The Massage Client Interview is one of the most
important parts of the massage session. The Interview is how you
gather information on what the client expects from their session
as well as what they need. It will help you create a plan
of action in applying what you know about massage and help you
to perform an effective massage. It is the beginning of
educating your clients about massage and what it is that it does
and what you do specifically with massage.
Here
are some things to remember when talking with clients:
-
be sensitive to the personal information you
will be getting from each client
-
be aware of the non-verbal factors such as
posture, gait and holding patterns of the body.. Be
aware of your own body language too.
-
learn to communicate just what it is that
you do in a massage or what happens when different massage
is applied to the body in different ways and explain what is
best for their condition
-
allow enough time to complete a thorough
interview. You can also ask questions as you are
working
-
use active listening and show that you
understand the client by para-phrasing or telling them what
you heard them say
-
ask yes or no questions and also open ended
questions.
-
most of the healing process happens in just
being heard and acknowledged.
Create an intake form to make the process easier
asking the questions you want to ask there first. Expand
on them in the verbal interview.
Just asking the standard questions to rule out
contraindications is really just the beginning of a good massage
client interview. Engaging clients in their own healing
process and becoming aware of their bodies is crucial for
helping people to feel better and to also build your massage
business.
What most people need no matter what they are
suffering from or dealing with is to be listened too and
believed. Just the act of listening can give people such a
sense of relief and start the healing process. It doesn't
really matter what technique you use in your massage session.
Learning to listen is often a difficult
challenge for massage therapists. It is also about asking
the right questions of clients to get them to open up about
their real issues. This isn't psychotherapy but getting
people to become more aware of their bodies.
Most massage therapists are taught to ask
questions so that they will understand the clients condition
better and know how to use their techniques on a client.
This assumes that knowing about the condition will help find a
solution or fix the problem. Most often issues do not have
just one pat answer. When you change the goal of asking
questions to one of empowering clients rather than fixing them
the massage client interview will look quite different. It
puts healing back in the hands of the massage client and
focusing on what the client wants to have in their life rather
than focusing on the problem. Empowering clients help
clients discover their own powers of healing and helps guide
them out of the victim mode that so often goes along with
injuries and illness.
A great book to help you to think of the massage
client interview in a very different way than just trying to fix
clients issues is called "Interviewing
for Solutions
by Peter DeJong. In it he describes a process of learning
to interview clients with the goal of helping them to come up
with their own solutions. Asking questions usually shows
more about the person asking the question and their views and
values. Being able to set your views and agendas aside
will be the constant challenge for massage therapists especially
since they are often taught to fix in massage schools.
Using open ended questions can help. These
are questions that open up a clients perspective. They
can't be answered with just yes or no. Once the question
is asked active listening is used to repeat the information back
to the client so that clarification can be made.
Being able to communicate with clients in this
way requires that massage therapists be able to set aside their
own views and really listen to the client. This process
can be made easier when the massage therapist engages in
supervision to work in getting their own needs met outside of
the massage office. In doing so, it allows the massage
therapist to be more fully focused on the massage client rather
than on their own need to fix. Supervision can also help
massage therapists become more aware of their own fixing and
helping issues which will lead to a higher level of integrity in
a massage business which often is what will also create a more
profitable and successful massage business.
To learn more:
Visit my other sites
www.massagebusinessjournal.com and
www.massagepracticebuilder.com
Massage
supervision
Learning to Listen
Active
Listening
