My Reiki Experience

• I was initiated into Reiki 1 and Reiki 2 by Rev Beth Gray, one of Hawayo Takata’s masters, in 1988 and 1989 respectively. I was then a member of a weekly Reiki support group for the next 12 years. I attended many Reiki seminars in the capacity of helper with Reiki Masters Beth Gray, Barbara McGregor and Jan Pritchard.
• In 2000 I attended two separate workshops in Idaho with Phyllis Lei Furumoto and Paul Mitchell for Master Candidates. I also attended the Northwest Reiki gathering in Oregon. In 2006 I travelled to Russia for 3 weeks where I attended a weekend seminar in Moscow by Phyllis followed by a 5-day Master Candidate workshop, also with Phyllis.
• In October 2008 I took my final Master training and was initiated as a Reiki Master by Phyllis on North Stradbroke Island. Since then I have completed two Reiki 1 classes in Alice Springs and the NSW Central Coast.
• For approximately 18 months in the mid 1990s I worked full-time in a private health practice providing professional Reiki treatments. At around that same time I was also funded by the local NSW Area Health through the Sexual Health Clinic to provide Reiki treatments to people with HIV-AIDS.
• I am passionately committed to living the principles of Reiki in my daily life, to support others in their spiritual development and to grow and develop in my path with Reiki.

Skills and past experience that I can bring to the role of Director

• Qualified Social Worker / Member of the Australian Association of Social Workers
• 22 years practice experience in Centrelink as a Social Worker, including various periods working as a Customer Service Centre Manager, Area Social Work Business Manager, and a staff trainer.
• I have worked in the Northern Territory as part of the Federal Government’s response to the “Little Children Are Sacred” report into child abuse in the NT, both in Alice Springs and Darwin.
• I am a member of Centrelink’s Family Support Team which responds to international disasters or crises involving Australian citizens. I was posted to Turkey to assist in the evacuation of Australians from Lebanon in 2006. I was also sent to Jakarta in 2009 to assist the families of Australians killed in the terrorist hotel bombings.
• I have been a member of numerous community management committees and organisations in various roles, including Secretary, Treasurer and President. These have included neighbourhood centres, youth refuges, the local Community College, youth support services, aged and disabled services. I have worked on a number of local interagency committees including Youth Interagency, Child Protection Forum and Domestic Violence Liaison committee.
• I have also worked both as a volunteer carer and committee member for the local community organisation that provides support to people with HIV-AIDS and Hepatitis.

Left to right: Bevianne Fitch, Annabel Muis, Lynette Kirkman, Sharron Mackison, Wendy Watson

Annabel trained in Social Work and worked in this capacity for approximately 20 years, in general hospitals and community health, family and community welfare, psychiatric social work and alcohol dependency. She spent 6 years as a member of the Social Workers' Accreditation Board in the Northern Territory, and was a part time lecturer in a diploma course for Welfare Workers.

During the following 20 years, for 10 years of which she was self-employed, Annabel worked predominantly in the areas of organisational and team development, including training design and facilitation, performance review, team building initiatives and other human resource development roles. During 2002 and 2003 she was employed as Quality Improvement Coordinator at a private hospital. The various experiences of these years and the skills gained serve Annabel in her role of Chair.

Annabel completed Reiki First Degree in 1989 and received initiation as a Master in 1991, from which time she maintained a small Reiki teaching and treatment practice alongside her other work. In 2004 she retired from the paid workforce; she continues to conduct Reiki First and Second Degree classes and to provide hands-on treatments in far north Queensland. Her Reiki practice now also includes developing and facilitating, in conjunction with Reiki Australia member Mark Ruge, workshops that provide an opportunity for Reiki practitioners to explore more deeply the potential for personal and spiritual enrichment inherent in the Usui System of Reiki.

Annabel assists with the production of and writes regularly for a community-based magazine in Cairns, and in 2001 co-authored a book, Turning Points. Regaining Joy after Loss, on the subject of recovery after major life change.

Wendy has a background in biological sciences and education. She began her career path in medical pathology managing a haematology department with the Commonwealth Department of Health. Wendy furthered her education in natural therapies studying massage, naturopathy, iridology, nutrition and herbal medicine before specialising in homoeopathy.

In 1985 Wendy began her work as a Reiki treatment practitioner and in 1987 added homeopathy to her fulltime private practice. She currently operates the Wellspring Clinic in Caboolture.

Wendy is an elder in the Australian Reiki community having first been initiated into the Reiki in 1985. She trained as a Reiki Master in 1995 and regularly conducts Reiki classes. Wendy is a founding member of Reiki Australia and currently manages the Professional Standards Team as well as being a director on the board.

