Practitioners do not consider themselves vets, so would never call the animals "patients" and try to diagnose the health problem. Second, Reiki people are not "healers," but rather, "practitioners". This is an important distinction. Practitioners first ask permission of the "client" or animal, asking if he or she would like to participate in a Reiki session. Then practitioners set their intention that they are open to facilitate the flow of energy for the highest good of the animal, for whatever the animal is open to receive, or nothing at all (it is completely up to the animal to receive the energy). The healing process is completely up to the animal and Reiki, the practitioner simply facilitates the energy flow.

Practitioners, as mentioned above, do not diagnose, and in fact, do not need to know what the health issue is. The nature of the energy is that it creates and supports energetic balance as a whole for the animal (in other words, on all levels: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual). In a sick animal, the illness would be considered, energetically, to be an imbalance of some kind. By setting one's intention and then sitting in a meditative Reiki space, the practitioner simply creates a possibility of "rebalancing", that the animal then either chooses or doesn't choose to take part in.

There is no manipulation of energy beyond setting the mental intention to become an empty vessel through which Reiki can flow to the animal, if the animal is accepting. A practitioner don't "send" the energy here or there, or "heal" this or that problem. We simply create a space where healing possibilities exist.


Misconception 2: Sessions should not last longer than 20 minutes, as it might exhaust the animal or cause lethargy, vomiting or other harm.

The animal is always in charge of the length of treatment, and will tell the practitioner when they are finished by moving away and becoming active again after a restful state. This being said, for most animals, the average length of treatment is 30 - 60 minutes. The energy cannot exhaust the animal, as you can't "overdo" Reiki: once again, Reiki works only to support energetic balance within the animal, in whatever amount each unique animal is open to. Reiki is nothing you can force on the animal. Reiki can never do harm, including causing something like lethargy and/or vomiting.