Healing Touch for Reiki Practitioners. Here’s Why Healing Touch Might Be Your Next Step

Shared Ground: How Healing Touch and Reiki Are Similar

Before we get into the differences, it’s worth recognizing just how much Healing Touch and Reiki actually have in common. If you’re already a Reiki practitioner, you will likely find the transition into Healing Touch feels feels familiar and natural.

Here’s what both modalities share:

1. They work with the energy field and chakras

Both Healing Touch and Reiki work with the human biofield, chakras, and meridians. Each modality uses gentle, non-invasive techniques to support the natural flow of energy and restore balance.

2. Practitioners use their hands on or near the body

Whether it’s a Reiki symbol or a Healing Touch technique, both modalities involve placing the practitioner’s hands either lightly on the body or just above it. The intention is the same, to channel universal energy and support healing on physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels.

3. Heart-centered intention

Both Reiki and Healing Touch are grounded in compassion, presence, and connection. Practitioners aren’t “doing” the healing, they’re creating space for healing to happen. That presence, trust, and heart-led approach is central to both practices.

4. Evidence-based and recognized in healthcare

This surprises a lot of people — both modalities are considered forms of “biofield therapy” by the National Institutes of Health and are used in hospitals, clinics, and wellness centers around the world. While Healing Touch has a stronger formal presence in clinical settings (which we’ll explore in the next section), both have been studied and shown to reduce pain, anxiety, and stress.

So if you’re already practicing Reiki, Healing Touch isn’t going to feel like a foreign language. It’s more like learning a new dialect - one that might offer added clarity, confidence, and professional grounding for the work you already love.

The Key Differences: What Sets Healing Touch Apart

If Reiki gave you a beautiful introduction to energy healing, Healing Touch might be the structure, depth, and professional grounding you’re looking for next.

Here’s how the two modalities differ in ways that matter, especially if you’re looking to expand your skills or practice more professionally.

1. Treatment Approach: Intuitive vs. Intentional Sequence

Reiki sessions often follow a series of hand placements, with energy flowing where it’s needed. Symbols may be used, and much of the work is intuitive and spiritually guided. While some practitioners adapt based on what they sense, the format is usually consistent.

Healing Touch on the other hand, is applied using clinical principles. Practitioners are trained to assess the client’s energy system and choose from over 30 techniques based on the client’s needs and goals. There’s a strong focus on intention-setting, practitioner presence, and tailoring the session using a 10-step framework rooted in nursing care.

➡️ Key distinction: Reiki tends to flow in one direction while Healing Touch brings in energetic assessment, client input into healing intentions, clinical evaluation, and more technique variation and sequencing.

2. Training Structure: Variable vs. Standardized Curriculum

Reiki training varies widely depending on the teacher and lineage. Some classes are one day long; others span a weekend. There are typically three levels (Reiki I, II, and Master), but how and what is taught can differ significantly from one teacher to another.

Healing Touch is taught using a standardized, five-level curriculum created by a nurse (Janet Mentgen) and includes 108 hours of instruction that is taught by certified instructors that meet rigorous, clearly defined standards.

➡️ If you value structure: If you love learning in a structured, step-by-step way with clear outcomes, Healing Touch offers that consistency.

3. Professional Recognition: Personal Growth vs. Clinical Credibility

Reiki is often practiced informally or in private settings. Some practitioners incorporate it into other wellness services or offer sessions independently. However, because training isn’t standardized or accredited, it’s not always recognized in clinical or hospital settings.

Healing Touch is designed with professionalism in mind. The program is accredited by the American Nurses Credentialing Center and offers a board-certified practitioner credential. There’s a defined Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice for students and practitioners, making it easier to integrate into healthcare environments or wellness teams.

➡️Professional edge: Healing Touch gives you a recognized credential that can enhance your credibility, especially if you work with clients in clinical or formal wellness spaces.

4. Spiritual Framework: Symbols vs. Secular Energy Work

Reiki is widely considered a spiritual practice with roots originating in Japan. It uses sacred symbols and the concept of attunement from a Reiki Master. For many, this spiritual depth is part of Reiki’s power. For others, it can feel unclear or overly mystical.

Healing Touch is not tied to any religious or spiritual tradition. It focuses on intentionality, compassion, and universal energy, making it more neutral and often more approachable for those in traditional healthcare environments or from diverse belief systems.

