People seeking Reiki should be treated with respect and listened to without pressure. Explain what a session includes, what it does not do, the cost and timing, and whether you propose any touch. Reiki is a spiritual practice, not counseling or medical treatment. Do not present counseling, NLP, or other training as part of Reiki unless you actually hold the relevant qualifications and are working within that separate role.
Be prepared for the agreed session and be clear about how to contact you, reschedule, or cancel. Do not promise healing, diagnose a concern, or claim that an emotional response is required. If someone needs help outside your role, encourage them to contact an appropriately qualified professional.
The Therapist-Client Relationship
Agree on boundaries before beginning. A recipient may choose no touch, decline any step, pause, or end the session at any time. Ask separately before each kind of touch and explain where your hands would go; a Reiki session does not require the recipient to remove clothing. Do not pressure anyone to return, buy more sessions, disclose personal details, or depend on you. Sexual contact or sexualized behavior has no place in a Reiki session.
Offer the same respect to people regardless of identity, background, or personal choices. Do not shame or pressure someone about health or lifestyle decisions. You can set practical boundaries for your space, including asking someone not to smoke or drink there. If a person is intoxicated, abusive, or threatening, pause or decline the session and arrange a safe next step.
Be candid about privacy: tell recipients whether you take notes, why you keep them, and who may see them. Do not promise confidentiality beyond the practices you can actually maintain. Keep Reiki and any separate professional service clearly distinguished.
Before the first session
A short conversation before booking prevents most misunderstandings. You might ask:
- What brings you to Reiki, and what would you like from the session?
- Have you had Reiki before? Is there anything about the last experience you want to repeat or avoid?
- Would you prefer sitting or lying down, and is there any position that is uncomfortable for you?
- Do you want touch, hands held above the body, or a mixture? Are there areas you want left alone?
- Is there anything in the room — scent, sound, light, temperature — that you need me to change?
- How would you like to be contacted, and may I keep a brief record of the session?
You do not need a medical history to offer Reiki. Ask only what you need to keep the session safe and comfortable, explain why you are asking, and do not press for details that are not relevant.
It is also fair to explain your own limits before booking: the length of a session, your fee and cancellation terms, whether you work from home, and what you will do if someone arrives unwell or intoxicated. Clear terms are kinder than improvisation at the door.
During the session
Explain each change before it happens: “I would like to move to your shoulder now; is that still comfortable?” A person may consent to one area and decline another, and a yes earlier in the session is not a yes for the rest of it. If someone becomes quiet, still or tearful, do not assume that either consent or distress has ended; check in with a simple question and give them time to answer.
Keep the recipient covered except for the area you have agreed to work with, and keep your hands still rather than stroking or pressing unless that is a separate technique you have agreed on. If you need to adjust your own position, say so. A practitioner who is comfortable and unhurried is easier to be around than one who is straining to hold a pose.
Ending the relationship
A recipient can stop working with you at any time, and you can decline or end a working relationship when it is not safe or appropriate. If you end it, do so plainly and without blame: explain what you can and cannot offer, settle any outstanding payment, and suggest another source of support if that is useful. Do not withdraw care punitively or use a client's dependence as leverage.
If someone makes a complaint, listen without becoming defensive, acknowledge what they experienced, and say what you will do next. A written complaints procedure is not required to be a good practitioner, but a clear way to raise a concern helps. Keep a factual note of the conversation and do not discuss the person's complaint with other clients.
When a boundary is crossed
Boundaries protect both people. If a recipient makes a sexual advance, refuses to leave, becomes aggressive, or repeatedly ignores agreed limits, end the session and ask them to leave. Have a plan for your own safety: a way to call for help, a room you can leave, and someone who knows where you are if you work alone. Do not try to manage a threatening situation through Reiki or through a therapeutic conversation.
If you realise that you have crossed a boundary, say so directly, apologise for the specific action, and correct it. A practitioner's honesty about a mistake is part of the respect the relationship depends on.
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