How To Communicate With Your Massage Therapist Or Massage Practitioner

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Most professional massage therapists have gone through extensive training to prepare for their profession. A few years ago, all it took was for one to complete 100 hours of training and get a city and/or county license to practice and off you go, building a clientele. Today, in California, MT's must complete at least 100 hours of Anatomy and Physiology alone. A "Massage Practitioner" has only completed 250 to 450 hours including the required 100 hours of A&P. A "Massage Therapist" on the other hand, has completed upwards of 500 hours of study and clinical practice including the required 100 hours of A&P. The general public is not aware that there is such a distinction and requirement for certification in California. Elsewhere across the country, the qualifications vary.

What does this have to do with your communication and your experience with your therapist? Well, everything! Do you know whether he or she is a "practitioner" or a "therapist"? Maybe you don't really care. After all, some practitioners do a better job than some therapists and as long as the person is certified by the State, you are assured ...
... that they have had some kind of training. Your consult upon being led into session should give you an idea of the confidence and skill set he/she is working with. If you are more concerned about telling the therapist how to do the job, you might not get the full benefit of that skill set. You wouldn't go to the doctor's office for a check-up and begin to tell him/her where to start, how long to stay in that position and how to do the diagnostics and what to prescribe, so why treat your therapist any different?

You may begin by indicating to your therapist what your complaint is. Most people are stressed out and have fatigue in the neck and shoulders. Some may have had an injury or woke up in pain after tossing about all night in a hotel bed, airplane, among other issues. Some just love massages and want to relax. Campbell massage others might not have physical pain, but may be in pain emotionally. Whatever the complaint, tell your therapist. Most importantly, let us know whether there have been any surgeries, diseases, open wounds, localized pain, handicap, varicose veins, etc.; tell us the things you don't like e.g. some don't want their face touched, some hate head massage or foot massage or the stomach is too personal, etc. Tell us and most of the times we will honor all. I say most, because we are great but not perfect.

In general, your therapist will "prescribe" a session based upon the information you provided. Many times a client will indicate a headache, for example, but does not realize this may be a referred pain and that the real problem is elsewhere. This is why it's crazy to arrive at a massage appointment with that headache, for instance, and insist that a therapist work on your head alone for an hour.

A Massage Practitioner might be happy to oblige and some MT's will too, but those who are committed to a total body therapeutic experience will find this wish difficult to honor and may refer this client to someone else. This client will still get the best head massage ever, but might find that they don't feel better for long after the session ends. If you have had a massage and by the next day you're feeling like you need another for the same reason you had the first, then maybe your wish was honored, rather than that of your trained therapist. Tell us why you are here, then, let us work to address the probable cause of this complaint, not just "the symptom". Personally, being a natural intuitive therapeutic MT, I might be up on your energy before I take you into the room and I am always observing your gait and body language. I am processing what your body is saying and am not willing to ignore this information and spend the whole time working on "just your back and neck". You came to me for a healing of sorts and not just a shoulder rub and I need you to trust me and my skill set.

So you have told me what your issues are and your likes and dislikes and the session is off to a great start. I am hitting your knots but maybe going over them too fast (can sometimes be more painful) or too slow, or too deep...or too soft. You want to say something, but what? Maybe your therapist forgot you don't like your thighs worked on and started working on them. Massage What if the hands slip and a boob happens to be in the way, or the work on the thigh is up so high it feels intrusive. Most men will pretend they can handle the pressure.

Some clients, rather than speaking up, will "huff and puff" (breathing) angrily, jerk their limb away from the therapist, show anger on their faces, ignore the therapist when they inquire of their comfort, and as soon as they leave the room they complain at checkout and/or leave an "insult" as gratuity. This is not "clear communication". All of this jeopardize the job and livelihood of the therapist, who many times is not aware they did anything wrong or had opportunity to fix the problem. More times than not the client misunderstands and your misunderstanding or imputing motives to therapists could land them in jail or fired, etc. For all we know, you could just be an "angry breather"; maybe you always have a scowl on your face when you think what you are thinking, or maybe you had a twitch when I tried to stretch your arm or leg and that's why it jerked away. I don't want to assume what you mean.

In this economy, many people have only one job to provide for their families and it's just not worth getting suspended, fired or going to jail for a "hand slip" or something we didn't do on purpose. Respectfully and confidently talk to your therapist, although you are vulnerable on that table in that tiny room. Make your discomfort known and give them opportunity to fix this as is their professional responsibility.
Here the author jermy peters says a Campbell massage .and Massage. For more information, please visit http://www.orchidbeautyspa.com/