Ethics Discussions - massage and bodywork professionals2024-03-29T02:37:04Zhttps://massageprofessionals.com/group/Ethics/forum?feed=yes&xn_auth=noEthics Video - Ariana Institute - Check it out...tag:massageprofessionals.com,2013-03-19:2887274:Topic:3131792013-03-19T05:40:09.983ZAriana Vincent, LMT, MTI, BCTMBhttps://massageprofessionals.com/profile/ArianaVincentLMTMTINCTMB
<p> I've uploaded an ethics video <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjObP50RG9o&fb_action_ids=10200966399786705&fb_action_types=yt-fb-app%3Aupload&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=10151279917354306">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjObP50RG9o&fb_action_ids=10200966399786705&fb_action_types=yt-fb-app%3Aupload&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=10151279917354306</a> to go with my online ethics course at …</p>
<p> I've uploaded an ethics video <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjObP50RG9o&fb_action_ids=10200966399786705&fb_action_types=yt-fb-app%3Aupload&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=10151279917354306">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjObP50RG9o&fb_action_ids=10200966399786705&fb_action_types=yt-fb-app%3Aupload&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=10151279917354306</a> to go with my online ethics course at <a href="http://www.arianainstitute.com/online.htm#ethics">http://www.arianainstitute.com/online.htm#ethics</a>.</p> When Clients Become Inappropriatetag:massageprofessionals.com,2011-11-30:2887274:Topic:2417302011-11-30T15:21:56.736Zerica ragusahttps://massageprofessionals.com/profile/ericaragusa
<p>Hi Everyone,</p>
<p>I wanted to share with you all an experience I've had in my private practice so that we can all discuss and learn from it. A client became inappopriate with me and I have to terminate our relationship, but looking back on it now, I can see that there were some red flags...</p>
<p>Dan (name has been changed) was a yoga student of mine and regularly attended classes. He was a dedicated student and clearly had been practicing yoga for years. One day, he approached me to give…</p>
<p>Hi Everyone,</p>
<p>I wanted to share with you all an experience I've had in my private practice so that we can all discuss and learn from it. A client became inappopriate with me and I have to terminate our relationship, but looking back on it now, I can see that there were some red flags...</p>
<p>Dan (name has been changed) was a yoga student of mine and regularly attended classes. He was a dedicated student and clearly had been practicing yoga for years. One day, he approached me to give me some feedback after class. I informed him that I have a massage practice in town and I handed him my card, thinking that he might be interested in receiving massage.</p>
<p>About a week later, I received a call from him stating that he would like to book a 90-minute massage with me. I was happy to have a new client and especially someone with whom I have a similar interest. I had him fill out my paperwork and lead him to the table to explain that he was to undress to his level of comfort and lay facedown underneath the topsheet. Our first massage went well, I noticed that he was directive and would indicate exactly where he would like me to work on and for how long, then move me on to the next muscle group. He requested very deep pressure. Afterwards, when it was time to check him out, he asked for the "super best friend's discount." I laughed and told him that I could take $10 off his total.</p>
<p>Dan came in for massage about once a month for the next four months or so. During our second massage, Dan asked if I would like to come over to his house some time to practice yoga with him. During another massage, he suggested that we could do a massage trade sometime, because he has had a lot of massages and he thinks that he would be a good therapist. And during our third massage, he started to undrape himself to expose his buttocks and gluteal cleft while I was working on his back. I would continually redrape him, and he would continually undrape himself. I asked if he was hot, and he replied no. I redraped his entire back and moved on to his posterior legs.</p>
<p>During the last massage, I felt things were getting inappropriate. It was a 90-minute massage and I worked on the posterior side of his body for an hour before having him turn over. He asked me to work on his quads so I undraped his left leg. He started talking, "You know, I've been divorced for 10 years but my ex-wife and I used to massage each other all the time. It was really nice; I miss it." I told him that I only receive massages from professionals. He then asked, "Well since we know each other, do you think you can give me something extra?" I replied, "Absolutely not. That is not what I do." He said, "Oh, I figured you'd say no." I finished the massage as quickly as I could because I felt uncomfortable, however, I did not want to escalate a situation by being rude--I was alone on the floor of the building where I work.</p>
<p>After the massage, I ran out of the room and ran up and down the halls to make sure that no one else was in their office. I even ran upstairs to the apartment above, just to let someone know what had happened in case things escalated when I checked him out, but no one was around. I went back to my office and Dan was waiting for me by my desk.</p>
