Body Psychology

When you become a massage therapist you also have to understand body psychology. Our bodies are a combination of all of our past experiences. So much of what happens to us is held within the body. As infants we learn to attach and bond to are caregivers through touch. Bonding and attachment are the framework for creating the life that each person desires. Most of our relationship problems, money problems and life problems can be connected to our early life when our belief systems about ourselves are formed. Lack of touch or not getting our needs met leads to beliefs that your needs are not important enough or worthy of getting met. It can be as simple as a cry from an infant being ignored.

All of our lives from conception to death is a process of bonding and separation - bonding and separation. How well we learn to do that is dependent on the care we get early in life. Touch is one of the first things that allows infants to feel where they end and another begins.

When we touch people through massage and bodywork, we are touching all of the past. Massage can often bring up repressed and suppressed emotions that have long been held in the body. Neglect, trauma and stress from the past often arise in massage or bodywork sessions.

As a massage therapist, when you touch you are also being touched yourself. Touch is the only reciprocal sense where you can not avoid being touched yourself. Issues that arise for clients will also create feelings in you. As massage therapists your role is to stay present for what is happening in the client at all times. Your feelings are an indicator of things that need to be addressed in you and sharing them with clients interferes with the therapeutic relationship that is the basis for healing.

The pain and tension that massage clients bring with them to their massage session are often signs of deeper emotional pain. The two can not be separated. Taking away people's pain can sometimes be a dis-service to clients but it is what we are taught to do in massage school.

The techniques you learn are just a way to communicate with the client and understand the language of the body. When you touch using a specific technique or method the only thing that matters is what the client feels. They don't really know or care what type of massage it is or what technique is being done. The tension in their bodies can be a psychological defense mechanism.

The therapeutic relationship is what heals - not really any technique that you will learn in massage school. Dealing with clients from a psychological perspective requires that you do your own healing work enough that you can hold on to your feelings and not act them out or know when it is appropriate or not appropriate to voice them. Most often massage therapists get caught up in the idea that they are what is making the difference in the clients pain when it is not. The job of the massage therapist is to remain as present as possible while the client becomes aware of their inner selves and feelings.

This process differs from people who just want a massage but even just giving or getting a massage can provide the contact needed to healing issues of bonding and attachment. It requires that the massage therapists have clear enough boundaries to create a healing container. It requires that the massage therapist be able to look at themselves and get their personal needs met outside the therapeutic relationship.

Massage school doesn't teach much of this. You will see it in your massage practice when people come in complaining of neck pain and leave feeling better about themselves and will be more loving and caring in their relationships and work. You will see it in people who no matter what you do, their condition does not improve. You will see it in people who have chronic headaches that 'magically' go away when they quit their jobs.

Learning and studying body psychology is an essential part of a massage therapy career. Getting regular supervision or participating in peer supervision groups will support you in your own process and dealing with the issues that clients bring to the table.

See also:"The Psychology of the Body" by Elliot Green book review

The therapeutic relationship for massage therapists

|| FAQ's  ||  Career Guides  || Websites  || Supervision || About Me ||

Visit My Other site : www.thebodyworker.com