Previous Fellowship Recipients
Celebrating the pioneering work of our fellowship recipients.
Nida Paracha
2023 Fellow | PHD at University of Chicago
Project Title: Entangled Healing
This ethnographic study examined energy healing across psychedelic assisted therapy and biofield practices, focusing on how practitioners experience and interpret subtle energy. Drawing on participant observation and autoethnography, the researcher engaged in practices such as Reiki and therapeutic touch, documenting sensations of energy, intimacy, and transformation. Findings show that energy was experienced as relational and embodied, shaping emotional and spiritual healing. The study argues that recognizing these energetic experiences expands how healing and knowledge are understood.
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Biography
Nida Paracha is a lawyer, researcher, and activist. She has lived and worked in Pakistan, Maldives, Europe, Colombia, and the United States mostly in legal and carceral spaces. Currently doing her PhD in anthropology at University of Chicago, she is also training in psychoanalysis, psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, and modalities of healing with energy. She is interested in questions of energetic intimacies and how they re-shape ethical relationships between the self, the social, the political, and the ecological.
Natalie is also an energy medicine practitioner and teacher specializing in Reiki and shamanic healing practices. She lives in the woods on the east coast of Canada with her husband, visionary artist Louis Dyer, and their daughter Ivy.
Nida Paracha is a lawyer, researcher, and activist. She has lived and worked in Pakistan, Maldives, Europe, Colombia, and the United States mostly in legal and carceral spaces. Currently doing her PhD in anthropology at University of Chicago, she is also training in psychoanalysis, psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, and modalities of healing with energy. She is interested in questions of energetic intimacies and how they re-shape ethical relationships between the self, the social, the political, and the ecological.
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Project Abstract
Evaluation of a Reiki Volunteer Program within Two Cancer Infusion Centers
Context
Objectives
Reiki is a biofield therapy from Japan currently used in many US hospitals. Evidence supports Reiki's effectiveness for addressing cancer and treatment-related symptoms such as pain and anxiety. However, no study to date has assessed changes in nausea following Reiki received during infusion treatments or assessed patients from multiple healthcare locations.
To evaluate a Reiki program for outpatients with cancer and other chronic illnesses receiving infusion treatments (e.g., chemotherapy) at two University Hospitals infusion centers.
Methods
To evaluate a Reiki program for outpatients with cancer and other chronic illnesses receiving infusion treatments (e.g., chemotherapy) at two University Hospitals infusion centers.
Results
To evaluate a Reiki program for outpatients with cancer and other chronic illnesses receiving infusion treatments (e.g., chemotherapy) at two University Hospitals infusion centers.
Conclusions
To evaluate a Reiki program for outpatients with cancer and other chronic illnesses receiving infusion treatments (e.g., chemotherapy) at two University Hospitals infusion centers.