Got my first bad review from a client in clnicals today :(

[The man with the plan]

I am in my second week of clinicals, and until this point all my feedback has been excellent. I really want to do a good job, and really care about how my clients feel. Well today I had a gentleman who did not want anything but his back, neck, shoulders and feet worked on, with extra special care for his lower back. Well I got through the entire 50 minute session, and was finishing up, and gave his ears a little squishing when he exclaimed "do that like 5 more times!" so I did, putting me just a few minutes over the session time, and then he decided to tell me that now I should spend the next twenty minutes on his lower back again! UHH times up buddy... but I didn't tell him that, instead I gave his lower back a little extra work, and went 10 minutes over the session time... no big deal, but when he didn't get his extra 20 minutes that he wanted he gave me all horrible reviews. Until now I have gotten nothing but excellents, and I knew the day would come when I would find someone I could not please, but it still dosen't make me feel good. Has anyone else gotten bad reviews in clinicals before? Any tips for dealing with it? Should I just let it roll off my shoulders, or should I give people who want an extra 20 minutes for free what they want?

 

[Greek Godess]

Lilla, I wouldn't worry too too much about it...

Learn what you can from all the experiences, and sometimes that could mean positives or negatives. I mean, every client is not going to be exactly the same. Some are going to be downright picky, strange, or push your buttons or your boundaries. It would be a little different in the real world since if you really wanted to you could pick and choose your clients which you can't do in clinic. It's good though because it gives you the experience of dealing with different situations and people and how to handle whatever comes your way. Even mishaps or mistakes aren't really bad; even though we don't always relish them, in hindsight we tend to realize that they wound up teaching us a lot of good lessons and providing valuable information. By all means, people pushing you to do extra work or extra time over what you agreed upon and are comfortable with IS an issue on several levels IMO and needs to be addressed. The fact that you are questioning it and how you worded in sounds like it's mostly him, but the part you are responisble for is how you deal a situation like that. Be glad it came up now! That's what clinic is for: learning!

Plus, on top of it, you got glowing reviews in the rest of your clinic trials so feel good about that! If you've had one blah review in the midst of other fantastic reviews, remember that no one is 100% perfect and it sounds like you're doing fabulously. I'd had some REALLY kooky things happen to me during clinic and so did some of my classmates, but you get through it. Look at what happened as a learning experience. It really can build your confidence in knowing that you can handle whatever comes your way. Mull it over to see what parts of the interaction YOU could/would have handled differently, and just release the rest so you can meet the next client with openess (in other words, don't hold on to the negative feelings and worry).

You'll be fine! Best of luck to you!

Namaste,
G

 

[Meganne M]

Thanks for the reply

Thank you so much for taking the time out to reply, and you are right, I will just have to improve what I can and let the rest go, and breathe. Definately glad it happened in clinicals, so I can learn how to deal with it now instead of later when I am licensed.

 

[Roberto R]

Hi Lilla,

Try not to worry. That guy was pushing boundaries, but even if he wasn't, everyone is different. When I was still a student, one of my practice clients hated the massage I gave her. I just couldn't get deep enough for her. So, I referred her to a professional who is REALLY good at deep tissue, and sent her on her way. Different strokes for different folks! : Do what you can to make your clients happy, but if you can't give them what they ask for, refer them out. Good way to make friends in the industry too!

Emily

 

[Spider_Titan]

Got my first bad review from a client in clnicals today

Well I got through the entire 50 minute session, and was finishing up, and gave his ears a little squishing when he exclaimed "do that like 5 more times!" so I did, putting me just a few minutes over the session time, and then he decided to tell me that now I should spend the next twenty minutes on his lower back again! UHH times up buddy... but I didn't tell him that, instead I gave his lower back a little extra work, and went 10 minutes over the session time... no big deal, but when he didn't get his extra 20 minutes that he wanted he gave me all horrible reviews. Has anyone else gotten bad reviews in clinicals before? Any tips for dealing with it? Should I just let it roll off my shoulders, or should I give people who want an extra 20 minutes for free what they want?

Has anyone else gotten bad reviews in clinicals before? I didn't have this happen to me in student clinic, but it happened to someone very close to me and I now see the damage it can do. At the time I just thought "this is a learning experience and you just learn from the comments - get over it", but the person was truly hurt.

Any tips for dealing with it? I think you have to try and let it go, but it can be hard for someone who is a gentle spirit.

