How to choose an energy healer

How do you choose an energy healer?

Start with what you want from the experience. If you are looking for a quiet, contemplative practice, or you are curious about a particular tradition such as Reiki or Andean energy work, look for someone trained in that tradition who can explain it plainly. If you are looking for help with a health or mental health problem, begin with a doctor or licensed therapist; energy work is a complementary practice, not a treatment for any condition.

Then ask questions. The University of Minnesota's Taking Charge resource points out that Reiki is not a standardized practice, and the title Reiki master alone does not tell you what training someone has had. The same is true across energy healing. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) suggests choosing any complementary practitioner with the same care you would use for a primary care provider.

What should you ask about training and lineage?

Energy traditions pass from teacher to student, so lineage matters to practitioners. Good questions include:

• What tradition do you practice, and who did you train with? For Reiki, which lineage and which levels of attunement?
• How long was the training, and was it in person? Did it include supervised practice?
• Do you have any licensed health credentials, and do you keep them separate from your energy work?
• What do you believe your work can and cannot do?
• Are you willing to work alongside my doctor or therapist, as NCCIH recommends asking?
• What does a session cost, how long is it, and is there any commitment to multiple sessions?

What are the red flags?

NCCIH warns consumers to be skeptical of language such as miracle, breakthrough or secret, and of anything that sounds too good to be true. In energy healing, these warning signs are the ones to take seriously:

• Claims to treat, reverse or remove an illness, including cancer, depression, anxiety or trauma, or to replace medication or therapy.
• Advice to stop or delay medical or psychological treatment, or to hide the sessions from your doctor.
• Diagnosing you, telling you what is wrong with your organs, or telling you frightening things about your energy that only more sessions can fix.
• Pressure to prepay for large packages, buy products, or commit to a long course before you have had a single session.
• Touch that has not been explained and agreed to, any touch to the chest, groin or buttocks, or any request to undress.
• Discouraging you from asking questions, from reading about the practice, or from leaving.

How should consent and touch work?

Many energy practices, including Reiki, can be done with light touch or with the hands held just above the body. Before a session, a practitioner should explain where they will place their hands and ask what you are comfortable with. You can choose hands-off work from the start.

Consent continues during the session. You can ask the practitioner to move their hands, stop touching you, or end the session at any time, and a good practitioner will do so without argument or hurt feelings. You remain clothed throughout. If a boundary is crossed, you are entitled to leave, and to report conduct to any licensing board that covers the practitioner's other credentials.

The page on what happens in a Reiki session describes what normal practice looks like, which makes departures from it easier to spot.

What if the practitioner is also a therapist?

Some practitioners, including Laura Bass, are psychotherapists who also have complementary trainings. In that case, ask how the two are kept apart. Laura keeps psychotherapy and complementary work as separate pathways: complementary work is described on its own pages, is not billed as psychotherapy, and is never brought into a therapy session unless a client asks for it.

That separation protects you. It means you always know which kind of service you are receiving and what it is for. If you want to know which complementary practices Laura offers, ask Laura directly, and she will tell you what she offers and what she does not.

Keep your other care in the loop

NCCIH recommends telling all of your health care providers about any complementary approaches you use, and never using an unproven practice as a reason to postpone seeing a provider. If you are in crisis, energy work is not the right support: call 911 in an emergency, or call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

Common questions