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Massage Therapy
- 1. AND THE WAYSIT CAN HELP YOUR HEALTH
- 2. THE TRIPOD UPONWHICH THERAPY IS BUILT Honesty: The therapist is honest with the client about the therapist’s training, the therapist’s intentions and the therapist’s approach and plan of therapy. The therapist refers the client if the therapist thinks another health care practitioner can better serve the client. It the therapist is in a dual relationship with the client, the therapist acknowledges and openly discusses the dual nature of the relationship with the client. Awareness: The therapist is totally present with the client. The therapist is aware of how he/she is touching the client, of how the client is responding to the treatment, of draping, of room temperature, of the sounds, of the smells, and of the client’s state of comfort and overall wellbeing. The therapist takes responsibility for being in a state that allows the therapist to be fully aware and at service to the client. The client feels that the therapist is responding to the client’s body and is aware of the client’s likes and dislikes Compassion: The therapist is being with the client in a supportive caring way. The therapist actively creates a space of healing—a space in which the client experiences: a sense of trust, a sense of being taken care of, a sense of being listened to and a sense of being with a therapist who is totally there for the client. The therapist works from his/her heart and from a vision and commitment to heal and serve.
- 3. WHAT IS MASSAGETHERAPY? Massage therapy is about being in a therapeutic relationship with a client. The student must accomplish this before initiating the program they are in. It is the foundation upon which the structure of the program is built. Without this foundation, the student is merely a technician and not a true therapist. The distinction of “being” is learned in relationship to “doing.” Beingness is the foundation upon which doing is built. Before the student learns Swedish Massage, Shiatsu, Acupressure, Deep Tissue Bodywork, Sports Massage, Trigger Point Therapy and all the rest of the modalities taught, the student must first learn how to “be” with the client in a way that communicates trust, healing, caring and therapeutic purpose. Anyone can learn bodywork modalities. The real bodyworkers—people that have satisfied clientele, love the work and become healers—have learned and practice “being” as distinguished from “doing” and “knowing.” It’s difficult to explain in words because it is an experience. It is totality of attention. It is caring. It is service to the highest degree. It is getting out of the way. It is being with another person through your hands, through your heart and through your soul. It is a shared sacred space of respect, total awareness and healing. If a student lives with the question. “What is being?” in relation to bodywork, the experience can be transformational. It can change the student’s life and turn him/her into a master bodyworker.
- 4. WHAT IS SEATEDMASSAGE? A seated massage is a massage that is given in a specialized chair that is designed to be taken from location to location. The massage typically consists of three sections: a beginning, a middle and an end. The client remains clothed. Oil or other lubricants are not used. Average length of time is 15 minutes. It is portable and can be set up anywhere. Privacy is not required. It is a wonderful introduction to other forms of bodywork. It is affordable. It is performed by a licensed massage therapist. It is convenient.
- 5. TRIGGER POINT THERAPY Triggerpoint therapy is a highlyeffective technique used to alleviate chronic pain and dysfunction. Trigger point therapy can be used in several therapeutic settings as a therapy be itself or integrated into a session with complementary techniques. Clinical settings like a chiropractic clinic, for example, may need a therapist to provide a session of strictly trigger point therapy whereas a sports clinic or private practice may intergrade trigger point therapy into a full body massage. A trigger point is a firm, palpable, highly-irritable spot in a taut band of muscle fibers or fascia characterized by exquisite tenderness referred pain, and loss of range of motion. Several syndromes as well as joint, muscle and visceral pain are exasperated by active trigger points. A few examples: Fibromyalgia Syndrome Chronic Myofascial Pain Syndrome Fibrositis Muscular Rheumatism Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Headaches
- 6. The massage therapy professionis growing rapidly and becoming more widely integrated into the health care mainstream. As this growth continues, professional massage therapists will work more and more closely with other health care professionals, such as nurses, physical therapists, chiropractors, osteo paths, and physicians. Because these various health care practitioners use the language of anatomy as a core vocabulary in their various professions , it is important that professional massage therapist to have a strong basic MASSAGE THERAPIST AND OTHER MEDICAL PROFESSIONS WORKING vocabulary of anatomy. TOGETHER
- 7. HOT ROCK MASSAGE Usingrocks for healing is an ancient practice by many native people. Rocks are very grounding and can be very nurturing. The simple weight of a rock on your abdomen or low back can bring the client’s awareness to the area and promote relaxation and calm. Add some Swedish massage to the session and you have a wonderful healing and nurturing experience. The rocks are smooth and when used properly the client won’t even know the difference from the therapists hands and the rocks. The energy of the rocks can be measured, rocks carry a negative charge that acts like a magnet to draw out and neutralize energy in the body.
- 8. A SENSE OFSHIATSU The origins of Shiatsu are founded in Ancient China. As European medicine was introduced to Japan by commercial traders in the mid1800’s, surgery and western methods of treating infectious disease were adopted by the aristocracy which soon forbade the use of native oriental therapies. All that remained was a degenerated form of massage that catered to the pleasurable indulgences of the rich. Despite a lack of acceptance by the ruling class, the use and development of hand techniques continued covertly. To avoid stigma, these hand techniques were give a new name, shiatsu, which means finger pressure. For our scope of practice as it applies to massage therapists in the United States, a more accurate definition would be: A form of soft-tissue manipulation by thumbs, finger, and palms, without the use of instruments, mechanical or otherwise, to apply pressure to the human skin to correct internal malfunctioning, promote and maintain health, and affect specific diseases.
- 9. CRANIAL SACRAL THERAPY CranialSacral Therapy is a gentle, hands-on approach to bodywork. It deals with the bones of the head, spinal column, sacrum, and the underlying structures. The main objective of this work is to find restrictions and/or compression in these areas and use specifically designed techniques to release these areas. Once a therapist determines areas of compression or restrictions, gentle, non-intrusive techniques are applied to release those areas. Cranial Sacral Therapy can be used alone or incorporated with other bodywork techniques and can be useful in relieving the following symptoms: Chronic pain, especially in the neck and back Headaches (tension, migraine, cluster) TMJ dysfunction Emotional trauma Auditory problems Stress-related dysfunctions Arthritis Colic, inner ear problems, or learning/behavioral disorders in infants and children
- 10. OTHER FORMS OFMASSAGE THERAPY Hydrotherapy Infant Massage Reiki Injury Massage Sports Massage Russian Sports Massage Acupressure Deep Tissue Massage