{"id":{"repo_id":"montana-tech","oai_identifier":"oai:scholarworks.umt.edu:etd-1047"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/montana-tech/oai:scholarworks.umt.edu:etd-1047","repository":{"repo_id":"montana-tech","name":"Montana Technology","base_url":"https://scholarworks.umt.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF REIKI PRACTITIONERS AND THEIR PERCEPTIONS OF REIKI AS IT RELATES TO THEIR PERSONAL HEALTH","abstract":"The purpose of this study was to understand the essence of becoming a Reiki practitioner and Reiki’s relationship to an individual’s personal health. The phenomenological research perspective utilized in this study allowed the data to speak for itself and represented the essence of Reiki and Reiki practitioners in Missoula, Montana. Ten Reiki practitioners were interviewed about their personal experience with Reiki. Interviewees were all volunteers, over the age of 18, who were trained in Reiki II or higher and had more than three years of experience practicing Reiki. Participants had practiced Reiki either on themselves or someone else regularly, which was defined as at least three times per week. Collection of the data was limited to participant disclosure of the phenomena to the researcher, and by memory recall of given events. Analysis of the interview transcripts produced comprehensive data from which several themes emerged. The themes that emerged were as follows: 1) Reasons for becoming a Practitioner, 2) Balance as Health, 3) Personal Growth, 4) Facilitator & Conduit, 5) Trust & Intuition, 6) Self-care, 7) Addressing Doubts and Validation, 8) Attunements and, 9) Sensations during a Reiki Session. These themes provided a context for examining health and healing outside the biomedical model. Reiki is grounded in Chinese medicine and provides an Eastern perspective to view health and medicine. Results of this study revealed that Reiki enhances the relationship between mind, body and spirit, and initiates a redefinition of health for practitioners. Results were consistent with previous research demonstrating a relationship between Reiki and decreased stress, anxiety, and increased coping skills. Consistent with the literature, results of this study illustrated that Reiki is an effective tool for self-care and primary prevention. Reiki is a health strategy that can be invoked by anyone, anywhere at any time. Reiki would be best modeled by Health Educators as a strategy for self-care and primary prevention in conjunction with Health Behavior theories such as the Health Belief Model. It is the hope of the researcher that through the application of Reiki, the shift in Western society from secondary and tertiary prevention to primary prevention and self-care will increase. Further research is suggested in the area of Reiki and self-care and healing practice.","abstract_html":"The purpose of this study was to understand the essence of becoming a Reiki practitioner and Reiki’s relationship to an individual’s personal health. The phenomenological research perspective utilized in this study allowed the data to speak for itself and represented the essence of Reiki and Reiki practitioners in Missoula, Montana. Ten Reiki practitioners were interviewed about their personal experience with Reiki. Interviewees were all volunteers, over the age of 18, who were trained in Reiki II or higher and had more than three years of experience practicing Reiki. Participants had practiced Reiki either on themselves or someone else regularly, which was defined as at least three times per week. Collection of the data was limited to participant disclosure of the phenomena to the researcher, and by memory recall of given events. Analysis of the interview transcripts produced comprehensive data from which several themes emerged. The themes that emerged were as follows: 1) Reasons for becoming a Practitioner, 2) Balance as Health, 3) Personal Growth, 4) Facilitator & Conduit, 5) Trust & Intuition, 6) Self-care, 7) Addressing Doubts and Validation, 8) Attunements and, 9) Sensations during a Reiki Session. These themes provided a context for examining health and healing outside the biomedical model. Reiki is grounded in Chinese medicine and provides an Eastern perspective to view health and medicine. Results of this study revealed that Reiki enhances the relationship between mind, body and spirit, and initiates a redefinition of health for practitioners. Results were consistent with previous research demonstrating a relationship between Reiki and decreased stress, anxiety, and increased coping skills. Consistent with the literature, results of this study illustrated that Reiki is an effective tool for self-care and primary prevention. Reiki is a health strategy that can be invoked by anyone, anywhere at any time. Reiki would be best modeled by Health Educators as a strategy for self-care and primary prevention in conjunction with Health Behavior theories such as the Health Belief Model. It is the hope of the researcher that through the application of Reiki, the shift in Western society from secondary and tertiary prevention to primary prevention and self-care will increase. Further research is suggested in the area of Reiki and self-care and healing practice.