Accredited Reiki Courses in the UK
This article is to help those looking for Reiki courses in the UK find the right courses. The fact you are reading an article with the title of Accredited Reiki Courses in the UK suggests are looking for quality Reiki training Courses and believe looking for those that are accredited is a good idea, makes sense, right?
A common question people ask is: Are Reiki courses Accredited in the UK? Overall they are not, however, a small percentage of Reiki course providers/teachers have gone through a process to create additional course content, training, and mentoring to achieve an Accredited Reiki Course title. I offer an Accredited Reiki course. I can help you achieve the Reiki Council Verified Practitioner Award & meet the Complimentary and Natural Health Care Council (CNHC) accredited register requirements through The Jikiden Reiki UK Association’s (JRUKA)- Professional Practitioner Programme, however rather than just promote the merits of this course that I offer I want to deepen your understanding of this topic to help you the right Reiki training course for you.
To start with when it comes to all Accredited Reiki Courses, you need to be aware of a couple of points:
You do not need to have completed an Accredited Reiki course to become a professional Reiki practitioner in the UK. In the UK you need to have completed Shoden and Okuden level Reiki training (termed level 1 and 2 in Western approaches to Reiki). As that is what you need to get insured to do Reiki treatments with the public. In reality, only a small percentage of Reiki professionals are accredited. It can be a good thing to do, but it is not a requirement. It is however likely to be more advantageous, or even in some settings preferred/required if you want to work in some hospitals, hospices, or health care settings.
Accreditation has little to do with the accuracy of the Reiki training you will receive. Its focus is on best practices in how you interact with clients, deliver Reiki treatment sessions, and conform to the relevant regulations in place in the UK.
Accreditation is about the course provider fulfilling national occupational standards and having a process to take a candidate/student through a course that fulfills requirements of training hours, recording experience delivering Reiki treatments, accumulating hours of self-treatment, being observed delivering consultations and Reiki treatments, case studies, as well as a written exam at the end. So is focused on understanding professional boundaries and regulations relating to delivering Reiki to the public from a professional standards, best practice view in both a professional and voluntary capacity.
The actual Reiki training bit is not the focus. Nuts right? It took me a bit to get my head around this. With regards to Reiki, it is mainly a case of doing what your Reiki training taught you. As long as a few basic requirements are met from your Reiki training course provider it ticks that box.
Think of Accreditation as being about professionalism in Reiki. The idea is to ensure a standard of professionalism, minimum therapy experience, and competence in the therapy you deliver to the public.
Accreditation could be thought of as providing a standard in public or organizational confidence that you are capable of delivering your Reiki sessions in environments like hospitals, and hospices, with the public in a professional manner, ensuring your awareness of key regulations and professional boundaries of Reiki treatments with the public.
This is not a bad thing at all, as it supports the public perception of Reiki in a professional light. Possibly providing more opportunities in more healthcare settings. Mostly voluntary, but some professional.
A problem I see is people looking towards Accredited Reiki courses, as an indication that the Reiki Training Course (the most important bit) is accurate and complete. This is not the case.
As I said before the accreditation process for a Reiki course would not be able to determine authentic Reiki training over approaches to Reiki that had misunderstandings and missing parts, it’s just not what it is looking at.
My view is to find the Reiki course that best fits what you are looking for. Accreditation second. I would however say it's safe to say teachers who offer accredited courses value professionalism, and work to best practice, or they would not bother going through the process of getting their course accredited, so they do tend to offer a good quality in what they deliver. My question is always about what teachers are teaching in their Reiki courses to begin with. Have a look at my article Finding the Right Reiki Course and Teacher for help.
Pretty much all Accredited Reiki course providers would be delivering Western Reiki, so first determine if you are looking for more authentic Japanese teachings or approaches to Reiki that have moved away from the original. See my article Jikiden Reiki and Western Reiki, What’s the Difference? Luckily now through the JRUKA Professional Practitioner Programme, I can offer the best of both worlds of authentic Reiki training and Accreditation.
You tend to see Reiki teachers who teach Accredited Reiki courses sign students up to the complete process, which is at least 9 months in duration. So, you start with 3-4 days of Reiki training, then you move into what I class as the Accreditation phase, where you study likely a manual on regulations and best practices, start building records of Reiki treatment hours, attend an in-person 1-day workshop on topics of professional best practice, then start the observations where a professional observes you delivering consultation and delivering a Reiki treatment against a standard criterion and collect case-studies. This continues until all elements have successfully been completed over months. I would suggest viewing Accreditation as a 2-step process. In the common approach above you move through both parts of the process from the start.
There is however another way you can complete an accredited course, which is the way we have set it up in the Jikiden Reiki UK Association (JRUKA). You can take the Jikiden Reiki training Courses, and then at a future time, you can join the Professional Practitioner Programme, where you then take the Accredited course elements. The beauty of the way we set this up is that we can accept your Jikiden Reiki training, with any authorized Jikiden Reiki teacher as ‘part 1’ of your accredited course journey (as all Jikiden Reiki teachers teach the same content). So, you for example can take Jikiden Reiki training then become a member of the Jikiden Reiki UK Association (JRUKA) and join the Professional Practitioner Programme (the Accredited Course programme) at a later date. At this time there are a couple of us in the UK that can support you through the 2nd part, the accreditation course. However, any Jikiden Reiki teacher can take you through the 1st bit, the Reiki training.
