Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/1384577
66 m a s s a g e & b o d y wo r k j u l y/a u g u s t 2 0 2 1 "Do these calf raises to strengthen your arches." Be as specific as you can about how or when the project reaches its sell-by date. Set and monitor reachable goals. Think about how much you like to hear, "Good, you got that, now let's go on to the next thing." START SMALL Even with the athletes and everyday mat yogis, I start small. "How many minutes a day will you give to this project?" If they answer an eager "15," I give them something under five. If they say "five," I give them something under one minute. Also among my arsenal of homework assignments are items to be remembered moment-to-moment. Like, "Every hour you're at work, I want you to drop those scapulae down your back about 80 times—any time you think of it." Or "Every time you're waiting for something, take a few seconds to center your pelvis back over your feet." If they come back and they haven't done the homework (all too common), make the assignment smaller. No shame, no blame—we're all busy and distracted. Say, "Well, how about we try this then?" And then go for something shorter and easier, which leads you to the fruitful meditation: What is the minimum change this client could make that would have the maximum benefit? More is not better; more is much worse. If your client doesn't take it, all the good advice in the world you can think of is not just useless, it's damaging. It puts you in a parent position, which is a bad place for a therapist to stand—and a hard one to get out of once you have put yourself in it. Guard against "good" advice. Instead, look out for effective cueing. CUE TO THE CHANGE* *This is a phrase I believe I "stole" from Judith Aston (astonkinetics.com), but it is an especially important concept when you want to change a common body habit that a client's "set" makes them prone to. (Make sure they know the "bad" place, as well as the "good.") For the office worker prone to lifting her shoulders to her ears when stressed, it is not a winning strategy to say, "OK, now your shoulders are down in a good place—keep them that way." She won't. It's a habit. Despite your good work—especially at the beginning—those shoulders will go up again as soon as the boss is around or she's tired. A better way to approach this is as they are ready to leave the session (after they've dressed), give homework. feature article, "Tending to Our Hands," on page 44 of this issue, and their Savvy Self-Care column in past issues of Massage & Bodywork magazine for more self- care practices for massage therapists and bodyworkers.) Having made every frustrating mistake in the book trying to inspire my clients during my nearly 50-year career allows me to share some overarching concepts I find useful, and I hope you will find them helpful too (but, please, interpret all of the following into your own practice as you see fit). With a few clients, especially if I have not started in on "homework" from our first session, broaching the subject of support work is difficult. I usually go for the direct approach: "You know, you'll get more bang for your buck if you do a little support work between sessions." Regardless of the actual homework you assign your clients, you are inducting them into a self-care routine, which is also an attitude. So many people have lost this attribute—many in the pre-COVID, "easy" days before the world shut down. Now, the long-term lack is clear, and the need is urgent: Care for the self, from the self, is important, since outside stimulus has not been forthcoming this year. Treat yourself as a person worth cultivating. MAKE IT A PROJECT As you introduce any homework/self-care practice to a client, think ahead. What is your goal? What is your goal for your client? I look for a "We'll be done with this exercise when you can . . ." statement, and get the client's agreement for the goal. If you hear the question, "How long should I do this?" you should have an answer ready—a definable state they can achieve. Corrective homework that is open-ended and does not have a specific goal tends to spend its energy and fade all too quickly in the client's mind. After that project is done, you may have another goal to set with them. Or the first project may have been in service of a larger goal. Either way, keep the goals project-oriented with an end in sight. Too many times I get an exercise from a therapist without a goal, so the whole experience becomes endless and discouraging when I am at home. A client can handle missing a benchmark, but without them, it's harder to keep the inner child interested. "OK, we're going to try these deep calf raises for a month—if we don't see improvement in your arches by then, we'll look for another strategy." That statement falls very differently on the ears of the client than: