Ta k e 5 a n d t r y A B M P F i v e - M i n u t e M u s c l e s a t w w w. a b m p . c o m / f i v e - m i n u t e - m u s c l e s . 93
How does homework relate to the social
level of our biopsychosocial progression?
Factors affecting "compliance," the
client or patient's adherence to the
practitioner's homework, prescriptions,
or recommendations (Image 4), have
been extensively studied in both physical
and behavioral medicine. Influences,
such as client knowledge about their
condition, social support
6
(family or
social group awareness of practitioner
recommendations), and client/
practitioner rapport
7
all significantly
increase the likelihood that homework
recommendations will be followed.
While most manual therapy
practitioners probably see social support as
being outside their typical scope of practice
or sphere of influence, simply suggesting
that clients share impressions of their
sessions, or teach their homework to a
friend, spouse, or family member, can help
leverage the powerful social-support effect,
and is likely to increase the integration of
the hands-on work into the client's habits
and daily life.
Whether we're thinking about an
individual technique, a session, or a series of
sessions, paying attention to how we end and
complete our work helps the client make the
results their own. When the client has this
kind of ownership of their sessions' results,
the benefits of your work together become
integrated into the client's new sense of
somatic normal, and become habitual,
sustainable, and enduring.
This article is excerpted from Volume 2
of Advanced Myofascial Techniques
(Handspring, 2016).
Notes
1. For more information, see the cervical core/sleeve
technique in "Working with Whiplash, Part II"
(Massage & Bodywork, May/June 2010, page 109).
2. For more information, see "Working with
the Sacrum" in Massage & Bodywork
(November/December 2015, page 90).
3. For more information, see "The Sympathetic Sacrum"
in Massage & Bodywork (March/April 2017, page 96).
4. As in the core point technique in "Working
with Bone" in Massage & Bodywork
(November/December 2013, page 114).
5. For examples, see the psoas technique
(Massage & Bodywork, July/August 2015, page
108) or breath motility technique (Massage &
Bodywork, March/April 2010, page 109).
6. M. Robin DiMatteo, "Social Support and Patient
Adherence to Medical Treatment: A Meta-Analysis,"
Health Psychology 23, no. 2 (2004): 207–18,
https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-6133.23.2.207.
7. Irene M. Howgego et al., "The Therapeutic Alliance:
The Key To Effective Patient Outcome? A Descriptive
Review of the Evidence in Community Mental Health
Case Management," Australian and New Zealand
Journal of Psychiatry 37, no 2 (2003): 169–83,
https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-1614.2003.01131.x.
Til Luchau is the author of Advanced Myofascial
Techniques (Handspring Publishing, 2016), a
Certified Advanced Rolfer, and a member of the
Advanced-Trainings.com faculty, which offers online
learning and in-person seminars throughout the
United States and abroad. He invites questions or
comments via info@advanced-trainings.com or
@TilLuchau on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Clients are statistically more likely to integrate
practitioner recommendations and take-home
exercises into their daily life when they (a) have
a sense of rapport with their practitioner, (b)
have supportive social or family connections,
or, especially (c) when they teach their take-
home practices to another person. Image:
Bibiana Badenes, used by permission.
Guiding the client's inner body awareness can
be another way to foster a sense of whole-body
connections, as in the Breath Motility Technique
(from "Working with Whiplash, Part I," Massage
& Bodywork, March/April 2010, page 109).
3
4
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Watch Til Luchau's technique videos and read his past articles in Massage & Bodywork's
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