Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/1208028
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 . 75 or take our hands off, we will do so immediately—and we always keep that promise. Consent is not something that we get once, at intake: it's asked for, and received, throughout every session. We never know somebody's complete history, even when we may believe we've done a thorough intake, so we can't guess what may or may not be distressing touch. • Help your clients learn how to embrace touch that feels helpful, and choose not to endure touch that is intrusive or painful. Once session work has begun, we encourage our clients to develop a sense library of what feels nurturing to them, what feels like "good work," and what isn't, like too much pressure or too quick a pace. This clearly signals to our clients that their experience is important, worth noticing and responding to. The Healing from the Core 12 curriculum offers excellent training in this arena. • If you have the skill set, teach. For years we have presented a class through the Upledger Institute called ShareCare, where participants with no health-care background can learn about the craniosacral system and its influence on the body. Students learn a few hands-on techniques designed to relieve headaches, reduce stress, control pain, and promote relaxation for themselves and their loved ones. You may already teach couples massage or self-massage to your clients. We encourage those of you who teach to offer consent-driven touch education to "mommy and me" classes, at care centers, at your CrossFit box—wherever you have your own personal connections. Any setting where we can educate about more attuned touch benefits our communities. • If you're a parent, download the Healthy Compassionate Touch videos and worksheets at www. jesselewischooselove.org, and present them to your school. One of the videos shows Kate teaching HCT using the book I Can Show You I Care, modeling how to demonstrate these skills. If you work with children, spend a few minutes talking with families about how they can use HCT with one another. • Use your voice to bring touch into the public sphere. Talk with your colleagues about the value of attuned touch, and share how you develop and refine your own attunement skills. Discuss healthy compassionate touch with your friends and loved ones. Start conversations about touch in your social circles. Find out what people's fears are, where their comfort level is, and why. Promote curiosity, and invite the people you talk with to become touch advocates themselves. Every conversation has the capacity to ripple out and change many lives for the better. Notes 1. Kory Floyd, "Relational and Health Correlates of Affection Deprivation," Western Journal of Communication 78, no. 4 (July 2014): 383–403, https://doi.org/10.1080/10570314.2014.927071. 2. Tiffany Field, "Pediatric Massage Therapy Research: A Narrative Review," Children 6, no. 6 (April 2019): 78, https://doi.org/10.3390/children6060078. 3. John E. Upledger, "New Glarus Study," 2004, www.iahe.com/docs/articles/dr.-john-e.-upledger- compassionate-touch-program--new-glarus-study.pdf. 4. This program is not currently running, but a book aimed at school-age children called I Can Show You I Care: Compassionate Touch for Children, written by longtime Upledger Institute instructor Susan Cotta, illustrates the program beautifully. We use this book in our classes and highly recommend it for every SEL program. 5. Matthew J. Hertenstein et al., "Touch Communicates Distinct Emotions," Emotion 6, no. 3 (August 2006): 528–33, https://doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.6.3.528. 6. Michael W. Kraus, Cassey Huang, and Dacher Keltner, "Tactile Communication, Cooperation, and Performance: An Ethological Study of the NBA," Emotion 10, no. 5 (October 2010): 745–49, https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019382. 7. Mariana von Mohr, Louise Kirsch, and Aikaterini Fotopoulou, "The Soothing Function of Touch: Affective Touch Reduces Feelings of Social Exclusion," Scientific Reports 7, no. 1 (December 2017), https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-13355-7. 8. "Overview of SEL," CASEL, accessed February 2020, www.casel.org/overview-sel. 9. Jesse Lewis Choose Love, accessed February 2020, www.jesselewischooselove.org. 10. Jesse Lewis Choose Love, "Integration Programs," accessed February 2020, www. jesselewischooselove.org/extension-programs. 11. Talal Asif et al., "Importance of Thorough Physical Examination: A Lost Art," Cureus (May 2017), https:// doi.org/10.7759/cureus.1212; Andrew Elder et al., "The Road Back to the Bedside," Jama 310, no. 8 (August 2013): 799, https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2013.227195; Junaid Zaman, Abraham Verghese, and Andrew Elder, "The Value of Physical Examination: A New Conceptual Framework," Southern Medical Journal 109, no. 12 (December 2016): 754–57, https:// doi.org/10.14423/smj.0000000000000573. 12. "Healing from the Core," accessed February 2020, www.healingfromthecore.com. Kate Mackinnon and Robyn Scherr are the founders of Touch Advocates. Find out more at www.touchadvocates.com. Join us! We hope you are inspired and empowered to help transform the violence and discord in our society by being a committed and vocal advocate for attuned and healthy compassionate touch. We'll say it again: touch belongs everywhere! —Kate Mackinnon and Robyn Scherr, founders of Touch Advocates