Do You Need a License for Reiki in Florida?

Florida's Board of Massage Therapy answers this directly in its FAQ. It says a massage therapist license is required to practice Reiki, because Reiki falls under the definition of massage. It adds that Florida law neither licenses Reiki practitioners separately nor exempts them from holding a massage therapist license to receive compensation.

The statute defines massage as manipulation of the soft tissues with the hand, foot, knee, arm or elbow, and its exemptions do not name Reiki or energy work. The board takes the same view of reflexology, and in 2009 it denied a reflexologist's petition for an exemption.

This is unclear. The board's FAQ does not separate touch from no-touch Reiki. The statute's wording, manipulation of soft tissue, does not literally fit hands-above-the-body or distance work, so the statute and the board's position conflict.

Florida's unlicensed practice law covers health care services delivered to patients in Florida regardless of the means of delivery, which could matter if the board treats your work as massage. The medical practice act also covers diagnosing or treating any disease, pain or condition, so energy work offered that way carries risk with or without touch.

Yes. Florida defines a massage therapist as a licensed person who performs massage therapy for compensation, and the board frames its Reiki answer around holding a license to receive compensation. The ban on practicing massage therapy without a license does not itself mention compensation.

It is unlawful to hold yourself out as a massage therapist or to practice massage therapy without a license, and a violation is a first degree misdemeanor. Practicing or offering to practice a regulated health care profession, massage included, without an active Florida license is a third degree felony. Do not diagnose, treat or prescribe for any disease or condition.

Write to the Florida Board of Massage Therapy. Describe exactly what your sessions involve, including whether you touch the client, and ask whether a license is required. No board declaratory statement about Reiki was found, and the Florida Department of Health keeps an index of declaratory statements you can check.