elderly patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, as these are populations that may not be able to rely on language to communicate. Some populations can be deprived of touch as a matter of circumstance such as adults or elderly people who live alone. Massage therapy can offer touch in a safe, healthy way. When combined with purposeful and skilled therapeutic protocols in massage, the effects of human touch can also be tremendous for relieving stress. We see this in the difference in our clients’ posture and energy between when they walk into our office and when they walk out. This also has a positive effect on our clients’ ability to handle stress over time if they are consistent with their care. (The long-term effects will be discussed further in Section 4 of this course.) what a healing crisis is, and why deep tissue massage may not be appropriate for this session. You can put a positive spin on lighter work by suggesting that you want to try a different approach under the circumstances while emphasizing that you are looking out for her best interest. Explain what your client can expect from a massage session that is geared more toward calming the nervous system and relaxing the body in another way, and that you can resume the usual treatment at the next session (if appropriate). Remember that our clients come to us to make them feel better, not worse. Clients who are experiencing a traumatic If you have a client who regularly receives deep tissue massage and comes in during a period of acute stress, you may have to explain what is going on in her nervous system, emotional state like grief may also have an emotional release during the massage and begin crying or shaking on the massage table. If and when that occurs, the best we can offer is an empathetic touch and let them know that the treatment room is a safe space to let it out. Other clients may use the time and safe space to vent their feelings without judgment, which is something they may not get from family or friends. Sometimes the best stress relief we can offer is to listen and soothe as objective parties. On the other hand, chronic stress is another kind of beast to tame. It is the more rampant disease-causing problem and a bigger concern for our collective national health. It is also one of the primary reasons that people seek massage therapy. Chronic stress leaves our clients depleted and irritable, and often in some degree of pain. This is where we, as massage therapists, can make the most difference with a safe, drug-free method. Our job is to provide relief, and it is something we can do without any more tools than our own two hands. As manual therapists, we are privileged to be at that intersection of the individual and the world, as our clients present with a variety of chronic stress-related challenges: TMJ problems, digestive disorders, sleep difficulty, muscle tension, pain disorders, emotional difficulties, environmental sensitivities, and autoimmune difficulties among them. Most of these problems defy single-session answers, and too much time can be wasted looking for a cause of what is really a much more global problem of a system burdened by patterned and chronic stressors. Our clients are looking for help. (Moya, 2017) When we build ongoing therapeutic relationships with our clients, not only can we see if or how much our work is effective in treating their problems but we also become a trusted source of care. As the relationship grows, we can tailor our work to best suit our clients’ individual needs. No pill can do that.
in the body that positively affects emotions and thoughts” (Burgan, 2016). All of these elements combined are a recipe for reducing the symptoms of stress and attaining overall better health. The other important element that massage can provide is human touch. As discussed in Section 2, touch is vital to humans as a species, and massage therapy harnesses the power of touch for targeted therapeutic purposes. As we saw previously, touch triggers chemical changes in the body by raising levels or oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin, which can have a positive impact on the body and brain in a way that nothing else can. Numerous studies have shown the power of touch for assisting in development in preterm newborn babies and for improving cognitive function in Acute stress versus chronic stress Because there is a difference between acute stress and chronic stress, the type of massage therapy we apply is different in those two situations. Acute stress is a response to a sudden or dramatic situation such as getting caught in a traffic jam because of a car accident up ahead or running late for an important meeting. Chronic stress is a response to repeated exposure to the same stressful situation over time—being caught in the same traffic jam every day as part of your morning commute. How we approach our sessions with our massage clients is different for each of these two types of stress, as the same protocol might not be equally effective for both. As professionals, it is imperative that we know when and how to apply our skills for the best possible outcome on a session-by-session basis. A brief conversation with the client before she gets on the table should provide enough information for you to know how to proceed. Even a regular client that you see every week can have acutely stressful days, so it is important to check in at the start of each session. Do not assume that you should take the same approach every time. Acute stress puts the client in a state of heightened tension because he is in the thick of the stress response. If, for example, your client was caught in an unexpected traffic jam on his way to your office, he is going to be more tense than usual when he gets on your table. If the stressor was a minor situation like traffic, it might work well to start the session with some lighter relaxation work before diving in to deeper, more therapeutic work that is more like his usual session. On the other hand, if your client is undergoing a major life event like the death of a loved one or another major crisis, your work will be more effective if you primarily address the immediate state of the nervous system. Her body is likely coursing within stress hormones, in which case your time in the session is best spent addressing that alone with relaxation work. Lighter work will also make her feel comforted at a time when she might desperately need it. From a client relationship standpoint, knowing when to back off a little and take care of your client will further build the trust she has in you, and having an objective, trusted source for stress relief will make your client healthier. Attempting deep therapeutic work on someone in the heightened stress state could also backfire and end up causing that person more muscle tension and pain than he came in with because the fight-or-flight response is still predominant in his sympathetic nervous system. Working the soft tissue too aggressively during an acute stress episode can cause what is called a “healing crisis.” A healing crisis occurs when a client’s symptoms temporarily get worse before they get better as the body struggles to process information. Under normal circumstances, a healing crisis may be something you can explain to the client and prepare him for before it happens, but it is not appropriate under an acute stress situation.
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Book Code: MNJ0524
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