Joan’s Wellness Corner — on massage treatment for PTSD

Massage is an effective complementary treatment for PTSD and trauma. Bodies can get stuck in fight, flight, or the frequently forgotten freeze. When working with a recovering trauma survivor it is important to listen to the client’s comfort level and respect boundaries to an extreme so as not to exacerbate their symptoms. Making the client feel safe is crucial to their treatment and subsequent recovery, although recovery is slow. Even though I tell clients to undress to their comfort level some PTSD clients keep fully dressed for an hour long session. Some choose a shorter session. We focus on non-threatening areas to touch, like the back, and also use therapeutic breathing. Breathing is a very effective tool. Diaphragmatic breathing activates the vagus nerve, cranial nerve 10, the nerve that innervates the gut and which helps to calm the nervous system. Deepak Chopra says that one full breath in and out is a complete meditation. If you feel out of control in anyway come back to noticing your breathing. In our session we usually start at the feet and incorporate energetic work like Reiki or Craniosacral Therapy to move energy and release energy cysts and blockages. Some essential oils like marjoram, lavender, or bergamont  can help as long as they aren’t triggers linked to past traumatizing events. Smells are powerful to the emotions and the limbic system. The limbic system is made up of clusters of neurons deep in the brain that are responsible for experience and expression of emotions. Warm blankets and weighted blankets are also soothing to the nervous system and are often recommended for anxiety and sleep problems in children, but wonderful for adults, too. They even help to lower blood pressure. One of my instructors made his own from steel wool and lambswool. When I conduct any session I respect the client’s need to talk or be quiet. In this case whatever comes up for them is relevant to their own healing. I am present as a witness, but only holding space. It’s not my job to judge or advise, but merely respect their process and maintain their safety. In some cases it’s important to have contacts to refer a patient out to. Know who your local therapists are, and their specialties and strengths. If at all possible interview them ahead of time so you have rapport, and it’s fantastic to have sessions of your own with a therapist. HIPPA regulations state that is illegal and unethical to discuss anything that happens in a session outside of that room with anyone other than that client. Read that again. It’s not a choice. It is the law. I can only suggest to my client that they talk to someone. I cannot make contact or discuss it with anyone, not even a doctor without written client consent. It’s also important to sever a relationship when it is not therapeutic anymore and can cause more damage. Attachment disorder can sometimes result as can transference. Professionalism is crucial. As a therapist of any kind we must remember that we are there as an instrument of healing and not for our own personal gain. Payment is not considered personal gain. It’s a sacred energy exchange for the time and energy spent. On a side note, it’s been hard for me to find the boundary in a small town as my clients tend to be my friends, and vice versa. In a bigger city that is discouraged as unethical and considered a dual relationship. If I didn’t work on my friends here, I’d either have no friends, or no clients. If you’d like to know more about how the body stores trauma there is a book I highly recommend called The Body Keeps The Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Kolk MD, Bessel van der. It mostly focuses on childhood trauma and where the ACES (adverse childhood experience study) score came from. I found it to be highly illuminating of a painful subject. I will warn you though that you will never look at childhood the same again. Especially your own.     Sign up to receive updates and the Friday File email notices. Support local, independent news – contribute to The Fallon Post, your non-profit (501c3) online news source for all things Fallon.