Better Massage, Healing Acupressure

I used to be one of “those” clients. Yep, me. The one who didn’t speak up. It’s only been in recent years that this has changed. One would think that after many years of practicing massage therapy, I would not have a problem with this. But I did. It was this unique, and frankly embarrassing, point of view that led me in 2011 to explore the reasons why some clients, myself included, weren’t getting the massage they wanted.

For six months, I interviewed people from all walks of life (primarily in airports, where diversity is readily available). This process illuminated the fact that there are many clients out there not getting what they want.

The question looms—why would someone not ask for what they want, especially if they are paying for a service? In most cases, it is simply a matter of not knowing how to ask, or how to establish an environment where feedback is comfortable to give and receive. Bringing together simple truths from interviews with everyday clients, my experience as a massage therapist, and my own trepidation as a client to ask for what I wanted in a massage session, I hope to bridge this gap. My results boiled down to three primary requests that many clients never make, even though they want to. Understanding these “secrets” can help us all get what we want.