➡️ Spiritual vs. secular:  Reiki tends to feel more spiritual. Healing Touch offers a more inclusive, secular approach to energy work that can feel more grounded for some practitioners.

Which One Is Right for You?

Let’s be clear, this isn’t about choosing a “better” modality. It’s about choosing the one that aligns with your current goals, values, and how you want to grow as a healer or professional.

If you already practice Reiki, here’s how to think through whether adding Healing Touch makes sense for you.

Choose Healing Touch if...

• You want more structure in your energy healing practice.
  Healing Touch provides a clinical framework and clear techniques for different energy issues. If you’ve ever wanted a step-by-step process for assessing and supporting a client’s energy system, this modality offers that clarity.
• You want to work in a professional or healthcare environment.
  Healing Touch’s certification and accreditation make it easier to bring energy work into hospitals, clinics, or formal wellness practices. If you’ve struggled to explain Reiki to your peers, Healing Touch gives you the credibility and vocabulary to do so.
• You’re looking to deepen your skills and confidence.
  Many Reiki practitioners say that Healing Touch gave them “missing pieces” - like how to assess chakras, work with energetic boundaries, or tailor treatments to specific conditions. It doesn’t replace Reiki, it adds to your toolbox.
• You want a more secular or science-supported modality.
  If you’ve felt tension between Reiki and your personal or professional beliefs, or if you’ve encountered resistance from others, Healing Touch’s grounded, non-spiritual approach may feel like a better fit.

Stick with Reiki (or start there) if...

• You’re drawn to the spiritual aspects of energy healing.
  If the symbols, attunements, and energetic lineage of Reiki resonate with you deeply, that’s a beautiful path. For many, Reiki feels like home.
• You prefer an intuitive, flowing style of practice.
  Reiki is more about holding space and letting energy move where it’s needed, without needing to “do” much. If that resonates with how you like to work, Reiki offers freedom and fluidity.

Or… do both.

This is the path many Healing Touch students have taken. They didn’t leave Reiki behind, they added Healing Touch to it. The structure and professional credibility of Healing Touch complemented the spiritual and intuitive strengths of Reiki. And that combo made them more confident, more versatile, and more empowered as healers.

Common Misconceptions Cleared Up

When people first hear about Healing Touch, especially if they’re already trained in Reiki, a few common thoughts tend to come up. Let’s clear the air.

❌ “Isn’t Healing Touch just another form of Reiki?”

Not quite. While they’re both biofield energy healing modalities and share a lot of core values (working with the energy field, using hands-on or near-body techniques, heart-centered intention), Healing Touch has its own distinct roots. It was developed independently by a nurse, has its own techniques, its own structure, and a strong clinical and educational framework that sets it apart.

❌ “If I already know Reiki, will Healing Touch be too repetitive?”

Most Reiki-trained students say Healing Touch filled in the gaps, especially around how to assess energy fields, choose appropriate techniques, and document sessions more professionally. While there are overlaps, Healing Touch often adds the structure, language, and clarity that Reiki training doesn’t always cover.

❌ “Do I have to be a nurse or work in healthcare to learn Healing Touch?”

Not at all. Healing Touch is open to anyone with a desire to learn. While many nurses and healthcare professionals use it, just as many students come from non-medical backgrounds - coaches, caregivers, massage therapists, holistic practitioners, or just individuals committed to healing themselves and others.

❌ “Will learning Healing Touch mean I have to let go of Reiki?”

Absolutely not. Healing Touch doesn’t compete with Reiki, it complements it. In fact, many practitioners use both, choosing techniques from either based on the client, the setting, or the intention. Learning Healing Touch doesn’t mean walking away from Reiki, it just means broadening your range and deepening your confidence.

Final Thoughts

If Reiki opened the door to energy healing for you, Healing Touch might be the step that helps you walk through it, with more clarity, confidence, and purpose.

You don’t have to choose between them. In fact, what you’ve already learned through Reiki may become even more powerful when you layer in the structure, credibility, and depth of Healing Touch.

Whether you’re looking to grow your personal practice, integrate energy work into a professional or healthcare setting, or simply feel more grounded and confident in your abilities - you deserve to feel supported on that journey.