Reiki as a Strategy for Reducing Burnout in Community Mental Health Clinicians

Clinicians working in community mental health clinics are at high risk for burnout. Burnout is a problem involving emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment. Reiki is a holistic biofield energy therapy beneficial for reducing stress. The purpose of this study was to determine if 30-minutes of healing touch could reduce burnout in community mental health clinicians. This quantitative study utilized a cross-over design to explore the efficacy of Reiki versus sham-Reiki, a pseudo treatment designed to mimic true Reiki, as a means to reduce symptoms of burnout in community mental health clinicians. The Maslach Burnout Inventory - Human Services Survey and several other measures were administered before and after the intervention phases throughout the study. The results suggest that hands-on interventions are beneficial in reducing stress for community mental health clinicians and that Reiki has a positive effect greater than relaxing touch alone. The findings show that Reiki reduces burnout in community mental health clinicians