Unethical, unprofessional touch is unskilled, careless touch that holds little therapeutic intent or holds sexual intent or hostility. Mistakes are easy to make in the early stages of training, and this is not viewed as unethical unprofessional touch. Still, some students are casual about learning palpation skills and demonstrate only enough effort to pass their […]
C. Unethical Unprofessional Touch and Therapist Intent Read More »
The phrase “ethical professional touch” describes all of the behaviors of the therapist toward the client, not just the actual massage techniques. Ethical, professional touch is skilled, purposeful, and respectful and holds healing intent. Touch that is skilled knows just which muscles are tight and require attention. Skilled touch is highly trained. It works at
B. Ethical Professional Touch and Therapist Intent Read More »
In the early years of the 20th century, a number of physicians in America and Europe were confronting the same problem. Children placed in orphanages died – not just a few of them, but up to 99% of children in orphanages under the age of two, according to an American study conducted in 1915 by
A. Touch for Life and Development Read More »
Massage directly affects the bodymind and overall health of the client through the power of touch. As explained in Lesson 7-1, touch is a unique form of nourishment that is essential to life. When touch is therapeutically structured, as in a massage session, physical tensions are softened and the chemical information system of the body
Lesson 7-5: Managing Emotions in the Therapeutic Relationship Read More »
The term bodymind describes both a philosophical or scientific viewpoint and the personal experience of connection or disconnection felt by an individual. Prominent viewpoints (philosophical, political, societal, religious, etc.) have influenced the way that people experience their bodies throughout history. Early people accepted the intimate links between the body and mind without question. The Greeks
Lesson 7-4 Bodymind Factors in a Therapeutic Relationship Read More »
Boundaries are conscious and subconscious imaginary lines that mark the limits of an individual’s personal space or territory. Boundaries create a separation or border between a person and other people and between a person and the environment. People who are not aware of boundaries can cross into another person’s space, causing discomfort or even harm.
Lesson 7-3: Boundaries and the Therapeutic Relationship Read More »
Lesson 7-1 explored the power of touch, and you learned that touch is a profound form of nonverbal communication. Professional touch may cause various feelings, thoughts, memories, and behavior in both clients and therapists. To establish and maintain a healthy therapeutic relationship, it is important that you understand something about the psychological factors that might
Lesson 7-2: Psychological Factors in the Therapeutic Relationship Read More »
In the Oxford Dictionary of English, the word touch has eight verb definitions and seven noun definitions. So this is a loaded word! As massage therapists, we think of touch as something skilled, practiced, and professional. We understand that touch has power because we have already felt muscle change, witnessed the reduction of pain, and
Lesson 7-1: The Power of Touch Read More »
A large body of psychology research suggests that the relationship between the therapist and the client is the single most important predictor of therapeutic outcome, even more important than the types of techniques that were used in the session.2 One group of researchers refer to the therapeutic relationship as an alliance and define it as
Lesson 7-0: Introduction Read More »
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