Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/259468
head down because the next thing I knew, her mother was stroking my back soothingly and saying, "Charlotte, Charlotte, how long have you been here?" I had been asleep for an hour. The mother said she found it "quite sweet," but it was extraordinarily unprofessional of me. Lesson Learned Know when it's time to quit work and go home before putting yourself in a compromising position. I have heard of massage therapists falling asleep standing while giving a massage; I can understand how it happens. FULL DISCLOSURE Well, now you know. I've dropped things on a client. I've fallen asleep on duty. I compromised my professional ethics by falling in love with a client. I was a hot stone snob. I crossed cultural barriers with absolutely no sensitivity. I embarrassed the bejeebers out of some very nice people. And I can promise you, these are not all the mistakes I've made. The point is not, "Wow, how can I have misjudged so badly?" The point is that our profession has built-in land mines that any of us can step on. To maintain our professional standards and those of our chosen career, we've got to be alert, culturally sensitive, emotionally responsible, able to sense confusion, and open-minded from the day we graduate to the day we hang up our lotion bottles. May your mistakes be few and far between. May my errors lead you away from similar mistakes. May you continue to do good and help heal. We are in a wonderful profession. THE BIGGEST AND WORST I have never told anyone this, let alone write it for a national publication. But it was so deeply embarrassing to both me and the client, and I was so naive about the whole situation, I fi gure if I tell you about it, it may save some real heartache. About six months out of massage therapy school, I was working on a young gentleman who had a severe knot in his glutes. I did not yet know to work on surrounding tissue before attacking the point of diffi culty. Instead, I spent nearly the entire 60 minutes working on this poor guy's glutes. Digging in with my elbow, using my forearm, digital kneading—oh, I pulled out all the stops. But the kicker was that I fi nished the session with about fi ve minutes of very deep, very rhythmic fi st-kneading to both glutes. At one point, I thought I felt his glutes stiffen and I heard a sigh, but I was too wrapped up in my fi ne therapy to think much about it. When he got off the table, I noticed his face was red and he was sweating. He very shyly said, "I'm sorry, I think you'll fi nd a wet spot on your table," before he hurriedly left. My overly localized and rhythmic work had been sexually stimulating to the poor soul, and I had caused an ejaculation. I remember at that point realizing in a fl ash what I had done, and swearing to myself to leave the profession. Of course, I did not, but … Lesson Learned Think beyond the therapeutic effects of your work, and if there's any chance it can be taken sexually or create a sexual response, stop immediately. (For more on this sensitive topic, see "Let's Talk About … Um … Erections," Massage & Bodywork, March/April 2013, page 64.) FALLING ASLEEP Finally (can you believe I'm still practicing after all this?!), I was doing massage rounds in a pediatric intensive care unit in the hospital I mentioned previously. It was the end of a very long week and a tough day, but I wanted to see if any children needed help getting to sleep. One of our favorite kids was a little 7-year-old who had been in a near-fatal car accident. My team had been visiting and massaging her every day. I quietly tiptoed into her room. For once, she was asleep and her parents weren't around, which was unusual because they always kept a 24-hour vigil. I pulled up a chair, sat down next to her bed, and just stroked her little back for a while, intending to leave in a few minutes. I must have laid my Charlotte Michael Versagi is a national presenter and the author of Step-by-Step Massage Therapy Protocols for Common Conditions (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2011). Contact her at charlotteversagi@gmail.com. I t p a y s t o b e A B M P C e r t i f i e d : 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 79 PROFESSIONAL L AND MINES