Wanderings' Wanderings

(The following is copyrighted by Kenneth J. Nelan and Janet Soldon and may not be reproduced without written permission of the author. To obtain permission, please visit http://www.sacredwandering.com/contact.html.  If you would like to purchase the book, “Being An Ethical Reiki Practitioner” you can order it through Amazon.  The ISBN number is: 978-0-557-22180-6)

The Ethical Practitioner

Okay you practitioners, it is your turn.  You have responsibility as well and your ethical actions, or lack thereof, can either put you in a great situation, or wind you up in jail.  The choice is yours.

Again, the following are just examples of ethical principles.  You should sit down and develop your own ethical guidelines for your own practice.

Power, Power, Who’s Got the Power?

Just for one second, walk over to your Reiki space.  Walk up to your Reiki table (or what ever you use) and just stand there for a moment.  Survey your space in all it’s finest.   Pretend you have a client on the table.  Look down at where your client lays, and stop.  At this moment, you are hovering over your client.  You are in a dominant position when you are standing over your client.  This is a position of power and if abused, can lead to all sorts of trouble.
This is the time you should be respecting your client the most and helping them to relax into the session.
Now, place your hands over the throat, or heart chakra area.  Look at what you are doing.  How are your hands placed?   When you are in this position, it can be looked upon as if you are choking them, or keeping them down on the table.  From a distance, it is as if you are forcing your client to lay on the table.  While everyone knows this is not the case, you still need to be aware of the possibility your client may have issues regarding being restrained.  Chances are you will never encounter a client who has a reaction, but better safe than sorry.
If you’ve never done so, get up on the tab

le yourself and see things from your client’s perspective.  Look around your space from their level.  Do things look great from a standing position, but not from your client’s position?  Fix it!  Is your heart beginning to race?  Think of how your client feels at this moment.  What can you do to make them more comfortable.  What would you do to make yourself more comfortable on your own table?
Serving your client, not yourself

It is important to serve your client’s needs and not your own.  This means being aware of what is going on in your own life and dealing with those issues as soon as they arise.  Are you having a difficult financial time?  That is just fine because here comes that client who can afford more than their fair share so maybe you’ll just charge them a few extra bucks right?  No one will know the difference.
Wrong!  You have just violated one of the most sacred principles of client / practitioner relationships and chances are you will never see that client ever again.

- In other words -  Separate your own issues from that of the client and treat everyone with the same dignity.  If you have a sliding scale, stick to it and don’t change it in mid-stream without first informing ALL of your clients.

In addition as an Energy practitioner, it is not up to you to decide what is best for the client.  Never force your energy on the client and never state what is going to be worked on during that session.  The practitioner should always be conscientious of the client’s needs and time frame.  Perhaps the client does not want to work on something particularly sensitive at that moment and would feel better if it were worked on at a later session.   There is a reason practitioners ask for the client’s intention at the beginning of a healing session.
A good practitioner will try to work themselves out of a job, in other words, empower the client, so not make them dependent on you.

Perceiving and Interpreting Perceptions Correctly

In order to perceive how our clients are, we use our own energy system.  Unprocessed emotional defenses and trauma will affect your own energy system, and limit your ability to perceive what is happening with your client.  You must therefore be aware of what is going on with yourself at all times, and if you are not balanced, or not feeling well, do not proceed with the treatment.
If there are certain conditions which you are finding in every one of your clients, then it is likely that you, rather than all of them, have a problem in that area.  On the other hand, if none of your clients ever have a problem with a particular chakra, it is likely that you have a problem there yourself and you are avoiding that area for yourself rather than your client.  Work with someone else as needed to become or remain emotionally, physically, and energy healthy.

Transference and Counter-transference

Some people are going to have, or develop positive feelings for you because you were able to help them, or conversely will develop negative feelings for you if you are unable to help them.  This is perfectly normal, but boundaries must be kept.  Do not allow your client to fall in love with you.  It is perfectly appropriate to suggest they begin seeing someone else if you feel a boundary has been crossed.
There are also times when the Energyworker or Reiki practitioner sometimes develops feelings, positive or negative, for the client.  Psychologists call these situations as “transference.”
If you as the practitioner feel loved by your client and begin to love them back that is called “counter-transference.”
Refer to the American Psychological Association‘s ethical guidelines1 to set appropriate boundaries with your clients.

Sanitation

You can never be too conscientious regarding the cleanliness your hands and your work area.  Always wash your hands, or sanitize them before you begin a treatment as germs can pass from one person to another very easily by touch.  Also, be aware of the state of your hands if you are moving from a person’s feet to their face.  Use a tissue when appropriate, or have hand sanitizer handy for just those moments.
There is another aspect to sanitation which you should consider.  When you wash your hands with soap and water, you are actually physically grounding yourself.  All of the water pipes in any house or business location will be grounded to the earth so that anything which comes in contact with that ground will be released.  Another reason to wash is to clean the energy field around your hands so always wash your hands at the end of your final  session.

Of course your work area should be clean, neat and inviting.  It should not be overly crowded, yet feel comforting and warm.
If you use linens, ideally you should change them after every client.  At the very least, the pillowcases should be changed for each and every client.  People sweat through their clothes, have animal hair on their clothes, and whole hosts of other things they carry with them from place to place.  Would you feel comfortable sleeping on the sheets your clients used?  If not, then don’t make your clients do the same thing!

Confidentiality

This is an area where many businesses, relationships, and personal responsibilities fail.  Confidentiality is perhaps one the of the most sensitive areas a practitioner can focus her or his attentions.
Any and all information obtained from the client before, during and/or after the session must be held in the strictest of confidences and never shared with anyone, even with permission from the client.  The only exception should be if you are told the client is going to hurt themselves, or someone else.  At that point you have an obligation to notify the authorities.  If applicable, a client must be informed of any legal limits of the breach of confidentiality.  For example, if a client shares with the practitioner that he or she has abused a child, that information must be shared with local authorities.
The only other exception would be if you are a Reiki Master who is conducting research (this will be covered later.)

Confidentiality is a primary responsibility for the practitioner.

If a practitioner presents a lecture, writes a paper or book, all identifying information about a client must be withheld or obfuscated unless the client has given written consent to the use their personal information.  Even then, names should never be used or should be disguised in such a way as to prevent others from knowing the client.
Think of it in these terms, would you want all of your sensitive information spread throughout your community?

Physical Boundaries

Never touch a client inappropriately.  Nothing else should have to be said about this particular concept.  It should be very clear.  Regardless of whether you are working on a male or female client, and regardless of whether the person is a close friend, partner, family member, or a regular client, you should never touch any sexual organ, or touch any person inappropriately.  If you do, be prepared to either be sued and lose everything you have, or be prepared to go to jail.

Along with all the above, re-read the clients section.  You should  be aware of everything the client will be expecting and are responsible for those ethical considerations as well.

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