<p>He handed me his payment and said he was sorry if he upset me. I asked him what had given him the idea that it was ok to ask me that. He said that it was nothing I did, that it was him, his energy is all messed up. I explained that I have a professional practice and that I would need to speak to other professionals to see how to handle this. He became upset, whiny even, and said what I good therapist I am and how his judgement was just off. He said my massage has helped him so much and how sorry he is to upset me.</p>
<p>I told him that I appreciate his apology, but that I do need to think about how I wish to move forward because I want to maintain the integrity of my practice and that this has never happened to me before. His response was, "Oh, really?" as though he was surprised that I have not encountered this behavoir before. I told him that I do not want to take on the role of counselor, but that it seems, based on what he said, that he is having some feelings of loneliness that would lead him to do something like this and that he needs to learn how to control those feelings. He said, "I think a lot of people are lonely though." I told him, "I don't want to be targeted for those emotions."</p>
<p>Now I am thinking about a proper email to write Dan to explain that he has crossed boundaries and should not be receiving professional massage until he is able to make clear distinctions between a therapeutic massage and a massage given to him by his ex-wife. I am thinking back to what I learned in ethics class and some of the terms we learned. Does anyone think that there was some transferrence here? What do you think about the events leading up to his suggestion? Do you think I could have stopped this progression much earlier on? Thanks all for listening and I am looking forward to discussing this with a group of professionals.</p> Sexual harrassment in an online Yahoo "Review"tag:massageprofessionals.com,2011-01-30:2887274:Topic:1319522011-01-30T17:38:33.280ZNancy Wildehttps://massageprofessionals.com/profile/NancyWilde
<p>Hi All: I am posting to alert you to a problem you may also encounter. I put a similar warning on the "Massachusetts Massage Therapists" group:</p>
<p>On Jan. 28, 2011, I became aware that someone (a person totally unknown to me) had posted a review on "Yahoo Local" explicitly alleging that my business includes sexual services. The review had been posted in May 2010 and I was totally unaware that it has been online on the Yahoo Local page for my town for…</p>
<p>Hi All: I am posting to alert you to a problem you may also encounter. I put a similar warning on the "Massachusetts Massage Therapists" group:</p>
<p>On Jan. 28, 2011, I became aware that someone (a person totally unknown to me) had posted a review on "Yahoo Local" explicitly alleging that my business includes sexual services. The review had been posted in May 2010 and I was totally unaware that it has been online on the Yahoo Local page for my town for <span style="text-decoration: underline;">9 months</span>!! I don't actively monitor that site and I had no idea this information was out there. I have 25 years in this industry as a respected massage therapist, I teach ethics in an accredited massage program and I have the highest reputation in this field. I have no idea who this "reviewer" is, or why I was targeted with his slanderous false claims. I have no doubt that this has damaged my business and I have no idea how much my reputation may have been damaged with potential new clients, neighbors and others who have read his "review" which shows up on the Local page for my hometown.</p>
<p>I have been attempting damage control for the past 3 days and have had a very sluggish response from Yahoo - they appear to have removed some of the links to his comments, but other links are still easily available from a local search.</p>
<p>It appears that the only way I could have prevented this is to regularly monitor ALL the potential business review sites that may list us by our business phone number: Yahoo, Bing, Google, Yelp, etc. A giant time suck!</p>
<p>This whole experience has been a trauma and a lesson learned through the most distressing experience. I would like to know if anyone else has been targeted in this way. Also to warn you to check these review services for your own business.</p> Cancellation policies.tag:massageprofessionals.com,2010-11-04:2887274:Topic:1135842010-11-04T22:31:31.340ZJulie Onofriohttps://massageprofessionals.com/profile/JulieOnofrio
I am moving the latest discussion listed below to here so people can comment directly and then follow it more easily.<br></br><br></br>It is so important to have a cancellation policy and enforce it right from the beginning. I have it on my intake form and have people initial that they read it. I charge the full amount - $85-$110 for an hour massage. My time is too valuable to sit there. I used to not have one and just let it slide but the more I enforced it the more successful I became. It is…
I am moving the latest discussion listed below to here so people can comment directly and then follow it more easily.<br/><br/>It is so important to have a cancellation policy and enforce it right from the beginning. I have it on my intake form and have people initial that they read it. I charge the full amount - $85-$110 for an hour massage. My time is too valuable to sit there. I used to not have one and just let it slide but the more I enforced it the more successful I became. It is just part of doing business. Why should you sacrifice your income for their issues with getting there. I do let people slide when they are sick but I don't tell people that when I tell them about the policy.<br/><br/>What is your cancellation policy and why? Do you enforce it? Why or Why not?<br/><br/>Julie<br/><a href="http://www.massagepracticebuilder.com">www.massagepracticebuilder.com</a><br/> Toxic clienttag:massageprofessionals.com,2010-08-07:2887274:Topic:982422010-08-07T17:32:46.243ZCarolyn Forleehttps://massageprofessionals.com/profile/CarolynForlee
