and will probably have the other leg treated sometime next year, and wants to stick with her. My wife is an RN BTW, and is fully aware of the bullshit aspect of Reiki. At the very least, I’d like her to ask the doctor why they’re offering this and her personal opinion of it. Thoughts? Placebos have been shown to be effective using the scientific method and clinical trials, till they figure how that works me thinks you should give reiki a pass or not cite the scientific method or clinical trials any more. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-stay-with-a-doctor-whose-practice-started-offering-reiki/599637/46 "2011-10-14T22:42:48Z")
Look at reiki being a profit centre for the patient. The difference between reiki and faith healing is that a reiki practitioner working out of a physician’s practice opens up the possibility of going after the physician’s deep pockets when the energy transference leads to emotional shock. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-stay-with-a-doctor-whose-practice-started-offering-reiki/599637/47 "2011-10-14T22:53:52Z")
I was probably a bit harsh in my previous post, in that a physician who you like and has been providing good evidence-based care should get a chance to explain why his/her practice is starting to incorporate woo (and what that could mean for your and its future). If I didn’t have a big history/attachment to a particular practice that started employing woo, I’d be out the door pronto. > [@kanicbird](#): > > Placebos have been shown to be effective using the scientific method and clinical trials. This is such a nonspecific claim as to be meaningless. What placebos, for what conditions, and by what criteria are they deemed “effective”? Reiki was studied in [a systematic review](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18410352) published in 2008, examining numerous trials and concluding that there’s insufficient evidence to support the use of reiki to treat _any_ medical condition. Over $3 million in U.S. taxpayers money has gone to study reiki in recent years, under the auspices of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Results of that work? According to Quackwatch, zilch (no demonstrated effectiveness for the conditions studied, or no report ever published (for whatever reason)). By the way, nurses can also be prone to embrace woo. Example: therapeutic touch (which has been called “reiki lite”), taught in some nursing programs and used in certain hospitals. Thanks but no thanks. Placebo therapy might be helpful in some instances. What needs to be asked includes cost, results as measured against other placebos, potential harm (including failure to utilize proven effective measures) and the likelihood of the woo in question being a gateway to adoption of additional forms of woo which begin to crowd out evidence-based medicine and encourage patients to believe that alt med must be OK\* since their own physician/medical practice is employing a form of it. \*“My doc is using reiki - hey maybe I should give Kevin Trudeau’s Cures They Don’t Want You To Know About a try.” ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-stay-with-a-doctor-whose-practice-started-offering-reiki/599637/48 "2011-10-14T23:07:58Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > That’s true. I very much believe in the healing power of the mind. However, when a practitioner of Reiki taught it to me at my school, she presented it as 100% legitimate. Now I don’t know if she believed what she was selling, but clearly she wanted US to believe it, and I resented that. And I would resent it if a doctor or therapist, or what have you tried to convince me that I was receiving healing energy from their hands. It’s insulting to my intelligence. > > As a contrast, I loved the guided imagery section of our class - we would all lie on mats on the floor and listen to soothing music while a calm voice walked us through calming imagery. Lying there, thinking about walks on the beach and picnics in the woods did a lot to relax me, and I could very much see how a person in chronic pain could be soothed through distraction, loss of muscle tension, ect. _That_ kind of mental healing, I could get behind. Being lied to/being asked to delude myself, not so much. Please don’t lump all alternative and complementary treatments together. Reiki is crap, but muscle relaxation techniques have been found to be effective with chronic pain and anxiety both. I am not surprised you like the guided imagery. It works! ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-stay-with-a-doctor-whose-practice-started-offering-reiki/599637/49 "2011-10-14T23:42:07Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > I was going to say I would leave no matter what, but if the doctor said something like this, I would consider staying. Quite the opposite, i would trust a guy who truly believed in it more than a scam artist. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-stay-with-a-doctor-whose-practice-started-offering-reiki/599637/50 "2011-10-15T02:02:47Z")
I don’t care how skilled and honest the doctor might be – if he invites a scam artist to practice with him, I can no longer trust him. I’m gone. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-stay-with-a-doctor-whose-practice-started-offering-reiki/599637.md?page=2)