About Libby Barnett
LIBBY BARNETT, MSW, Reiki Master of Masters, is the longest practicing Reiki Master Teacher on the East Coast.
She has taught over 14,000 people and co-authored Reiki Energy Medicine, Bringing Healing Touch into Home, Hospital, and Hospice which is highly acclaimed for integrating Reiki with conventional medicine. It has sold over 80,000 copies in five languages and is often used as a textbook for nursing students.
Libby learned Reiki in 1979 from John Harvey Gray. John was one of the original 22 teachers taught by the Reiki Grandmaster, Hawayo Takata. Many refer to Libby as one of the carriers of the Reiki oral tradition — a title which can be applied to only a few Reiki Master Teachers.
Because of Libby’s connection with the early teachers, she is passionate about honoring the Reiki lineage. Her love of Reiki fueled her trip to Kyoto, Japan in 1999 to explore the evolution of Reiki through its original founder and teacher, Dr. Mikeo Usui. This trip included climbing Mount Kurama where Dr. Usui fasted and meditated for 21 days, integrating the healing teachings of ancient texts.
As a Reiki Master of Masters, Libby is able to teach you all levels of Reiki, beginning with Reiki I to the final level of teaching others to be Reiki Masters. She provides Reiki practitioner and teacher certification classes.
Libby is dedicated to teaching this ancient, sacred healing art to promote health and conscious living on the planet.
My mission statement:
Creating peace on the planet one heart at a time.
The heart expanding experience of learning and practicing Reiki contributes to more peace and love on the planet. As Byron Katie says: “There will be peace on the planet when there’s peace in every heart.”
My passion is to empower people to soothe and comfort, heal, and grow and evolve themselves and others with Reiki.
And, in addition to learning this highly effective and yet exquisitely simple technique, my intention is that people connect more deeply with their authentic self and inner wisdom.
Education and Traditional Usui Reiki Training
Libby received her BS from Ohio Wesleyan University, 1965, and her MSW from Simmons School of Social Work, 1969. She finds her counseling skills and 40 years of Reiki practice complement her teaching of Reiki. Her experience as a medical social worker at Massachusetts General Hospital provides a traditional foundation for her work.
In 1973, Mrs. Takata brought Reiki to the United States teaching Reiki classes in California. She died in 1980, having trained 22 Reiki Masters, including John Harvey Gray. Libby learned Reiki in 1979 from John as well as Reiki II and assisted with many of John’s classes for 6 years.
Barbara Lincoln McCullough was also one of the first twenty-two Reiki Masters trained by Mrs. Takata. Barbara trained Judy-Carol Stewart of Houston, Texas as the 35th Reiki Master in 1985. Judy-Carol trained Libby as a Reiki Master in 1989.
Teaching Experience
Libby is currently teaching oncology nurses at Dana Farber Cancer Institute where she helped launch a Reiki volunteer program to provide Reiki to patients during chemo. For several years Libby has provided Reiki training to both volunteers and nurses at Brigham and Women’s Hospital as well as Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.
For over 15 years, Libby has been teaching Reiki classes twice a year at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. She recently participated in a Reiki presentation to Harvard Medical School’s Osher Integrative Grand Rounds.
Libby has taught Reiki to over 14,000 people nationwide, including health care professionals at many hospital and hospice organizations including: Massachusetts General, Children’s (Boston), Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Spaulding Rehabilitation, Brigham and Women’s, Dartmouth Health, Beth Israel Lahey Health, Southern New Hampshire Medical System, and New York Presbyterian Hospital.
Libby has taught Reiki at Harvard, Tufts, and Brown medical schools and to over 100 students at Yale University School of Nursing. For 6 years, Libby conducted Reiki classes at the University of Maryland School of Social Work.
Libby also served as a preceptor for the AHNA Certificate Program in Holistic Nursing and created a Reiki segment for the PBS nationally televised series, “Body and Soul”. For 4 years, Libby presented Reiki at the annual conference of the National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine in Hilton Head, SC.