So I have a client that I've been seeing weekly for a year now and have come to really dread her session because before she's even on the table, she unloads on me all this negative stuff about her life. <br></br>I consider her negativity to be very toxic and I'm not sure how to handle the situation. One thing I have done is to try not to feed her negativity. When she tells me about something that happened, I don't press her for details and just keep my mouth shut and keep working. Is there…
So I have a client that I've been seeing weekly for a year now and have come to really dread her session because before she's even on the table, she unloads on me all this negative stuff about her life. <br/>I consider her negativity to be very toxic and I'm not sure how to handle the situation. One thing I have done is to try not to feed her negativity. When she tells me about something that happened, I don't press her for details and just keep my mouth shut and keep working. Is there anything else I could do? <br/> Working on a heavy person.tag:massageprofessionals.com,2010-01-03:2887274:Topic:554492010-01-03T22:48:40.756ZAlbert Montijohttps://massageprofessionals.com/profile/AlbertMontijo
I just have something that I needed to deal with this past weekend and I think I did ok. I had a very nice young lady come and ask for a massage and wanted to try bamboo fusion that I have been offering she called and I told her to stop by that way we could work on her. Well when she got to me I had my paper work ready for her to fill out and saw that she was overweight not a little but a lot I would day she was at least 500lbs plus my table only hold 500 but not sure what the working weight…
I just have something that I needed to deal with this past weekend and I think I did ok. I had a very nice young lady come and ask for a massage and wanted to try bamboo fusion that I have been offering she called and I told her to stop by that way we could work on her. Well when she got to me I had my paper work ready for her to fill out and saw that she was overweight not a little but a lot I would day she was at least 500lbs plus my table only hold 500 but not sure what the working weight is. I had a very tough dilemma what to do what how do I work on her. Lucky for me she received a call from her Mother and asked if I could work on her and her Mother I said sure but not that day she asked if she could reschedule I told her that would be fine. Well after she left I went online to look for tables that could hold her but she was going to stop by in two day and I could not buy a table by then so I went to a local home improvement store and purchased a adjustable saw horse and put it underneath the table and had a sheet cover it so it would not be seen by her and it worked great. I did not know how to handle the situation but if not for her Mother calling I don’t know how I would have handled it. I hope this does not ever happened to anyone but if it does those adjustable saw horses work fine. Take care and I hope you all have a very prosperous and happy New Year. Gift giving seasontag:massageprofessionals.com,2009-12-16:2887274:Topic:505932009-12-16T02:03:41.843ZEmma Torseyhttps://massageprofessionals.com/profile/EmmaTorsey
My clients are the best.I always have a hard time dealing with what to do when they bring me a gift.<br />
I know we are not to take gifts,but,I don't know how to say "no" without hurting some ones feelings<br />
<br />
Can you share your ideas with me ?<br />
Thank you,Emma
My clients are the best.I always have a hard time dealing with what to do when they bring me a gift.<br />
I know we are not to take gifts,but,I don't know how to say "no" without hurting some ones feelings<br />
<br />
Can you share your ideas with me ?<br />
Thank you,Emma Ethical dilemmas. What would you do?tag:massageprofessionals.com,2009-10-07:2887274:Topic:288932009-10-07T17:48:49.046ZNate Ewerthttps://massageprofessionals.com/profile/NateEwert
I think it prudent we start some sort of discussion here.<br />
<br />
What are the ramifications of asking a client, who is also a neurologist, for advice on another one of your clients who has nerve damage?
I think it prudent we start some sort of discussion here.<br />
<br />
What are the ramifications of asking a client, who is also a neurologist, for advice on another one of your clients who has nerve damage? FREE BUSINESS ADVICEtag:massageprofessionals.com,2009-09-26:2887274:Topic:242292009-09-26T22:36:16.397ZArtemesiahttps://massageprofessionals.com/profile/Artemesia
A younger therapist has been coming to me for bodywork and business advice...non-stop questions while I work on her, which I freely answered. I wanted to be encouraging. Very recently she has opened a location of her own and is now posting fliers for her business around town - including in the same building where my practice is.<br />
<br />
I feel a bit betrayed - any others ever have this happen? How did you handle it?
A younger therapist has been coming to me for bodywork and business advice...non-stop questions while I work on her, which I freely answered. I wanted to be encouraging. Very recently she has opened a location of her own and is now posting fliers for her business around town - including in the same building where my practice is.<br />
<br />
I feel a bit betrayed - any others ever have this happen? How did you handle it?