Florida Massage Therapy Ebook Continuing Education

● When personal feelings are recognized, addressed and put aside, they do not interfere with the commitment to high quality healthcare. ● Awareness of counter transference marks the therapist’s return to professionalism. Case study The therapist, as part of an integrated health term, was hired to provide in-home treatment to a client after shoulder replacement surgery. The therapist noted, in the third month of a yearlong course of therapy, that the client wanted to begin and end the sessions by hugging the therapist. During the same time, the therapist noticed that the client began baking treats and offering beverages at the end of the session and encouraged the therapist to stay for longer social visits after the sessions ended. Gradually, the client began to ask more personal questions of the therapist and clearly expressed feelings that are inappropriate for a therapeutic relationship. When the therapist declined to reciprocate the feelings, and attempted to re-establish boundaries, the client became hurt and angry and threatened to ask for a new therapist. Reflection What are the appropriate steps the therapist should take to resolve this situation? Analysis In some cases, there are cultural or ethnic customs that influence a client’s behavior that may be misconstrued or misinterpreted by the therapist. Often small gifts from Conclusion As the popularity, integration, and acceptance of massage therapy and bodywork throughout the healthcare field continues to increase, so will the demand for professional practitioners who trained in a variety of techniques and are well versed in the area of ethical practice. Therapists will need to expand their practice to keep pace with the profession that has expanded to treat a wide variety of mental and physical conditions, and a more diverse client base. Many insurance companies cover massage and bodywork therapy as these professions are gaining acceptance and value in the medical community as collaborative partners. This growth requires the massage and bodywork professional to increase their knowledge in the field of ethics including confidentiality and privacy issues included in the HIPAA Rules that govern the electronic sharing, maintenance and storage of protected client information. These positive changes in the profession increase the need for comprehensive knowledge and application of the principles of ethical conduct as the profession joins mainstream acceptance in the community. Therapists will face increased regulation as they are integrated into medical models, so best practice for informed consent, records maintenance, confidentiality, privacy regulations, and professional standards of conduct will be closely monitored as a condition of practice. Therapists must recognize the importance of evidence-based practice modalities to ensure the safety of their clients. They must enhance their practice based on continued education and training from approved providers, and remain within the scope of their practice and level of competency.

● Moving beyond this barrier, the therapist can educate her client on the anatomical connections and therapeutic value of her work to release the shoulder tightness, which include connecting muscle groups, and provide strategies to address the cause such as better postures or adjusting computer height, angle, or reach. clients are a personal sign of appreciation, as may be the case for clients who cannot afford to tip. The client’s customs may dictate that they offer food or drink to guests no matter what the occasion. Likewise, they may hug or kiss as a standard form of greeting and not to reciprocate or pull back would be a sign of rudeness or an offensive behavior by the therapist. The therapist should know as much as possible about the client’s culture in order to gage their intentions when they offer gifts, signs of affection, or invitations to come to dinner or a social event outside of the massage venue. The therapist needs to carefully consider the words and actions of the client before deciding if they constitute a boundary violation, or if the therapist needs to address a potential ethical conflict. When making decisions, the therapist should consider if the client’s actions have the potential to cause harm to himself or herself, or the therapist, or interfere with the effectiveness of therapy. In this case, the therapist will have to determine if the intent of the hugs and baked goods were innocent gestures, but if client comments began to cross a professional boundary, the practitioner needs to address the situation and reset boundaries. Practitioners must rely on their professional standards, code of ethics, rules of conduct, state and federal regulations, organizational guidelines, and sound decision- making models to inform their ethical practice. Massage and bodywork therapists are now integrated in health, fitness, and sports rehabilitation, and a variety of healthcare agencies and service providers. Corporate, educational, and government funded facilities will require strict adherence to ethical standards and state and federal regulations that protect the public. The professional therapist and bodywork professional must meet the challenge to adapt to the needs and demands of diverse communities with expanding health care needs. They must build a practice that projects high standards of ethical conduct and professional practice that welcomes all clients.

WORKS CITED https://uqr.to/ethicsmassage

EliteLearning.com/Massage-Therapy

Book Code: MFL1225B

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