small vent too

[dinogirl69]

I finally arranged for some bodywork after not having a massage for about 4 mos. The appt was made two weeks in advance and the "spa" was supposed to give me a reminder call. Bad sign, the call never came but I called to make sure I was on the schedule. Good, I'm still on the schedule.
I show up for the appt, do the "medical" and he asks me "what do you need?"
I let him know that I am an MT and would really like a little extra time spent on my arms and shoulders. He assures me that he is trained in deep tissue and does a fabulous therapeutic massage. Alrighty then, I am shown to a lovely room with an awsome sound system (surroundsound) and warm flannel sheets. This is good. No, this is great! He starts the massage at my scalp and face. Oh, that's nice. But then I notice, he has spent quite a bit of time in this area and my body wants the good stuff. I am getting impatient. Finally, my shoulders..lovely. But, wait he is gone in a flash and he lightly works my right arm. He is on to the left and I cant take it anymore. I stop the massage, and calmly mention that I felt some tenderness in the right arm could he go back and work a little deeper. He replys that he will do anything I want but we've only got an hour and he just cant do it all. But, I'm thinking, If you werent so darn slow and it's not like I didnt mention my arms before the massage. The massage continues and he does some lovely work in my arms but I know my time is limited so I tell him that we can skip the lower half of my body and work on my back. The work on my back was fine and as I mentioned before the soundsystem was great. When the massage was over, I felt very conflicted. I let him know my needs before and during the massage but I felt let down because I didnt get a full body massage. I also felt that he was not receptive to my needs as a client. He was actually curt with me.
Now, I think this MT has real talent but his business skills suck! Did I mention that he has had 2 massages in the 8yrs he has been an MT? I dont know if that a problem but it certainly appears to have had an impact on his timing and customer service skills. My husband says give him another try but I am feeling cautious. What to do????

 

[Linda J]

Well. I'm sorry you didn't what you wanted. With that said, you did say he did good work in the areas he addressed. I'd say give him another chance. It's not always easy to find an initial match made in heaven. You recognize that you need work, you might as well try him again. However, I would definitely be more precise in what you do want. I've worked on clients who say to focus on a given area but then also want to have a complete bodywork session with all areas worked. You might want to make a more detailed contract with him before the session starts. Good luck.

 

[Pompal 09.]

Maybe since he has not done too much work in the past number of years, you could suggest actual times you want to be worked on per area. 5 mins to the head. 20 for the neck, 5 for each arm (while supine), etc. ect.

A thought.

 

[Reku]

small vent too

When the massage was over, I felt very conflicted. I let him know my needs before and during the massage but I felt let down because I didnt get a full body massage. I also felt that he was not receptive to my needs as a client. He was actually curt with me.
Now, I think this MT has real talent but his business skills suck! Did I mention that he has had 2 massages in the 8yrs he has been an MT? I dont know if that a problem but it certainly appears to have had an impact on his timing and customer service skills. My husband says give him another try but I am feeling cautious. What to do????

Well, in my experience, I'm often hard pressed to do focus work and a FB massage in 60 minutes. But this is something I talk over with the client before they get on the table so we both know how the session is going to go. Sometimes a client will want to focus on the upper body and have me "sweep over" the lower half so they feel like they had a complete massage. Again, this is determined beforehand.

Are you saying he's only given 2 massages or recieved 2 massages? LOL, just making sure. Not recieving a massage from time to time, im MHO, can be detrimental to our work. Every now and then when I get a massage I think, "Ooooooo, I like that!" and make sure I incorporate it into my practice.

As far as giving him another try.....well, I'd go with your gut. God knows, there are enough of us MT's out there. Maybe try somewhere else. Eigther way it's a gamble. If you speak to this MT he may well listen and thank you for your feedback and give you an awsome massage. But, the fact that he was curt with you doesn't bode well with me. Let us know if you do go back to him and how it goes!

Steph!

 

[Lady Bug]

I am sorry. I meant he has received 2 massages in his 8yr career. When I stopped him and encouraged him to go back to my arm for a bit more work, I also asked him if management wanted him to do more of a relaxing massage since they were a spa. He told me that he rented the room and could do any type of massage he wanted. I was trying to get a sense of where he was going with the massage. When he told me that he had 8 yrs experience, I just assumed he would know about the "light and fluffy" to the rest of my body. Assume nothing.
I understand that it is not possible to do a deep therapeutic massage to every part of the body in 60mins because I come from a place of experience. As Gaspen mentioned, some matches aren't made in heaven. I do want to call him and ask him about the soundsystem LOL

 

[~*mISS iNDEPENDENT*~]

I just stumbled out of bed so my random thoughts follow...

First off, I'm sorry you had such an experience! I hate having the gumption to indicate what I need and then have it sort of disregarded like that.

The way I figure it, anyone can set up a good soundsystem and flannel sheets. He created a nice environment for you initially, but then sort of trashed it by disregarding your needs, even though you were thoughtful and intelligent enough to articulate them beforehand. Personally, if this guy got curt with me, I wouldn't let him touch me again. Massage involves energy transfer; that's part of the therapy IMHO, and I think the vibes might be weird after this. You're coming from the position that he has sort of dissed you before, and he has a hotty "well I just can't do it ALL" attitude...not really a great match. I'd find a therapist that actually listens to your needs and tries graciously to meet them, and then indicate a preference for flannel sheets, or whatever You're spending your time and money...why compromise?

Now Salemrose is also quite correct when she finds it difficult to do both a full body AND focus work in an hour. In my practice, when I schedule my own appts and I ask what ppl are coming to see me for (relaxation, knots, aches & pains, whatever). I also ask them directly if they'd ALSO like a full-body, or if they'd just prefer spending time on the focus areas. Usually, they'd like both. I tell them, very politely and diplomatically but also point-blank, that my suggestion is that they go with a 90-min massage. That way, I can address everything thoroughly and not have either of us feel that I'm glossing over any area. They pretty much ALWAYS agree. Thus, I rarely do hour-long massages in private practice.

The school I work at is different. The front desk books the appts and does not glean that kind of information or make that kind of suggestion. (I'm lucky to get them to suggest Deep Tissue when the client points out an obvious indication for it, like a crick in the neck! lol) Many ppl believe that the standard is an hour, and so that's what they book for. No problem, ks it's not the client's job to automatically know they need a 90-min. Many come in figuring we CAN do it all in an hour and the fact is, we can't. With those clients, I explain at the beginning during my consult with them, that it'll be difficult to get a full body massage in AND adequately address the problem areas. So I say we can do this one of several ways...either we can make sure to address full body and spend a little less time on the problem areas, OR we can spend as much time on the problem areas as we need and move onto other areas as time permits. Almost always, they go for the latter option. That way, I know what they want, they've consented to my treatment plan, and everyone's on the same page.

Just random musings

Blessings,
~Jyoti