Should I just let it roll off my shoulders, or should I give people who want an extra 20 minutes for free what they want? I am going to suggest another way to handle this if it comes up again. Let the client know that the time is unfortunately up and that you are bound by the clinic's schedule, but they are welcome to re-schedule another appointment with you for tomorrow or the next day if they feel they need more work. If you know you have a second hour avaliable to follow, you could ask the client if they would like to take the next hour, explain the charge and that you will need to excuse yourself for a moment in order to ask the clinic director if it would be ok to work on the client for a second session. Let them know you will be back in a few minutes to let them know if you will be allowed to tack on the second session. Ask them to relax and listen to the music while you are gone.

Hope that helps.

 

[smdiner]

:iagree: Especially with the last part of Pueppi's post..... if there's time available and you know, discuss it with the client, okay it with the director and go from there. Otherwise, "Sorry, time's up. Hasta la vista!"

When I was in school we had to give professional therapists massages for a grade as part of our requirements. Sailed through all of them but 1. The guy failed me miserably. This was also the guy with whom I'd made an appointment to receive a professional massage [school paid for it] and then give the therapist a full body massage. He didn't let me know that he decided to go swimming. Now, it was truly 104 degrees in the shade, I had to drive and hour and a half to his place one way, and the turkey wasn't there. Waited for 1/2 hour, just in case he had been in with a client or whatever. Found a pay phone [no cell phones back then] called the school, told them not to pay him for the massage I had scheduled and through a royal hissy fit. Because he got in trouble for ditching the scheduled appointment, nothing, absolutely nothing I did was right. Didn't matter. Nine other professional therapists gave me raves. Passed that portion of the requirements easily.

You'll do just fine in your clinicals. You sound like you have your professional attitude building quite nicely. Good luck with school.

 

[MargieY]

Clinicals

Clinicals are only there for the therapist to have documented practice. My school did not look at our reviews, and I am glad. Every one of my classmates took those reviews to heart. Later you will learn that your clinical clients are just that. Most of them came to our school to get thier $20 massage every week, but never stepped into a spa or any other practice for a massage and refused to because it would not be $20. I have learned that when you work in a place where a client can complain to someone other than you, they will. If they don't like your massage in a private setting they don't come back. And most importantly everybodys touch is different. I worked in a spa where you had to massage the spa managers at the interview. She loved my massage. A few months later when I was bringing more clients than the more seasoned therapist, she said my massage was "Lacking," but she had only had that one massage from me that got me the job. So, if you know in your heart that you are a great massage therapist, then you are, don't let no one tell you different.

 

[jeulo16]

I had something similar happen to me today working at the spa. I finish the 50 minute massage, tell her to take her time, start to walk out, "Oh, can I ask you a question?" pause. me: "Sure," step closer to her and give her my full attention, "Can you spend some more time on my face?" She had specifically asked for some facial massage and I had already spent extra time there. I had done her facework about half way through the massage and she made no comment during that time. Here's what I said,

"No, I'm sorry. But next time, if you want some extra time on your face or elsewhere, ask me DURING the massage and I'll be happy to."

I mean, DUH! The massage is over. No, you can't have more time.

She tipped me $20. And I felt great for standing my ground. It sounds like you're a great therapist. Learning to put everything into your work, while not being attached to whether the person "liked it" or not will come with time.

I have a particular disdain for people who try to "get more" out of the massage. My tip for dealing with this particular situation is to realize that this guy's bad review doesn't have anything to do with the quality of session you gave him, but with the fact that he "couldn't get his way" and he's pouting like a 5 year old. It does sound similar to AnastasiaB's situation.

You will do great! You are already taking the time to look at it in depth, good job.

 

[Military Gurl Condria]

Oh, definitely don't let it get to you! I know how hard it is to not take these things personally, we put a lot of care and a lot of ourselves into a massage session, but you'll need to figure out some way to forgive yourself for not pleasing everyone all the time.

Personally, this is how I would handle someone asking for more work on an area after time has pretty much expired: "Actually, that's about all our time...hmm, here, let me take just a moment extra for you." Then I'd do a several of slow, deliberate compressions on the requested location, or pressure points if it's the face, and focus my intention on that area. I end pretty much all my sessions with some energetic/polarity work, and so I'd let my resting stroke become warmth above the area. Thirty to forty-five seconds, maybe, past when I thought I'd end.

I like the suggestion to encourage re-booking. I may add that, once you're out of the student clinic, to discuss scheduling a longer session to address everything the client wants in a single session.