help please...Trauma Massage Continuing Ed

[XMS]

I am getting ready to help teach a Continuing Ed class on Trauma Massage and need some feedback from the Therapist's out there. Couple of questions...  PLEASE ANSWER AS MANY AS YOU CAN.Do you consider working on an accident victim, trauma massage?  Do you do Trauma work? What do you consider Trauma work to be?  How would you handle a client that requests your services and says they are an Abuse Survivor, for example? What do you do if a client starts to cry or have an emotional release during your session? What percent of your clients do you considered to be Trauma clients? Do you feel the need to take a trauma class? Thanks for your input!!   The more info or input you have the better!   Feel Free to email me. Come on, don't be shy, please help me with these questions rather you do trauma or not.THANKS AGAIN!Jenny,  Nebraska L.M.T

 

[Breakupandlove]

I would consider working on an accident victim trauma massage.  Generally shock and trauma can be held in the tissues for indefinite amounts of time.Yes.  I do trauma work.I consider trauma work to entail 2 components.  The first is the actual structural trauma to the musculoskeletal system.  The 2nd I consider to be working with the mind/ body component.   I work with flower essences.  I also identify areas that are holding trauma based on tender points in the body.  Asian bodywork is good for this.  When clients have emotional releases, I try to reassure them that what is happening is ok.  I explain to them how trauma is held in the body through cellular memory and when stimulated, it is sometimes released.  I also ask them if they want me to continue or would they prefer to discontinue the session or take a break.  I accomodate them in whatever way that I can.  Although I am also a counselor, I do not recommend therapist who are not counselors to try to counsel the client.  That would be out of the scope of practice for MT's.  However, if you work with trauma clients, I recommend that you develop relationships with a few counselors and have their cards available for referral.  This is a great opportunity to develop more clientel through referrals . I believe that a trauma class would be helpful for MT's.

 

[squishy]

Hi, I went to Massage School in Lapeer, Michigan for 2 yrs, and worked at the school for 3 yrs, in charge of all its workshops and students.I have been massaging now for about 17 yrs.I consider myself more "clinical"than most.and  have worked  with many many different problems people have.I consider the majority of people I do are "trauma" cases.either physical, mental etc. I have people who had whiplash from car accidents, actually cry on the table. People HOLD ONTO a lot during trauma of anykind.Their bodies sometimes are in what I call a holding pattern.Its very important to me to get as much information about what they were doing before the trauma, where they were hit, feelings etc. any infor. they can tell me, helps me put the "puzzle " together.If the therapist is paying attention to   Hot, Cold areas, their body Structure, while on the table, high , low areas,paying attention  to your Hands, and I can tell alot about MOVEMENT or non movement, comparing their left and right. There is a lot entailed in working with a client. Some people are actually still in the same stance laying on my table as when the impact hit, or even a traumatic Birth. and can't use their arm afterward.If you follow, and use the feelings in your fingers, hands and are Listening to the client, all are very very important in working out. And Muscles  do have memory!I have worked on people who fell and broke their backs, and have rods in their backs. Motorcycle victims who broke ribs, collarbones etc.Each client is different each requires you to have a LOT of Tools to pull out of your toolbox and Use when the time comes.I work with trigger point therapy, deep tissue, referred pain.etc.I had a Very Good Education at Health Enrichment Center in Lapeer, Michigan and Sany Cochran Fritz, the owner and director of the school was and is my mentor!I truly love what I do, and will  never loose the interest  of the work and in being able to touch down on so many people's lives to help in some way.For people that don't have the money, as I do not want to involve insurance in my work. , I give to the Universe what I can  to help also, and I feel good.It is so important sometimes also to understand what that client is trying to relay to you what the problem is with them.Sometimes  it is different that what WE think it is.Listening is so important to them and your understanding alone, when others don't know what or where their pain is coming from. Fibromyalgia, in my opinion is very much misunderstood.Even Fused backs are what I call trauma, any kind of surgery, is Trauma to the body. Myofascial work to scar  tissues, I find not only is it Fear to have someone work on these people (sometimes) They never want to feel that pain again! but you have maybe 50%fear of that, and 50% emotional trauma also. THey are afraid sometimes  to go back to bowling, they give it up and change their lifestyles, they cannot bend to tie their shoes. Very Very important, is that trauma people who are AFRAID to MOVE again, SEE, on the table while working on them, I often here, GOSH I didn't know I could do that, or move like that!So their AWARENESS of what they can do now helps tremendously  for  them. Now some of the fear is lessening! Gosh I love my work,I hope I answered some of your questionsI wish you luck in your class.One thing I have learned during my years doing Therapeutic Massage,isThings aren't always as they seem.!Conniebobby@kwcom.net

 

[Reza]

Working on trauma clients

Hi Jennifer!

