Table 3.

Themes

Themes	Definition	Excerpts
Feeling Better	Feeling better than before the Reiki session	One mother stated, “she [child] said, ‘I feel a lot better, I feel different.’”
Really Relaxed	Child felt very relaxed after the Reiki session	One child said, “I felt really relaxed.” Her mother separately affirmed her child’s statement, “…she found it very relaxing.” “she was, like, movin’ like she was more relaxed”
Not Hurting That Bad	Child had a more tolerable level of pain after the Reiki session	One mother commented that her child “… has been using a lot less pain medicine the last couple days.”
Calmed Me Down	Child felt calmer after the Reiki session	One mother of a non-verbal child noticed that her child “… just changed. He just got really serene.”
Happier	Child felt happier after the Reiki session	One girl stated, “I feel more happy like, after [and] for the next couple days” and her mother confirmed this by stating, “oh she’s been in a much better mood. Happier … smiling more.” One mother stated, “he was just kinda like looking down and smiling.”
Heats Me Up	Child felt warmer after the Reiki session	One child said, “It’s warm … if I’m cold, it kind of heats me up.”
Hard to Judge	Parents found the difference (if any) hard to judge after the Reiki session	One mother stated, “I really didn’t see much of a response, but at the same time she wasn’t in pain or anxiety at the time.” “I think that if it were in the hospital when she was in for like, transplant, her pain was so bad, her anxiety, I think she would have benefited from it then, …, but with her not having pain right now I think it’s hard for me to judge the effectiveness of it.”
Still Going On	Parents and children felt that the changes from the first Reiki session lasted until the second session	“For the rest of the day I feel a whole lot better than I did before.” When her mother was asked how long the effects lasted, she said the effects were “still going on.” One child said that the effects lasted “for the next couple days.”