Hi Luke
This thread is so funny. Laughings lots.
You must of have some bad experiences. Being a user as well as a practitioner of CAM, and I have never been through such experiences. Usually the worst experience is a damp toilet to use.
Plastic apons, that's a new one. A lot of therapists I know prefer t-shirt, loose trousers and barefeet. Some prefer baggy purple or blue-green dresses.
Sorry made a mistake in typing, it was Tavistock I lived, not Totnes. Still hold to what I said about Totnes. "Beam me up Scotty".
But I do agree with you about working from home. It can cause problems, so i work in a clinic and do home visits.
Best Wishes and hope you find a therapist that will come up to your high standards.
😉
RP
Hi this is a great thread - really interesting - thanks for bringing it up.
[COLOR="Blue"]Thanks.I have just done my first paid client this afternoon. I was SOOOOO nervous before, but it went really nicely, and she has rebooked (without being asked!) for 2 weeks so I am delighted and I think she was too. I spent a long time thinking about my room and how I wanted it to be a sanctuary and very peaceful so removed all the clutter that had gathered there, cleaned it thoroughly and had plants, candles etc and space, so that she would feel it was fit for purpose. A large spider on the ceiling 10 minutes before she was due was a problem, and I had to overcome my fear to climb up and catch it and chuck it out the window! The things we do! I hoovered the whole house, cleaned the bathrooms, locked the dogs away, and it was lovely and peaceful. I will work hard to make sure its always like that and hope I can achieve it.
T[COLOR="blue"]he key is to maintain your standards/successful formula and you should go from strength to strength.Its really good to be reminded like this. I stopped going to treatments because the room she used just got "tired", and cluttered, she answered the phone and door mid treatment, and got lax about the code of ethics giving me privacy and would just stand there whilst I got undressed and onto the couch. Being huge and fat, I just didn't like it and felt so awkward. She was such a lovely lady, and great therapist, but I felt cold often (she was having hot flushes!) and awkward about the nakedness etc and in the end, I stopped going. Shame cos she was a whizz at the aromatherapy oils but there you go. Love Mel xx
[COLOR="blue"]I share your regret at 'good gone bad' and it is a shame because with few outside influences I think home practitioners may not realise when things are on the slide; unlike their former clients!!
Hi Luke
This thread is so funny. Laughings lots.
You must of have some bad experiences. Being a user as well as a practitioner of CAM, and I have never been through such experiences. Usually the worst experience is a damp toilet to use.
Plastic apons, that's a new one. A lot of therapists I know prefer t-shirt, loose trousers and barefeet. Some prefer baggy purple or blue-green dresses.
Sorry made a mistake in typing, it was Tavistock I lived, not Totnes. Still hold to what I said about Totnes. "Beam me up Scotty".
But I do agree with you about working from home. It can cause problems, so i work in a clinic and do home visits.
Best Wishes and hope you find a therapist that will come up to your high standards.
😉
RP
To be honest I enjoy even the bad experiences because they make me laugh later and the only reason I've had so many bad experiences is because I've had more good ones. It's also nice just to be able to move on and try different peoples' treatments. I hate the rigidity of the 'official' type clinic where you feel more like a patient than a client but that's just me!
Here's another anecdote. A therapist spent about 30 minutes on the phone 'bigging herself up' explaining why she was worth more than the 'others' and how if I didn't like a treatment from a therapist I should just 'walk out' (of my own home!!?) Anyway she came round did the massage and I would give her 4 out of 10, very average. Love it when they have such a high opinion of themselves but think they got it out of a book or self actualising course rather than client plaudits.
I think this is a really good thread and hope more people post on it. Before I took on my room in the gym I used to do mainly home visits. I simply don't have the room in my house for a designated room and I wouldn't feel comfortable treating people in my living room, which isn't actually very big either so makes doing postural assessments and some special tests a bit tricky!
I think though, that no matter where you work from, you need to take a step back every now and then and look at your space and make sure it isn't looking tired or dirty or untidy. These little things do make a difference, especially to a new client who's going to be feeling a little apprehensive and maybe out of their comfort zone. If the surroundings aren't welcoming it's not going to be easy for them to relax.
I don't like when therapists don't ask you about the temperature if it is too hot or too cold. I've had times when it is very warm out and the therapist has 3 blankets on me, and times when it is cold outside and I have one thin sheet. I don't like it when the therapist is not thorough and does not address all the problems that I have. Due to my fibromyalgia, I would prefer glutes/abs be included. I don't like when there is a bright light shining in your face. Sometimes, therapists have basically used a fist and pressed deeply on my upper back and neck, even when I asked them to be gentler in those areas.
