Frequently Asked Questions
For Massage
Q: What do I wear for my massage appointment?
A: During sessions you change in private and have linens to pull over yourself on the table so there is nothing special you need to be wearing. Sometimes for pre-massage assessment shorts or loose slacks are helpful especially with leg and back pain. Linens are draped to reveal one body-part worked on at a time, maintaining a secure sense of privacy always.
Q: What can I expect in my first massage appointment?
A: Assessment to determine the treatment plan best suited for your presentation will take up some time in the initial appointment. Therefore, first appointments require an hour. Being active in your health care is essential to healing and committing to doing homecare given to you means doing your part. Some are sore for a day or two post-massage as working through the layers to get to the depth of where the problem arises from is needed, but the issue you have come in for often shows improvement within 24 hours. As Massage Therapy’s effects continue after the session ends, it can take up to 72 hours to realize the full effects of what the treatment has done for you.
Q: How many massage treatments will I need?
A: This differs from situation to situation and person to person, but generally having closer together appointments when more than one appointment is necessary helps to get to the deeper layers. Leaving appts too far apart means just scraping the surface, relieving superficial tension but not getting to the root of the issue. When appointments are two or three days apart initially, we can build on the work we have done getting to the layer needed instead of just relieving tension that returns by a week later and not getting to the root. It makes sense that if you have had an issue for many years, it will likely take a bit of work to overcome and you might expect it wouldn’t magically disappear in just one treatment. Generally the longer one has had a condition, the longer it may take to repair.
Q: What does medical or extended benefits cover in the payment?
A: In BC, MSP reimburses $23 for 10 sessions for those on Premium Assistance, to see if this applies to you, call Body Vital Massage Therapy with your care card number 250.545.0122 and it can be checked. Many private extended benefits companies cover a percent of treatments anywhere from 60-100%, please contact your benefits company for details. Many do not require a doctor’s referral any longer, but if yours does, it is good for the whole year.
Q: Craniosacral, Healing Touch, & Healing Sessions: What Are These & How Do They Work?
A: Craniosacral, founded by credible Osteopath Dr. William Sutherland, involves a lot of techniques where the therapist’s hands are in a hold, and do not move much yet profound results happen from this subtle technique. Craniosacral picks up rhythms that are then allowed to rearrange to return to optimal function. It is good for such a varied range of issues and pains, the applications have not found parameters at this time. Craniosacral also happens on an energetic level in my experience, and I have been blessed to feel these rhythms at a distance.
Healing Touch, founded by RN Janet Mentgen, is an energy healing modality that uses hands still or moving on the client’s body (at times off the body entirely, working in the client’s electromagnetic field). It has experientially proven its effectiveness, and more studies are proving its efficacy as well.
Either of these therapies can seem different at first to a client new to experiencing them: both are very effective for a Healing Session. Many will report increased relaxation, but clients sensitive to energy feel stuff happening and can have an immediate appreciation of these subtle techniques. As the Healer, the more still I am, the increased activity in energy-play between my hands and the client occurs, which can be confusing for clients expecting a lot of movement believing that is what makes a session effective. For healing some need a mix of massage and Craniosacral &/or Healing Touch. Why I prefer Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy’s approach is because it honors the innate body intelligence for conducting the healing. Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy is an application of Holding The Space and supporting the healing rather than forcing the body through cookie-cutter treatment and into places that may not be as effective for its healing.
These modalities are covered by Extended Benefits.
Q: When you do Massage Therapy, is it a healing session too?
A: Yes, perhaps not on the same level of intensity though. It’s not as though Healing Energy is stopped during a massage therapy session, but when I am not concentrating on being in that healing space, healing energy coming through can be sporadic compared to a more continuous flow in a healing session. When people come for massage therapy, they are expecting massage which is largely a moving modality so if I were to Be Still as is more-often required in my healing sessions, my client may not think they are getting what they came for, an open mind toward the modalities that are for Healing more would benefit clients. For some, the healing they require is for mechanical and injury issues in-which-case massage therapy may be most suitable. Ideally individual massage therapy sessions and healing sessions are both part of one’s health maintenance program. I do offer ½ a session of massage and ½ a session of healing which has more healing than pure massage would offer, but if you want to ensure the most healing energy comes through for you, it would be best to book a straight-up healing session.
Q: Massage Therapist or Masseuse, what is the difference?
A: A masseuse may only have taken a weekend course before commencing work and be listed under “Massage” in the yellow pages and has no regulating body. On the other hand a Massage Therapist in BC takes from 2200 to 3000 hours of training and passes 8 hours of rigorous written board exams, then a subsequent Oral Practical Exam to become registered. Please go to menu on left: “About Laura, RMT” to learn more about RMTs’ education, and “Massage Therapy” for what Registered Massage Therapists can do.
