kellamnity
Member
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2009
- Messages
- 54
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 6
Akb, thanks for replying. I thought this would be your answer. I think this is a great thread for new massage therapists to read, because it brings up the amazing yet confusing nature of the first experience with strong energy flowing during a client session. How do we respond to the energy when we don't yet have the words to describe what we're feeling, and when we haven't thought in advance how to proceed (in terms of communication with the client)?akb said:And what are you asking exactly? If I would have allowed myself to be guided by my intuition? Then yes, I would still have and I still do. If I would have continued with the session as an energy work session? Then no, I would have stopped and told her what I was feeling and gotten some feed back as to how she wanted to proceed. That is what I do now.
I agree with you completely. I'm sorry I wrote it that way. I guess I felt that the energywork (which she wasn't expecting) led to the emotional release, and that it may not have happened during a traditional massage. However, that could be completely untrue. This client could have had an emotional release, no matter what modality you used. (I've certainly had clients have releases on my table during regular massage therapy). However, it's my understanding that they're a little more common during the lighter touch modalities (cranio, reiki, mfr, etc.)akb said:The way you type that Blisss makes it sound like she received an emotional release instead of a relaxation massage as if 'emotional release' is something I've got on my menu that I wasn't telling her about and decided to give it to her at the last minute. I firmly believe that emotional releases are the body's response to touch and not something a therapist can 'give' to a client.
Actually, Akb can clarify, but if you re-read the initial post, she says that her intuition guided her to use cranio-energy techniques completely instead of massage, and she didn't describe these techniques to the client until the session was over, and they were discussing the client's response to the work.BJB-LMP said:FTR, it didn't sound in the initial post like Anita changed the technical direction of the session - just that some energetics came up in the context of the agreed-upon techniques.
Thanks akb. The reason I tacked this ethical discussion onto your pre-existing thread, it that it's such a great example. It takes it out of the hypothetical and gives a specific example of how this could happen to any of us (as therapists) and explains maybe why it has happened to us sometimes (as clients.)akb said:I think there has been some talk on the board somewhere about going in for one thing but getting another. But feel free to use this thread to discuss the ethics of it if you'd like. It's a perfect example.
EgoMagickian, I think all of your questions are great to get us all thinking in advance of how we would proceed in a similar situation.