Wendy has strong case management and organisational skills developed through overseeing a diverse caseload. She brings this clinical experience and a scientific perspective to the Professional Standards project.

Wendy was nominated by the CS&HI Skills Council as an Industry Reference Group (IRG) member for the Complementary and Alternative Health IRG. The role of the IRG was to provide sector coverage for the review of the Health Training Package HLT02.

In Bevianne’s words:
I grew up in Chicago and the Chicago area, earned my first two degrees (BA in languages and MATeaching) in the USA and came to Australia as a primary school teacher in 1976. Reiki, flower essences and I found each other in 1988. And the next year I got my very own Reiki hands.

In 1990 I left primary school teaching to earn certificates in flower essence therapy from both the Melbourne Flower Essence Centre and the Flower Essence Society in California. I opened my practice, “Essential Well-being”, to help others find peace and purpose through Reiki and flower essences. Between 1998 and 2004 I earned two postgraduate diplomas in psychology. Yet I consider my principal degree to be my Usui Shiki Ryoho Reiki Master’s degree, completed in 1997 after eight years of study.

As a teacher, I’ve always been a bridge-builder: being able to see where people are and where they want to be and then supplying the information, technology, encouragement, materials and guidance for them to get from one place to another. I am also able to bridge the ‘alternative-academic’ chasm, so I can translate for people on either side – allowing them to understand and perhaps make use of what they previously mistrusted.

Language – how we use it and how it affects people – has always been and continues to be at the top of my ‘important things’ list. So I’m constantly reading, studying, revising and refining my use of language. And working hard to incorporate all that knowledge into being able to respond compassionately and precisely in any situations where speaking is important. Editing written material is so much easier – words can be deleted if necessary!

High standards – well, that might be my middle name! If there is a way to improve on anything in my life, I go for it. And I believe standards for public Reiki practice, both mine and others’, can always be improved. So that’s how I got started in Reiki Australia. I began helping to establish public Reiki practice standards in the 1990s in Victoria with RASMUS (Reiki Australia – Society of Masters in the Usui System). RASMUS became RAPMA (Reiki Association of Practitioners and Masters, Inc.) when practitioners were invited to join. RAPMA eventually merged with Usui Reiki Practitioner Alliance (URPA) to create Reiki Australia.

I continue to be keen to establish and uphold the highest public Reiki practice standards for myself as a Reiki master/teacher/public practitioner and for everyone through training and dialogue with consumers. When Reiki practitioners are carefully trained to a high standard, they can be confident their clients are getting the very best Reiki service possible, and those seeking Reiki treatments can be confident they will be well served. Now, isn’t that what we, as members of Reiki Australia want for everyone?

Lisa brings a wealth of experience to her appointment to the board of Reiki Australia. Previously a member of our Professional Standards Team, Lisa participated heavily in the development of the Reiki qualification for submission to the 2007 review of the government accredited Health Training Package.

Lisa is a qualified psychologist, kinesiologist and Chiron Healing® practitioner, also trained in Reiki, Body Harmony, Bio-energy and Rebirthing. She has over twenty years' experience in alternative therapies, and teaches Kinergetics, Integrated Healing, Inner Harmony Bodywork and Chiron Healing® in addition to her own personal development workshops. Lisa is also founding director of the Australian College of Vibrational Healing, a Registered Training Organisation that offers accredited courses in Natural Therapies, encompassing many forms of vibrational healing. She also teaches the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.

With over 30 years of experience in the field of Information Technology, including twenty years with BP Australia, Lisa has gained skills that will serve her in her new role as a director of Reiki Australia. She has fulfilled a wide range of positions, from programming and systems programming to project and line management, culminating in a position as Computer Operations Manager at BP which involved management of over 100 staff. She has also worked as a senior consultant for a variety of organisations including Coles Myer, Challenge Bank, Telstra, Australia Post and National Mutual.

Lisa’s knowledge of the government training sector and her strong skills in standards and quality assurance, inter-personal communications, project management, strategic planning, staff training, career planning, recruitment and organisational change provides support to our strategic direction. Having also had experience in corporate planning, document writing and establishing policies and procedures for effective business management, Lisa will use these skills as a board team member.

Past Directors

Lynette Kirkman, Sharron Mackison, Dianne Lacroix, Jenny Austin, Coralea Mackison, Lindel Greggery, Paula Wilson, AnnE Wiseman, Lorraine Tibballs, Isobella Marr

Founding Members

Christine Bone, Margaret Smith