I think the worst thing though is when the therapist talks about herself and her emotional or physical problems, when you are the one there to be treated! If the therapist is a poor listener, that is one of the worst things....I don't like rooms near gyms or where there is a lot of noise in the background..prefer a peaceful, quiet surrounding. I love it when the therapist says this is your session and I will do as you wish rather than being so stuck on their own routine. Flexibility is the key. Some therapists insist on you being face down first or in a certain routine.
Loverly thread coolhandluke,
Now people have started to take this thread seriously
And stopped shooting the messenger
We have a great thread going
Thanks for rattling the cage coolhandluke,
hermie
I think this is a really good thread and hope more people post on it. Before I took on my room in the gym I used to do mainly home visits. I simply don't have the room in my house for a designated room and I wouldn't feel comfortable treating people in my living room, which isn't actually very big either so makes doing postural assessments and some special tests a bit tricky!
I think though, that no matter where you work from, [COLOR="Red"]you need to take a step back every now and then and look at your space and make sure it isn't looking tired or dirty or untidy. These little things do make a difference, especially to a new client who's going to be [COLOR="red"]feeling a little apprehensive and maybe out of their comfort zone. If the surroundings aren't welcoming it's not going to be easy for them to relax.
Yes we often hear about the usually female therapists 'fear' of the new client yet it's the client that lies naked, face down, eyes closed awaiting someone he/she may never have met before to lay their hands (hopefully) on them!
Somewhat vulnerable I would say yet all we hear about is, "I have a panic alarm, I make sure my husband is next door, I make sure I am between the client and the exit door which I always leave unlocked". There is a client perspective as well.
I don't like when therapists don't ask you about the temperature if it is too hot or too cold. I've had times when it is very warm out and the therapist has 3 blankets on me, and times when it is cold outside and I have one thin sheet. I don't like it when the therapist is not thorough and does not address all the problems that I have. Due to my fibromyalgia, I would prefer glutes/abs be included. I don't like when there is a bright light shining in your face. Sometimes, therapists have basically used a fist and pressed deeply on my upper back and neck, even when I asked them to be gentler in those areas.
I think the worst thing though is when the therapist [COLOR="Red"]talks about herself and her emotional or physical problems, when you are the one there to be treated! If the therapist is a poor listener, that is one of the worst things....I don't like rooms near gyms or where there is a lot of noise in the background..prefer a peaceful, quiet surrounding. [COLOR="red"]I love it when the therapist says this is your session and I will do as you wish rather than being so stuck on their own routine. Flexibility is the key. Some therapists insist on you being face down first or in a certain routine.
I've had times when I just wanted to drift away in my own world whilst being massaged only to end up listening to the story of how the cat sicked over the carpet that morning or how the neighbours are a pain etc. Doesn't relax the nervous system and it's their world not ours even though we are paying to be the centre of attention supposedly.
It is nice when the therapist offers a flexible confident approach so you become partners in therapy not some inferior having things done to you by the expert. Who knows how you feel better than your self?
Loverly thread coolhandluke,
Now people have started to take this thread seriously
And stopped shooting the messenger
We have a great thread going
Thanks for rattling the cage coolhandluke,hermie
Thanks thehermit, none of it's done in spite. I think there's many clients/people looking for the holy grail of massages and when such a potential huge treat doesn't pan out it can be very upsetting.
I did check the banner that says Health Resources so it's not a therapists backslapping forum and if any consciencous therapist reads this thread without it making some difference to the way they carry out their practice then they are either perfect; deluded or perfectly deluded!:)
Hi
As a therapist who has clients repeatedly booking appointments i can be quite relaxed about this thread.
Some of the pet hates my clients mention about other therapists that they have been to before are:
*Bigger or posher the spa, the smaller the treatment rooms
*Aromatherapists who are so light in their touch, it's irritating
*Counsellors who talk about themselves and not listening to their client.
*Someone having a holistic or aromatherapy massage suddenly been told by the therapist half way through the treatment they a getting messages from the dead or even angels. The message being you should wear yellow for the solar plexus.
*Having an allergy to cats and dogs that are roaming the therapists home
*Overtly placed religious icons, symbols and figures.
But that's balance the debate, what about the client, you know the one that:
*Stinks
*Over demanding
*Always late for their appointment or even not turning up
*So loud that they rattle the walls
*Keeps asking over and over and over and over again, "Why am I so in pain when I always been fit and never took a days work off in my life?"
