Sometimes clients love their massage so much they bring me gifts. I love a nice card or a bottle of olive oil. A box of cupcakes? Oh please, don’t feed me! I have to admit it is wonderful for the ego. One long day – a Saturday – my clients brought me lunch. How did … Continue reading Aw Shucks, Twern’t Nuthin’…
I had a very good feeling about the practitioner I was learning about online – the picture, the story, the information fit what I was looking for in a massage therapist. So I went to my first appointment – and I couldn’t believe my eyes – the person I expected to meet had aged … Continue reading Get Online with It: Face the Facts
Sometimes in the course of massage therapy practice, we will meet clients who want to have some delicate and sensitive areas relieved of trigger points and adhesions. My most recent experience was with a client who had gone into a full-body clench during a car accident, braced with both feet on the brake … Continue reading Through the Sheets
Have you caught yourself talking too much during a session? We massage therapists can all lead with our chins on this one, can we not? One of my therapist friends believes every session should be hushed – no talk of any kind, music only, and if the client tries to talk only answer with … Continue reading Table Talk
This massage therapist loves a challenge, and I frequently get them. Yet sometimes I wonder if I am doing the “right” thing. You know, the right thing as in “Do the Right Thing.” Massage therapists are darned good at shaving a few points off a golf game. We excel at getting rid of the post-lunch … Continue reading Massage as Rehab
Going to massage school, this massage therapist learned a lot about dealing with “tense” situations and people. The other day my local association asked for some massage schools memories and it made me laugh. Warm Fuzzy? More like shrieking students levitating on the practice tables. My first scream came during the first class. We were … Continue reading Massage School Memories
Folks with big troubles like this client – blinding headaches and vertigo – shop around for help. This massage therapist has been working with this client for a while. Her headaches get better with massage and heat packs but it never seems quite enough to make them go away.This client has tried injections, acupuncture, a … Continue reading Blinded by the $10 Grand Solution
Holidays bring out the best in people – and the visiting relatives. I have just moved the office and the massage therapy room still looked a little bit like a MASH unit. My phone message, for a change, said I was off for two days before and after the holiday – but the calls just … Continue reading Family Matters
Stress comes in all forms, and I feel it on my massage table. Most likely it is a personal issue, a problem, a challenge in life or relationships. But a lot of people get their biggest stress from work, most specifically the feeling of being out of control, powerless, voiceless. It is a tall order … Continue reading Touch and the End of the World as We Know It
Hey, it happens. A humble massage therapist is massaging someone who has a freak-out during the session and leaves. Later, the client wails in an online review that the massage was unprofessional because…(drum roll please)…the therapist massaged her glutes. This scenario happened to a friend of mine and believe me, it was not a fun … Continue reading To Glute or not to Glute…