How I work
The essentials
Let’s start with the things most people want to know before they book a massage.
What types of massage do you offer?
I offer remedial and relaxation massage. Remedial massage aims to treat a particular musculoskeletal dysfunction, which often presents as pain or limited range of motion in a joint or muscle group. Relaxation massage aims to settle the nervous system and, by extension, the muscles.
I also offer an optional holistic health consultation of up to 30 minutes, which gives us time to discuss in greater depth the issues that keep you from feeling your best. You can read more about them below.
What techniques or styles of massage do you use?
I use techniques drawn predominantly from Western styles of massage, especially Swedish massage. I typically will start work on each area with long flowing strokes (effleurage), then work into kneading strokes (petrissage), then more vigorous techniques involving friction or compression.
Where muscles are obviously short, I might use trigger point pressure (ischemic compression) which involves pressing on certain points in a muscle for 15-30 seconds. This can result in a localised and/or general relaxation response.
If you prefer techniques drawn from Asian approaches to massage (shiatsu, Thai, Indonesian, Ayurvedic etc.), I recommend engaging a therapist who specialises in those approaches.
What level of pressure should I expect?
It depends very much on you and your needs, but I’m not the kind of massage therapist who loves to inflict pain. My approach is typically gentler and more precise – I prefer to work with (rather than against) the muscles to coax them into lengthening. I’m constantly ‘listening with my fingers’ for the messages your muscles are giving me.
For some people, that approach won’t be satisfying and I’m happy to apply more pressure if it feels better or if it’s obviously helping the muscles to relax. But if you know you’re not going to be satisfied with a massage unless you’re screaming in agony (which is your right entirely), I’m probably not the massage therapist for you.
What length of sessions do you offer and what should I expect from each?
I offer sessions of 45, 60, 90 and 120 minutes.
Sessions start at the allotted time and I will typically massage until the allotted time is up. This means in reality that sessions usually run 5-10 minutes long so we can have a quick debrief after the massage, arrange payment and rebook if necessary.
A 45-minute session is recommended for remedial treatment of one particular area (e.g. lower back, shoulders, legs) and is not recommended for relaxation massage.
A 60-minute session is ideal for remedial treatment of one or two areas (e.g. lower back and shoulders) or for a back-of-body relaxation massage.
A 90-minute session is suited to any remedial treatment or a full-body relaxation massage.
A 120-minute session is a treat for total relaxation, but please note that two hours is a long time to be on the table and may leave you feeling a bit washed out. If booking a two-hour massage, I recommend clearing your schedule post-massage so you can just relax afterwards.
Holistic health consultations up to 30 minutes are available in addition to your massage treatment. You can read more about them below.
Where do you massage?
I massage at my home studio in Murrumbeena and I also do mobile massage (i.e. I come to you).
My clients value my studio as a tranquil space. People often comment on its serene vibe and how comfortable my table is. Entry is through a side gate into the backyard and then directly into the studio, so you’re not actually walking through the house. I always meet my clients in the backyard, which is an open, peaceful place to meet and start the slowing-down process. Bathroom facilities are accessible directly from the backyard too.
I do mobile massages typically within an 8km radius of Murrumbeena for a travel fee of $20. I bring everything for the massage – table, towels, music, lotion – so all you need to do is ensure there’s enough room for the table. I arrive about ten minutes before the allotted time to set-up, so you get the most time possible on the table. On request, I may be able to travel further than the 8km radius but may need to increase the travel fee accordingly.
What are holistic health consultations?
If you’ve ever come away from a session with a health professional thinking, ‘I really don’t feel like they’ve heard me’ or ‘They jumped to a conclusion without even getting to know me’, the chance to explore your overall health in greater depth may offer a new and rewarding experience. That’s what my holistic health consultations aim to do.
As the benefits of massage can be relatively short-term, it’s often the incidental chats I have with clients that reveal unexpected insights and allow them to go away with a better understanding of how they might feel better in the long run.
Holistic health consultations are an opportunity for a longer chat about the things that might be contributing to pain or dysfunction. It’s not counselling per se, nor is it necessarily advice. It’s a chance to talk about things that might only become obvious once you start talking about them, and to help you use your own wisdom to care for yourself.
It might involve discussion of the fundamentals of good health – diet, movement, sleep and stress – but could also cover things like your health history and the beliefs, habits and emotions that can contribute to pain and dysfunction. It might also involve referral on to specialists in related fields in which I am not an expert.
Above all, it’s about improving self-awareness, which I believe is the key to better health and quality of life.
Holistic health consultations are available only as 30-minute additions to massage treatments, not as stand-alone sessions. They are not available as additions to 2-hour massage treatments. You are welcome to book a holistic health consultation as a one-off chat or as regularly as you wish.
“Interactions with the world program our physiological and psychological development. Emotional contact is as important as physical contact. The two are quite analogous, as we recognize when we speak of the emotional experience of feeling touched.”
— Gabor Maté, When the Body Says No
The philosophy
Read on if you want to know more about the philosophical principles underlying my approach to massage.
What is person-centred massage?
As someone who works as both a massage therapist and counsellor, it’s hard to avoid some cross-pollination in my work.
In both massage and counselling, I adopt what is called a person-centred approach. What this basically means is that I am guided by each client as an individual, not seeking to impose my own set of assumptions, instead remaining flexible and responsive to the needs and experiences of each person I work with.
“But,” I hear you ask, “isn’t massage more scientific than that? Can’t your knowledge of anatomy and physiology be used to fix whatever problem a client presents with?”
The answer to that question is ‘no’, for a number of reasons.
Firstly, the causes of pain differ from person to person and day-to-day—over-exertion, under-exertion, stress, fatigue, diet, sleep, trauma, medication, breathing patterns, walking patterns, ergonomics, genetics, and so on—so it’s more important for any health professional to get to know you, and for you to be as honest as you can be about the things that might be contributing to your pain. Massage can only directly address a few of these anyway, and typically for a limited period of time.
Secondly, the scientific study of massage therapy is a relatively young field. There is a lot about it that is simply not backed up by high-quality science. The main reason we know massage can have an effect is because we feel it have an effect. This means it’s more helpful if I can be flexible in exploring what helps each client to feel some effect from their massage, rather than relying on a ‘manual-style’ approach (i.e. this treatment for that problem).
I’m more interested in hearing about things like your expectations of the massage, your beliefs about your pain and your body, and your expectations of me as someone who is offering to help. In my experience, these factors can have a greater impact on the effectiveness of the massage than, for example, whether I’m using a particular technique.
An approach of acceptance
At the heart of what causes so much of our pain and suffering is the struggle to be something we are not, to reject the things about ourselves that we see as imperfect or that don’t align with the expectations we have about how we should be or how we should look.
So central to how I work is an attitude of acceptance. I accept you as you are, unconditionally, and I hope that the massage can help you accept yourself.
I want to offer people the time and space to stop that struggle.
I want to offer a place where judgement can give way to observation, where things are allowed to be just as they are. To me, that is one of the greatest gifts of massage.
“Non-judgement doesn’t mean not having values, aspirations or ambitions. It means that when things are not as we want them to be, we don’t fight with them; we learn to ride them out.”
— Paul Gilbert, Mindful Compassion