I could list more, but I will save that for another rainly day.
Luckily most of my clients are really nice people and I am grateful for them! Thank goodness!!!
RP
I am reading this post with delight!
It's really intersting to know what your clients don't say and I wish there will be more people sharing their experience.
When I worked in very well known spa in London - I felt really sorry for all people paying for their treatments. There are many reasons, but will mention just few: sometimes the consulting times drag for no reason longer, meaning the treatment time was shorter; there's time for taking the clothes off and on; and the worst thing when we were forced to sell the products straight after the treatment to our clients. So if you paid for 50 min. massage you got maximum of 40 minutes. Then you had to rush them away from the room as you had another client waiting for you.
So since that I always avoid going to a spa for a treatment...
Being massage therapist myself - I always ask my client's what they're expecting from the treatment, explain how I will do the treatment and whether they happy with it or if they prefer it differently.
It's obvious to ask if the room is not too hot or cold for them and adapt to that. Even though as a therapist you're boiling hot, the relaxed client might feel different.
At the place I work from now - once electric when suddenly down - and it was very cold January!!! I put a lot of towels on my poor client - and after I offered her a voucher as to say "my apology". She still is my regular...
All I just wish for is if someone doesn't like the treatment or surrounding - please do say it straight to your therapist or send anonymous e-mail so they are aware and can learn on their mistakes and make the treatments more pleasurable for everybody!
Love & light xxx
Hi
As a therapist who has clients repeatedly booking appointments i can be quite relaxed about this thread.
Some of the pet hates my clients mention about other therapists that they have been to before are:
*Bigger or posher the spa, the smaller the treatment rooms
*Aromatherapists who are so light in their touch, it's irritating
*Counsellors who talk about themselves and not listening to their client.
*Someone having a holistic or aromatherapy massage suddenly been told by the therapist half way through the treatment they a getting messages from the dead or even angels. The message being you should wear yellow for the solar plexus.
*Having an allergy to cats and dogs that are roaming the therapists home
*Overtly placed religious icons, symbols and figures.
But that's balance the debate, what about the client, you know the one that:
[COLOR="Blue"]It's not a debate; it's a thread about why clients don't return for further treatments.
*Stinks [COLOR="blue"]He/She may have a personal hygiene problem not everyone is able to control it adequately. The stinking client may be ill or recovering from a serious illness and their ability or motivation to self care may have been compromised. Do you have a shower facility to offer each client before their treatment? This would reduce the offence caused to yourself without having to embarass the client. It's also much nicer to have a massage after a quick shower I always find. Another example of the facilities offered, or not offered to clients that affects their decision whether to return. Not nice for a client to be treated by a therapist who is thinking, "you stink".
*Over demanding [COLOR="blue"]Client's are entitled to ask for what they want and need; they are paying.
*Always late for their appointment or even not turning up [COLOR="blue"]Why don't they turn up; why are they always late' you can help them with this (if they turn up).
*So loud that they rattle the walls [COLOR="blue"]Jeez what treatments you providin' thar Dave!!
*Keeps asking over and over and over and over again, "Why am I so in pain when I always been fit and never took a days work off in my life?" [COLOR="blue"]Empathy, empathy, they've all got no empathy (sorry Kenneth). They have to keep asking over and over again because they are looking for answers (which you ain't got).
I could list more, but I will save that for another rainly day. [COLOR="blue"]Or a different thread where it belongs!
Luckily most of my clients are really nice people and I am grateful for them! Thank goodness!!!
RP
This ain't a slanging match you know.
I think this 'debate' is treatment specific.
What therapies are being provided throws alot of light on the protocal of how the patient / practitioner relationship is devised.
It would be helpful to know what therapies you have attended and what your feeling were on this situation.
INDO
One memorable time I was lying on my front and I became aware that the therapist was massaging me one handed whilst making a crafty text on her mobile!! 😮
what!!??!!?? :eek::eek::mad::mad:
I think this 'debate' is treatment specific.
What therapies are being provided throws alot of light on the protocal of how the patient / practitioner relationship is devised.
It would be helpful to know what therapies you have attended and what your feeling were on this situation.
INDO
It is I repeat not a debate.
I attended massage therapies as stated in my opening post and thread title.
As for the 'type' of massage I think it's irrelevant.
The thread seems to be ticking along quite nicely really.
It's about why CLIENTS may not return for another treatment. It's not about coolhandluke specifically and you seem to want to personalise it but it's not about ME:confused:
I'm assuming you are talking to me?