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hargrove, Tannis Mardece"],"institution":"University of Montana","degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2008,"date_issued":"2008-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2008-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:12:32Z","subjects":["Attunement","Complementary and Alternative Medicine","Health","Primary Prevention","Reiki","Self-Care"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/28","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hargrove, Tannis Mardece"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["University of Montana"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Attunement","Complementary and Alternative Medicine","Health","Primary Prevention","Reiki","Self-Care"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/28"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The purpose of this study was to understand the essence of becoming a Reiki practitioner and Reiki’s relationship to an individual’s personal health. The phenomenological research perspective utilized in this study allowed the data to speak for itself and represented the essence of Reiki and Reiki practitioners in Missoula, Montana. Ten Reiki practitioners were interviewed about their personal experience with Reiki. Interviewees were all volunteers, over the age of 18, who were trained in Reiki II or higher and had more than three years of experience practicing Reiki. Participants had practiced Reiki either on themselves or someone else regularly, which was defined as at least three times per week. Collection of the data was limited to participant disclosure of the phenomena to the researcher, and by memory recall of given events. Analysis of the interview transcripts produced comprehensive data from which several themes emerged. The themes that emerged were as follows: 1) Reasons for becoming a Practitioner, 2) Balance as Health, 3) Personal Growth, 4) Facilitator & Conduit, 5) Trust & Intuition, 6) Self-care, 7) Addressing Doubts and Validation, 8) Attunements and, 9) Sensations during a Reiki Session. These themes provided a context for examining health and healing outside the biomedical model. Reiki is grounded in Chinese medicine and provides an Eastern perspective to view health and medicine. Results of this study revealed that Reiki enhances the relationship between mind, body and spirit, and initiates a redefinition of health for practitioners. Results were consistent with previous research demonstrating a relationship between Reiki and decreased stress, anxiety, and increased coping skills. Consistent with the literature, results of this study illustrated that Reiki is an effective tool for self-care and primary prevention. Reiki is a health strategy that can be invoked by anyone, anywhere at any time. Reiki would be best modeled by Health Educators as a strategy for self-care and primary prevention in conjunction with Health Behavior theories such as the Health Belief Model. It is the hope of the researcher that through the application of Reiki, the shift in Western society from secondary and tertiary prevention to primary prevention and self-care will increase. Further research is suggested in the area of Reiki and self-care and healing practice."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF REIKI PRACTITIONERS AND THEIR PERCEPTIONS OF REIKI AS IT RELATES TO THEIR PERSONAL HEALTH"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Hargrove, Tannis Mardece"],"dc:description.abstract":["The purpose of this study was to understand the essence of becoming a Reiki practitioner and Reiki’s relationship to an individual’s personal health. The phenomenological research perspective utilized in this study allowed the data to speak for itself and represented the essence of Reiki and Reiki practitioners in Missoula, Montana. Ten Reiki practitioners were interviewed about their personal experience with Reiki. Interviewees were all volunteers, over the age of 18, who were trained in Reiki II or higher and had more than three years of experience practicing Reiki. Participants had practiced Reiki either on themselves or someone else regularly, which was defined as at least three times per week. Collection of the data was limited to participant disclosure of the phenomena to the researcher, and by memory recall of given events. Analysis of the interview transcripts produced comprehensive data from which several themes emerged. The themes that emerged were as follows: 1) Reasons for becoming a Practitioner, 2) Balance as Health, 3) Personal Growth, 4) Facilitator & Conduit, 5) Trust & Intuition, 6) Self-care, 7) Addressing Doubts and Validation, 8) Attunements and, 9) Sensations during a Reiki Session. These themes provided a context for examining health and healing outside the biomedical model. Reiki is grounded in Chinese medicine and provides an Eastern perspective to view health and medicine. Results of this study revealed that Reiki enhances the relationship between mind, body and spirit, and initiates a redefinition of health for practitioners. Results were consistent with previous research demonstrating a relationship between Reiki and decreased stress, anxiety, and increased coping skills. Consistent with the literature, results of this study illustrated that Reiki is an effective tool for self-care and primary prevention. Reiki is a health strategy that can be invoked by anyone, anywhere at any time. Reiki would be best modeled by Health Educators as a strategy for self-care and primary prevention in conjunction with Health Behavior theories such as the Health Belief Model. It is the hope of the researcher that through the application of Reiki, the shift in Western society from secondary and tertiary prevention to primary prevention and self-care will increase. Further research is suggested in the area of Reiki and self-care and healing practice."],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/28"],"dc:publisher":["University of Montana"],"dc:subject":["Attunement","Complementary and Alternative Medicine","Health","Primary Prevention","Reiki","Self-Care"],"dc:title":["A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF REIKI PRACTITIONERS AND THEIR PERCEPTIONS OF REIKI AS IT RELATES TO THEIR PERSONAL HEALTH"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:12:32Z"}