So, How long is an Accredited Reiki Course? The minimum duration to complete an accredited course is 9 months from when you took the Reiki training course element in the UK. This is more about having a minimum duration of experience as a trained Reiki practitioner. However many do take longer, it depends on how long it takes you to move through the requirements and accumulate the required treatment experience hours.
How Much Does an Accredited Reiki Course Cost? This depends, as it has 2 parts, the Reiki training part, the Reiki training courses Shoden and Okuden (or level 1 and 2) vary quite widely as what teachers teach is very different as a broad idea expect £500. The Cost of the Accreditation process (part 2) is usually around the same all in at most, So if you are taking an Accredited course that has the Reiki course built in you are looking at around the £1,000 mark as a total investment. In the Reiki training and Accreditation together. Some might be a bit cheaper, but the quality of the Reiki course is the most important element, so cheap is not always the best. Either way can get you to the point of having completed an Accredited Reiki course. The first is likely to be a larger investment at the start. The second could allow spreading out of the investment, dependent on the time frame you want to work to.
Where to Look for Accredited Bodies. One thing to consider is if a course is claiming it is accredited. Check who with. With any complementary therapy in the UK, the one that matters is the Complimentary and Natural Health Care Council (CNHC). At the time of writing this article, there are just under 50 Reiki teachers in the UK who can support you through an Accredited Reiki course that they recognize. This tends to be the organization that medical professionals would look towards. Once you have completed a CNHC-approved Accredited Reiki Course, you can apply to become a registrant of the CNHC Accredited Register, which is kind of the aim of all this. Another important point to consider is if a Reiki course is an online course(the Reiki training) and accredited I would rule it out immediately, as the Reiki training would be compromised. To understand why see my article Are online reiki courses a Good Idea? Some professional associations may also offer a way to achieve accreditation at a later date in another process, so there should be a way to get there whichever way you start your Reiki training journey.
Which Reiki Courses are Accredited? You can look into the CNHC for more info. Be aware its focus is professional best practice for the protection of the public and not that well placed to help practitioners succeed, just be aware of that. Registration will also cost you around £70 every year (optional if you want to join that register). For more information on the Accredited Reiki course I deliver see my Accredited Reiki Course page.
List of Accredited Reiki Courses in the UK. If you want to look at a wider selection in the UK this link takes you to the list of CNHC Accredited Course providers Another useful place to look is the Reiki Council website list for course providers delivering verified courses (term for Accredited courses) Reiki Council Verified Course Providers.
Certified Reiki Courses or Accredited Reiki Courses. It is also worth questioning the weight we give to accreditation itself. You may also come across the term Certified Reiki Courses. For example, I teach Jikiden Reiki, so if you take Jikiden Reiki training courses with me (or any other authorized Jikiden Reiki teacher) your training is certified with the Jikiden Reiki Institute in Japan. I might suggest that would be a more important, or a higher indicator of the quality and authenticity of your Reiki training than achieving a level of compliance to other standards. So, if you come across the term certified, consider- who with? Maybe think of certified as who the Reiki training is recognized with and accredited as the recognition of both the Reiki and additional professional/ best practice training for UK regulations has met a set standard.
Having gone through the process of creating an Accredited Reiki course, as the lead on the creation of the Jikiden Reiki UK Association Professional Practitioner Programme, I do think it is a very useful thing to complete an accredited Reiki course, as it does cover all those other best practice topics you would want to know as a practitioner working with the public, looking at topics such as advertising standards, and what you can and can’t claim you can help with Reiki, how to deliver pre- appointment consultations, key documents and treatment records as well as key regulations you need to know etc. You also get guidance from a teacher/assessor as well, all helpful things.
Most tend to look towards Accredited Reiki courses if they are looking to become a professional Reiki practitioner or want the highest quality or standards of Reiki training. Be aware Accreditation Course content deals with working professionally. It will not offer that much in terms of helping you build a successful Reiki business, as it is not designed for that purpose. I have however created a Reiki business course that is designed for that specific purpose. If you want help with the business side of being a Reiki practitioner, take a look at my Reiki Business courses, my comprehensive home study Reiki business course, and a Reiki Marketing Course, along with other resources to help you succeed.
In all this Remember:
The key requirement of your Reiki course selection should be the accuracy of the Reiki training itself, independent of the fact it is or is not an Accredited course.
I would suggest the following order of things if you are looking to become a Reiki professional
1. Get the right Reiki Training in the first place! Jikiden Reiki Training Courses. (part 1 of the process). Also, if you want to be a Reiki professional then get my home-study Reiki business & marketing courses for UK Reiki Practitioners.
2. Join the JRUKA and sign up for the Professional Practitioner Programme (part 2 of the process- the Accredited Reiki Course).
See Shaun’s Accredited Reiki Course page.
I am mainly known nowadays for my work with Reiki, as a specialist in authentic Japanese Reiki. I am an experienced, Reiki teacher and practitioner with a proven track record of results. I offer Jikiden Reiki training courses, promoting authentic Japanese Reiki teachings. I am based in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, in the UK. I have a background in coaching and training in the areas of exercise coaching, holistic lifestyle, fitness, and performance coaching. I also have a BSc.(Hons) degree in Sport and Exercise Science, for more information visit: www.shaunmckeown.com
The information contained above is provided for information purposes only. The contents of this article are not intended to amount to advice and you should not rely on any of the contents of this article. Professional advice should be obtained before taking or refraining from taking any action as a result of the contents of this article. Shaun Mckeown, disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on any of the contents of this article.