Is it OK to stretch a client’s adductors? What if the client is female, the therapist male, and the wind is whistling through openings in the drape?
Oh my, the topics that come up for question in a massage clinic. One of my friends had a complaint from the husband of a couple whom had simultaneous massages. The female client had a massage from a male therapist, and during the massage he stretched her adductors.
The client complained to her husband that there was something wrong about it. The therapist stretched her, said nothing before, during and after the stretch. She could feel an air gap between her draping and her crotch. First, it is unusual for people to complain about such tactics in a massage. Often the response is simply to never use that clinic or spa again.
My friend noted that she received the complaint because the husband was a long-time client and they had a good professional relationship. When my therapist friend talked to the male therapist about the massage, he just said that he felt her adductors needed stretching and did not consider it a big deal. The client said nothing, and the massage continued as usual. It can happen that we may have the best of intentions in a massage, but our efforts are interpreted differently. It is also quite possible that someone doing a massage is not being honest about intentions.
The therapist may be using the massage as an opportunity to play games, such as intimidation games, sexual games, etc. Those games – and the appearance of games – have no place on a massage table under any circumstances. A good way to make sure your intentions are clear is to ask permission of the client first. Explain what you want to do, why, and emphasize the person’s draping will not be revealing. Then wait for an audible answer and accept the answer. No means no.
My friend decided not to call in the male therapist, a contractor, again to her clinic. His answers about the massage were not satisfying, and she told him that. Hopefully he was not playing games and learned something from the experience. It cost him an opportunity to work.