I would say that probably 90% or more of my clients are trauma patients. I work with patients on life-support in a sub-acute unit in a local hospital. I also work with amputees, and alzheimer's patients. I massage geriatric clients in nursing homes also. You live long enough you generally experience some kind of trauma. I have developed relationships with some liscenced therapists who send me referrals. I also have worked on clients who have experienced sexual abuse, physical abuse, or have experienced trauma from some type of accident. Quite a few of my clients are on life support.

Training in this area is very useful and I would love to see it provided in schools more. This area is a wide-open field. In a city of about 1/2 a million people and more than 600 massage therapists, I am aware of only one other therapist working on patients in our local hospitals.

I found one book in particular very helpful in my training. I can't seem to put my hands on it at the moment, but it was called something like massaging the medically frail in a hospital setting or something like that. I know that it can be ordered from Amazon.com, so if you did a search on Amazon, and put in hospital massage or medically frail massage, it would probably pull it up for you. If I can locate my book, I will post it, but for now I would try the search on Amazon. It would be a good text for a class. Includes questions after each section. This book is focused more on physical trauma; however and does not deal with the sexual abuse issues.

I worked in the mental health field for about 13 years in both hospital and outpatient settings. This was my major in college and how I started out, but if you don't have training and are not a licensed therapist, it is important to have boundaries and keep the pschotherapy to the liscenced professionals.

One thing I can say as both a survivor of sexual abuse myself, and having been on the receiving end of massage and therapy for this, boundaries, boundaries, boundaries. If someone doesn't want to be touched somewhere, don't go there. Don't push the sexually abused patient to remember trauma prematurely. Let things come up naturally for them and in their own time. If they are receiving bodywork, it would be helpful for them to be in individual therapy or a survivor's group for support. Pay attention to your client's bodylanguage. Many people who have experienced abuse, shut down and disassociate. They may not reveal to you what they are feeling. Get feedback while you are working. Proceed slowly.

Sexual abuse victims or adults who have been traumatized in their youth can be sexualized. This can cause them to have seductive behavior, act out, or be sexually addicted, if not treated by a qualified therapist. If you do not have appropriate attire, and good personal boundaries, this could lead to an uncomfortable situation or liabilous situation for the therapist.
You know the cliche ... "When in doubt, refer out." All pschotherapists are not trained well in this area. This is a specialized field. It is important to have a pschotherapist who is experienced in dealing with the sexually or physically traumatized patient. Many therapists have unwittingly further traumatized a patient without meaning to because they push to fast. This is just an area where you proceed slowly at the patient's own speed ... NO PUSHING! Get a signed medical release so you can talk and share with the therapist and get input on your bodywork and feedback from your client's therapist ... Don't try to do therapy if you aren't trained.

CONFIDENTIALITY is crucial! When client's release emotionally, listen, be supportive, but don't exceed your training and don't talk about anything in your session that you don't have a signed release for. Have emergency contact numbers with medical release forms already signed and call these resources if you get in over your head. Comfort the person. Ask if it is alright to touch them (such as hold them while crying) Let them lead and tell you what they need or want.

Massage is soooooooooo beneficial for these situations, but it is soooooooo important to not proceed faster or further than you client is physically or emotionally ready for.

As far as massage techiniques, just depends on the person and their needs. Looks like you have had some good input in this area.

Glad that someone out there is teaching this. I think it would be helpful to have a sexual abuse therapist share at your upcoming class if you or the other teachers do not have first hand experience with this.

Well that's my two cents. Hope it was helpful. I tend to be a little long winded.

Blessings,
Ann (harmony401)

 

[^^(A)^^]

The book Ann mentioned

I am brand new to the forum so I hope I am successful with my first post.
Be patient with me as I learn the ropes here! I have very much enjoyed catching up on all the threads and look forward to new posts.

I realize it was some time back, but I found Ann's post very, very helpful as far as trauma massage and wanted to add that the name of the book she was talking about, I believe, was Gayle Macdonald's "Massage for the Hospital Patient and Medically Frail Client."

It is an EXCELLENT book and helped me tremendously in dealing with some of my ill and medically fragile clients.

I am a CMT in the Penn State area with my own home massage therapy clinic. I love the work and look forward to all the wonderful information out there in this forum. Thanks! t023 Sherry