The Uses of Reiki in Medicine

Reiki master and Australian qualified pharmacist Farida Abou Khizam presented a lecture, “Health Benefits and Uses of Reiki in Medicine,” to an audience of over 130 students in the Van Dyck Amphitheater of the Faculty of Health Sciences on January 21. Reiki is defined as a biofield medicine by the US National Institute of Health (NIH).

The aim of the lecture was to demonstrate how Reiki is being employed by overseas doctors and nurses as an effective form of hospital treatment for a wide range of ailments and conditions. These include stress reduction, cancer, AIDS, Alzheimer’s disease, palliative care, emotional issues, low immunity, post-operative recovery, pregnancy, drug addiction (including smoking), wound healing, nurse and carer burnout, high blood pressure, pain relief, fatigue, and joint disease.

Abou Khizam supported her research by presenting studies on Reiki by the NIH and various esteemed hospitals and universities. She also showed how hospitals such as Johns Hopkins, the Harvard University Cancer Center, the New York Presbyterian Hospital, and the Hartford Hospital, among many others in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia, have an integrative medicine department. These departments work to incorporate Reiki and other holistic therapies as standard hospital treatments for patients—treating the whole person (mind, body, and soul)—not just the physical body. This approach is of great relevance to medicine since stress is a major cause of disease. As cardiologist Dr.Mehet Oz, nominated as American Doctor of 2007, says, “Energy medicine is the new frontier in medicine.” And indeed, says Abou Khizam, harnessing the endogenous energy inside our powerful and capable bodies empowers our healing and brings balance where there is disease and imbalance.

Farida Abou Khizam practices and teaches Reiki at the AUB Charles Hostler Center by appointment. She can be contacted on 01-383293 or at fkhizam@hotmail.com.