Defining Deep Tissue Massage
In my last post I touched on how defining massage affects the profession and how we are perceived by the general public. Learning to communicate what we do is the core of creating a successful practice and creating a image for the massage profession.
The way deep tissue massage is defined and experienced by others is one of the best examples.
A few months ago I called to make an appointment at a local spa for a relaxation massage. They asked what kind of massage I wanted and I said I just wanted a really firm relaxation massage. I didn’t want any painful deep tissue techniques. The receptionist said what I was looking for was their special signature massage which included some kind of warm eye mask being applied. I said that sounded fine. When I got there for the massage, the therapists touch was so light I could hardly feel her touch on my skin and she wasn’t engaging the tissue in anyway to create the relaxation I needed. I asked her if she could apply more pressure. She said that would be the deep tissue technique - but she wouldn’t have time to do the eye mask part. I said that was fine. She then proceeded to just do the same thing. She never asked -”Is this enough pressure? Is this what you were looking for?” To make things worse I was so disappointed when I left and when I went to pay for the session, no one asked how my massage was. By that time I was so frustrated I just left thinking I would never go back to that place. But I got home and was still thinking about it and I thought that they just don’t know how to communicate what they are offering or what their therapists are trying to do. I emailed them and I ended up getting a free massage and went in with another therapist and had a great deep relaxation massage - what they think and call deep tissue massage on their menu of services even.
My definition of deep tissue massage comes from 8 years or so in structural integration training with the Zentherapy Institute and going through Rolfing and Hellerwork sessions. Now that in my mind is deep tissue. The deeper muscles of the body are accessed sometimes with a fair amount of pain.
So how we define what we do affects every client and potential client. What do they think they will be getting? What do they want as far as a massage? What has their previous massage experiences been? What do they have in their experience to compare to the session I am giving them? I always ask people what types of massage they have had and try to get an idea of what the pressure feels like to them. Even then we are faced with them being unable to verbalize just what it is that they want for whatever reason - their not wanting to hurt our feelings, their thinking that we know best what ‘they’ should be getting, their lack of experience in getting massage to be able to compare it to other sessions so they know just what they want.
All of these things come into play when trying to build a massage practice and most do not even know how what they do and how they communicate what they do will affect everyone - not just their session with their current client.
I have an exercise I like to tell massage therapists to do who I am working with in peer supervision - go out and search out a new massage therapist online or from the phone book or from getting a referral and actually go and get a massage -even a few massages. This is a great exercise for keeping you in touch with just what it is that you do and learning to provide the service that clients need.
And then there is the what if you don’t do deep tissue or don’t do the deep tissue that hurts and someone is asking you to do that? This is where screening people on the phone and providing enough information on your website comes in handy. If someone gets as far as your table thinking that they want a really deep tissue session and you just don’t do that for whatever reason ( not enough training, don’t define deep tissue as painful, not enough strength or size to work on a larger body) you are faced with having to say “I am sorry. I am not able to do that” and let them leave your table without paying or without doing any work which is a waste of your appointment times. Learning how to describe what you do so that a potential client can figure out if your service will be a match for what you need is also the basis for creating a ‘website that works’ and is all laid out in the free Site Build It! Action Guide.and also in the free Service Sellers Masters Course from SBI!
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