How to handle a challenging massage client? Ask the Muscle Whisperer Series

We hope you have all been enjoying our "Ask The Muscle Whisperer" series. This month we asked the UK massage industry's top thought leaders to share a challenging situation they had with a client and what lessons it taught them that they have carried throughout their career as a massage therapist? Read on to hear their thoughtful tips and insights!

• EARLE ABRAHAMSON
• NIKKI WOLF
• JAYNE BURKE
• JING

• EARLE ABRAHAMSON 

  

  For Earle the most challenging client he has faced was born out of misunderstandings during the consultation phase. At the time Earle was asking questions in a mechanical way and his client wouldn't answer. This led to Earle thinking this client was being difficult and one point he even told the client that if they could not answer these questions Earle was
  unsure if he would be able to help them with his massage treatments and that he had other clients waiting for a spot. At this stage the client said that they would go elsewhere if that was Earle's attitude. Realising he had unintentionally upset his client Earle reached out with a call. What Earle discovered is that the questions he was asking didn't feel relevant to the client or how they were feeling at that moment in time.

  Earle learnt that it would have been better to have allowed the client to speak and listened with clinical curiosity. Having picked up on what issues you can work on together he could then invite them to take an active role in exploring treatment together. With so much information we need to gather for our massage treatments with a list of questions on a page we can end up making a client feel overlooked as a person and neglect the more emotional aspects of our work. The clinical curiosity approach makes the client feel cared for and builds trust. While this started as Earle thinking this difficult client was maybe not suited to his clinic has led to a total transformation of his processes and a deeper therapeutic relationship with his massage clients. As massage therapists Earle invites us to question the way we question and see what it can do for your massage therapy business!

  Watch Earle answer your "Ask the Muscle Whisperer" Question below!

  You can find more details on Earle's latest book 'Muscle Testing – A Concise Manual' by clicking the images below or find out more details on the next Hands On Training courses by clicking here.

  

   

  Publications:

  • Making Sense of Human Anatomy and Physiology - Lotus Publishers 2016

   

  • Concise Manual of Muscle Testing - Handspring Publishers. Due out October 2019 
  Earle Abrahamson
  Nikki Wolf
  Jayne Burke
  Jing
  

• NIKKI WOLF

  

  For Nikki there have been a few challenging massage clients along the way! On the whole these tend to fall into two categories. The first type is massage clients who don't respect your boundaries. Whether that's not respecting your time boundaries, your personal boundaries or professional boundaries as a massage therapist. While the behaviours might be different your response should always be the same! Be sure of your boundaries and then be firm and hold your ground.

  The second category cropped up around Nikki feeling uncomfortable around treating clients with certain conditions or issues that
  she felt she didn't have the experience or knowledge of. At the start of her career Nikki treated lots of types of clients in order to build up her massage therapy business and to gain experience. While this is totally normal it left Nikki in the stressful position of feeling out of her comfort zone when approached with a condition she didn't have experience with. The decision to pick a niche and focus on certain issues really turned this round for Nikki and now means she attracts clients who's problems she feels she is an expert in and can offer them a really fantastic service.

  Watch Nikki answer your "Ask the Muscle Whisperer" Question below!

  To find out more about Orchid Massage Academy, click here or find more details on Nikki's mentorship program, here. Alternatively you can follow on Facebook here
  

  

  Earle Abrahamson
  Nikki Wolf
  Jayne Burke
  Jing
  

• JAYNE BURKE

  

  For Jayne the most challenging situation she has faced with a client actually applies to many clients! The client in question starts off really keen. They really want to move forward and deal with their issues but after booking in their first massage appointment they keep calling to cancel. There is always a reason, the kids, the car etc and it would have been easy for Jayne to give up and walk away from this client thinking they aren't the right type of client for her massage therapy business. 

  But Jayne persevered! She kept in touch and continued to be of support where possible and what Jayne learnt is that there is a sequence to her clients decisions. When the time is finally right and they are ready to make the commitment to their health, they do. They reach a breaking point and suddenly nothing is more important than prioritising their health. Jayne was happy that she was patient and waited for the client to be ready. The client in question is now committed to their progress, extremely happy with Jayne's massage treatments and has made tonnes of progress and referrals!

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Watch Jayne answer your "Ask the Muscle Whisperer" Question below!

  Click hereto find out more about Jayne Burke Holistic Therapies or you can follow on Facebook, Twitteror Instagram.
  Earle Abrahamson
  Nikki Wolf
  Jayne Burke
  Jing
  

• JING ADVANCED MASSAGE TRAINING 

  

  Rachel and Meghan agree no clients are difficult they are challenging and there to teach us lessons! For their example they share a client from a member of JING's mentor group who had an amazing treatment but then calls up to ask why they are in more pain. Rachel shares that she has also experienced this herself and that lots of massage therapists encounter this issue because our work helps clients drop the mask or pretence that they have around holding pain in the body. Once they make the decision to tackle that pain and commit to a treatment plan they can no longer ignore the pain or symptoms they have been feeling for a long time. 

  Establishing the confidence and the language to explain this in a clinical way is really important. Being able to clearly state that you will need more than 1 treatment to fix any chronic pain issues and that it is common to experience an increase in pain around treatment 2 or 3 as they begin to acknowledge what is happening in their body can help you to keep the client and build trust with them. If you come across this issue be confident, speak from the heart and continue to keep kicking ass with your awesome treatments!

  Watch Rachel and Megan answer your "Ask the Muscle Whisperer" Question below!

  To see JING's upcoming training courses please click on the image below or follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

    

  Earle Abrahamson
  Nikki Wolf
  Jayne Burke
  Jing