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IS
A THERAPEUTIC MASSAGE IN LONDON FOR ME?
Naturally,
a healing art as old and as cross-cultural as massage has bred many
techniques and approaches. So many modalities that many massage
therapists - experienced and well trained in most techniques - may
not know them all.
Often the same technique is practiced quite differently by different
massage therapists. And sometimes the same technique has different
names! Or the name, as for instance in Swedish Massage, is a
misnomer - Swedish Massage was simply developed by Per Ling, a Swede
who traveled in the East!
It wouldn't surprise a savvy consumer like you to hear that more
than 80% of the so-called "bodywork" modalities have been
developed in the 20th century - the era of marketing, marketing,
marketing. Registration of a technique and its marketing have become
a lucrative business proposition. Hey, we live in an entrepreneurial
age . . . and that sort of thing is understandable.
We will let you in on a secret:
Truth is, massage therapy is a
low-tech healing art with a strong artistic/intuitive component.
With very few exceptions, therefore, an experienced, client-oriented
massage therapist trained in one of the traditional techniques -
let's say Swedish Massage or Tui-Na - can deliver excellent services
without the techno bobble dropping on a busy person like you.
Fact is most professional-quality massage therapists are trained in
a variety of techniques and become eclectic so as to better serve
their clients' needs. To be sure, continuing education is generally
desirable.
Many newbie therapists (and some not-so-newbie ones), however, keep
taking workshops to try to keep up with the "new
technology," never giving themselves a chance to get grounded
in one method as a professional routine. Sadly, before they learn
how to "listen with their hands" and hone the art of
massage, they are busy listening to the sales pitch of a new
technique . Therefore, massage technique per se - the most
frequent of FAQs - is a relatively unimportant one.
If I have the choice of an advanced practitioner who is full of
himself or a basic practitioner who genuinely cares, I will go for
the caring . . . It is harder to educate the character, the person
of the therapist, the WHO in the therapeutic relationship than to
just tell the student WHAT to do.
Nonetheless, caring deeply remains not only our first concern but
our first resource, Technique remains a distant second. Indeed, when
a therapist is committed to deep caring - which we call
client-centeredness - and not to the latest modality (or the latest
massage table on the market), the patient gets precisely the right
kind of massage therapist. No tough choice is needed.
And that right kind of
therapist only gets better with time!
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