How has your style evolved?

[Pompal 09.]

When I first started practicing professionally, I was often requested for my somewhat aggressive style of trigger point therapy. I tended to be very direct, and got a lot of requests from people who didn't mind painful work.

After a while, I became interested in finding a gentler approach, as I could tell my direct style wasn't as effective as I wanted to be. Since I was starting to see many people in need of anterior neck work, I switched to a very slow and gentle approach that some of my "direct approach" regulars didn't particularly care for. However, some of them made the transition and stuck with me, and I gained a new group of regulars.

Eventually I realized that the super-gentle method was too time-consuming and limiting, plus I was getting a lot of continuing ed and incorporating many new methods and concepts into my practice. For a while, every massage I did was an experiment as I learned to assess and reassess clients and utilize a broader range of skills to achieve desired results. My regulars largely stayed with me, but my clientele gradually shifted away from basic relaxation and much more towards therapeutic work, especially complex injury cases.

Last year I started learning positional release methods, and it revamped my style again. I also greatly improved my Active Isolated Stretching expertise, and I frequently use both. My old regulars have stayed with me, and my client base is growing more quickly than ever. And while my focus has remained primarily on complex therapeutic work, I have somehow rediscovered the joys of basic Swedish and simple foot Reflexology. The farther afield my studies take me, the more I rely on those old standbys to help me stay grounded and able to flow from one thing to another during a session.

I am excited to see how my practice evolves in the future, and to see the comments/stories shared by others.

 

[Ronda]

How has your style evolved?

While in school I was leaning towards straight Swedish Massage, but from the first day of practice, I had ppl coming in with shoulder, neck, or sciatica issues. Almost 3 years later, I have 2 clients who come every 3 months or so for nothing but Swedish. For the rest, I do a mix of Swedish and Deep Tissue ending each session with hot palm stones to the back. Lymphatic Drainage and MFR are also used in some sessions and they love that as well. On my wish list... learning more about LDM, MFR, Prenatal and CST. I can only imagine how my style will change each year as I learn more.

I've also gained more experience just by trial and error in seeing what works well and what doesn't with different issues. The shoulder work I do now has improved drastically from when I first started (of which my clients are grateful, I'm sure lol) and I know as I learn more, it will (I hope) progress even farther.

 

[Pompal 09.]

How has your style evolved?

I came out of school ready to take on the world and fix everyone with NMT and triggerpoint. I developed quite a rep for helping people in chronic pain. I used to tell them, "you may not be all that comfortable on my table, but you'll feel better when you leave". Thought I had it all figured out and would get very upset when my methods didn't solve the problem (I can be a bit stubborn ). I went to work in a spa, where I was told what to do, and what not to do. I'm actually grateful for the experience because it taught me a lot about listening not only to my clients needed, but what they wanted as well. I also started doing more energy work and found I was better at it than I thought. After over 7 years in the field, I've revised most of my thinking and am a lot more open-minded to different techniques and clients. I still like to 'fix' people, but I let them tell me if they want to be fixed. Some people just aren't ready to let go of their pain, so I have to let go of my 'need' to make them better and just give them a great massage. I feel blessed to have a wide variety of clients to keep me from getting back into a rut. I might try to specialize again some day, but right now I'm happy with the way things are.