Your client is coming to you in order to feel better. They want an experience that is going to relax them or perhaps even energize them. They’re not coming to you to be rubbed the wrong way.

A good client consultation requires more than just technique in massage and the administration of physical therapies.

Your goal should be to give them a complete therapeutic experience not only for their body but their mind as well.

Here are three ways you can avoid rubbing your client’s body and mind the wrong way.

Ask Questions

One of the things I did as a matter of routine at the beginning of any client session was to ask them what they enjoy most about massage.

This might seem like a redundant question when you’re there to provide therapy, but your clients are looking for a rewarding experience.

Knowing their pain points as well as their pleasure points will make you much more sensitive to their needs and far more likely to result in the satisfying massage experience for your clients.

I have been massaged many times by professionals who never asked me anything beyond how I was feeling. All you have to do to win me over is massage my legs.

You can do that all day long, and I would walk out feeling great.

But if you fail to ask questions and just move on assumptions you’re probably going to spend an hour on my neck, and I’m just going to be irritated.

Sure, my neck may be the presenting problem, but part of remedial therapy is to bring the entire body back into a harmonic state.

And one of the best ways to bring the body back into a harmonic state is to compensate the discomfort with a positive experience.

Be Dedicated to Your Client

Your clients want your attention. They want a commitment from you.

A single-minded passion and focus on your profession and your client can take you a long way in the therapeutic and massage industry.

Robert Granter, a leading educator in soft tissue dysfunction and a trainer at the Melbourne Institute of Massage in Australia, entered the profession as a patient. Robert says he was so impressed by the effectiveness of the treatment that he decided to enter into the field himself.

His dedication, which includes a dedication to the clients themselves, has taken him to several Olympics and Commonwealth Games events as a therapist and opened up many doors for him in his profession.

Commitment means a willingness to not only improve your therapeutic and remedial skills, but it also means being entirely focused on the client right in front of you.

Your clients know when you are inattentive. They will sometimes twitch and move in discomfort on the table. Too shy to say anything, they are hoping you will respond by either adjusting your method or asking a question.

If your mind is distracted with the cares of this world and your other responsibilities, that disinterest in your client will filter down into your fingers, and your client will notice it.

They may not say anything but their feet will do the talking and you won’t see them again.

Continue to Develop Your Communication Skills

One of the motivations your clients may have in coming to see you is to unwind through communication. Others want complete silence so that they can let their minds rest.

Your job as a therapist is to know, when, what and how much verbal communication to engage in.

Not only that but when you do speak you want your words to further the therapeutic process, not detract from it.

There are countless therapeutic schools which provide training in the technical aspects of Massage Therapy but nothing else. If you want a thriving practice, one that grows over time, then it is in your best interest to continue your training.

One of the ways that you can do that is to develop your therapeutic communication skills.

I have found the study of things like neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and other similar therapeutic modalities to greatly enrich my clients experience as well as my effectiveness as a therapist.

Whatever form of remedial massage therapy you are involved in, your goal is to provide the most satisfying experience for your customers and your clients.

Take these tips and find ways to implement them and perhaps even adjust your mode of operation so that both your professional expertise and your business will grow.

David Trounce

David Trounce lives with his family of five in Port Stephens Australia. David spent many years running his own practice in Naturopathy, Chinese Medicine and Remedial Therapy. Today, David works as an online business and marketing consultant helping other small business to get their practise underway.