The Distant Treatment Option - by Kate Jones of the TRA 'Return to Work team'

The Distant Treatment Option

  You may feel that you are not able to take on all the infection control precautions that will be required for practitioners returning to face to face treatments, or you may not have a suitable treatment space – for example if you offer treatments in a room inside your home.  It is also possible that you or someone in your family is at risk.  In these situations, while you may need the income there is no problem about waiting longer before you go back to in person treatments.

Reiki offers us an option that many other hands on treatments do not: distant treatment.  There are many options with distant treatment that you may wish to explore, helping to keep you, your clients and your family safe while also giving you some income.  If you have clients who already know you and are asking for treatments you can simply arrange a time and send them Reiki.   You could also offer an enhanced service by talking with them on the phone before and possibly after the treatment – to find out how they are that day and identify an intention for the Reiki treatment and to gather feedback about their experience afterwards.  One suggestion is to either let them call you back or to wait for a while after the treatment in case they have gone to sleep.

Another option would be to do a distant treatment using online conferencing, such as Zoom, Skype or other service.  You could then have a consultation similar to one you would have in person then send the Reiki treatment while remaining present with them online.  This allows them to be aware of what you are doing (you can turn off your camera while you draw the symbols if your practice is to keep them sacred) and they can comment/give feedback during the treatment.  This method may be useful for people who have not received Reiki before or are new to distant treatment.

Many people do not make a charge for distant treatment, but it is appropriate to do so if you are a public/professional practitioner.  You can decide for yourself how much this needs to be, but take into account your expertise in being able to send distant treatment, your time and the value of the treatment to the person you are sending to.  Remember this is a very safe option for everyone involved and can include those who have Covid-19 and their immediate circle.  It might be a good service to offer if people are having to self-isolate.

Kate Jones