Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/465652
F r e e m u s i c d o w n l o a d s f o r C e r t i f i e d m e m b e r s : w w w. a b m p . c o m / g o / c e r t i f i e d c e n t r a l 15 How do you take care of your hands? Publication Date: May/June What's your best phrasing for telling a chatty client that it's time for quiet and to focus on their session? Publication Date: July/August Email your responses to darren@abmp.com. Your submission can be as short as you'd like and up to 250 words. Upcoming Topics Every client we see has an emotional reaction to their massage— usually feelings of great relief, relaxation, and gratitude. However, occasionally something else comes to the surface, such as sadness, fear, shame, or anger. Though I don't try to purposely evoke emotions in my work, I welcome these organic expressions on my table, because I believe the physical body is connected to the emotional, and massage can be healing on many levels. In fact, curiosity with this connection is largely what led me to massage as a profession. Relational Somatics—my specialty in school—dealt with helping clients who have emotional responses during massage. One fi rst-time client came in for nagging back pain. When I sank into the troubled area, I noticed a subtle shift in her breathing and asked her what she noticed. The fl ood of feelings she released surprised her, thinking she had dealt with the issue in therapy long ago. I let her name her feelings and created a safe environment where we continued to work regularly over the next two years. Who knew that a simple, open- ended question would open a door to deeper healing and address recurrent physical pain? While this level of emotional work is rare in my practice, emotions—both mine and my clients'—are always present during a session. Holding clear boundaries and creating a safe place where I can act as a witness seems appropriate for handling most emotional reactions during massage. APRIL MURDOCK MCKNIGHT SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA Once I had a client cry about 25 minutes into her two-hour massage. I was playing classical music, and it just struck a nerve, and she started crying for her father who had passed away 10 years prior. I continued massaging her the whole time she cried. I told her I'm going to just listen to her vent and cry and I will continue with the massage unless she wants me to stop. She didn't. She just wanted to be heard and wanted me to know she missed him. It truly was a great experience. I let her cry and get everything out, and we grew closer from it. It's my job as a therapist to allow whatever is going to happen, but guide it to a better place for clients—with no judgment. It's our job to listen and be there, and let clients know we're there for them. Most people just want to be heard in any way they can. And I always listen. I have heard so many secrets and had lots of tears spilled on my table through the years. But the trust that clients have for me is what keeps me going back. BRITTNI WYATT LANCASTER, CALIFORNIA I've had a few people start to cry on the table. As soon as I sense they are holding it in, I say, "You can let it out; you're in a safe place." Some have recently lost loved ones, been dumped, found out a friend has cancer, or been cancer victims. One postsurgical, postchemo treatment woman cried and thanked me for letting her release her emotions and for my gentle approach. I just let clients let it out, and I don't probe. BRIAN VIA EMAIL