Massage Therapy

» Sylvia Carlson - Massage emotional release? Please share expenriences

Hello Tulip50,

Thanks for sharing your experience and insights here. Without really knowing you and your history, I just have to say that it's hard for me to make comments on your experiences. I can only provide you with a general perspective, and my own experience with emotional release.

This is a really big subject and perhaps this discussion can be on-going. I will try my best to answer your questions.

First of all, when I use the term emotional release, I mean the actual release of emotion such as sadness, fear, anger. When you add the term, somatic, it means that the emotional release is related to the body. I think the emotional experience is directly connected to the physical experience. Have you ever read Candace Pert's "Molecule of Emotions"?

I hope you have found a massage therapist who won't make you feel embarrassed by the tears that come because it isn't easy to hold back when you are ready to let go.

I have my own theories about why the emotional release only happens some times and with only certain therapists. This has so much to do with your connection to your therapist, the level of trust, the level of emotional regulation of the therapist, the intent of the therapist and the client, as well as the willingness of the therapist and the client. I don't believe there is any one reason why it will or will not happen.

I don't know if I am an advocate of seeking out emotional release experiences as I believe your healing will occur at a time when you are ready, and you will find the right therapist shows up when you are ready. If you try too hard to rush the process of healing, you might find yourself in a state of overwhelm.

I am not sure how many massage therapists are really trained to deal with emotional release. When I was trained, I must say there was little in the way of discussion on the subject. What I learned is that we all need someone to bear witness to our hurt. We need someone to help validate our feelings and experiences and often times this person is a therapist, and some times a massage therapist. What comes up often is unresolved hurt and the feelings associated with certain experiences from our past that were not processed at the time.

I believe a massage therapist's job is simply to be present, compassionate and caring and non -judgemental. It isn't an every day occurrence to have someone give you permission to release your emotions, nor is it an everyday occurrence to have someone just be there without having to fix it.

Reflexology is no more a catalyst for emotional release work than any other form of bodywork. You might want to discuss what happened with your Reflexologist. What is their training and experience with emotional release?

There are some theorists and therapists who believe that a cathartic release is something to be encouraged. I am not of this belief. I have found that the less traumatic the emotional release, the better. Check out http://www.cftre.com/srt.php - Self-regulation therapy or http://www.traumahealing.com/ - Somatic experiencing for more information on non-cathartic therapy.

Like I said, this is a really big subject and there is so much that we don't even understand about the way the body and the mind communicate.

I hope this helps? Thoughts?

Sylvia