Reiki versus Fakey | A Clinical Trial on Chronic Pain with Harvard and the University of Utah
Phenomena Podcast: The Science & Stories of Energy HealingShow Notes
Rick Axelson spent his career teaching research methods at medical colleges. He also spent decades suffering from debilitating migraines that even his team at the Mayo Clinic couldn't resolve. Then he tried one session of Reiki with a practitioner named Natalie Dyer. Forty-five minutes. And his migraines have never come back.
That story on its own might be easy for some to dismiss. But new research from the University of Utah and Harvard—the most comprehensive study of its kind ever conducted—sheds new light on the possibilities of Reiki for chronic pain. What they found in patients with chronic knee pain matched the effectiveness of treatments medicine already accepts, like opioids. Lead researcher Dr. Adam Hanley puts it simply: he didn't expect to see anything. Now he's scrambling to understand what happened.
And there's one more thing about Natalie Dyer that changes this story in a way that is fascinating. She’s not just a healer, she’s also a neuroscientist.
Produced by Sounds True Studios. Music composed by Dan Baboulene.
More from Phenomena Podcast: The Science & Stories of Energy Healing
What role could energy healing play in cancer care? Oncologist Dr. Santosh Rao shares his firsthand experiences with energy healing and what they’ve taught him about its potential role in cancer care. From surprising patient experiences to the science still waiting to be uncovered, Dr. Rao explores what it could take to bring biofield therapies further into mainstream medicine.
What is the “energy” in energy healing? Every healer in this series uses the word. Every patient reaches for it. Ancient traditions built entire systems around it. But what is it — biologically, physically, measurably — and how does it move through the body to heal?
What actually happens between a healer and the person they're healing?
What happens when traditional medicine leaves veterans behind? In this episode of Phenomena, host Ivy Ross dives into the intersection of PTSD, military research, and energy healing. We share the moving story of Ron, a 79-year-old Vietnam veteran who spent seven years battling debilitating trauma following ICU delirium—until a single session with intuitive healer Maggie McIlvaine changed everything.
What if healing isn't something that happens to you — but something you're always doing for yourself?