« What do you mean "could be better"? | Main | Stranded »
September 11, 2004
On transformation
A friend was commenting on the amount of processing I'm doing at Heartwood, specifically how interesting it was to be working so much on myself at a school for learning to help, therapeutically, other people.
That, to me, is what Heartwood is all about.
I think that other helping professions, specifically counseling and psychotherapy, generally recognize the importance of having "done one's own work" before attempting to help people. I also think this same concept applies to massage therapy. Heartwood recognizes this, respecting and facilitating each individual's healing process.
We can speak of the "massage therapist-client relationship" in much the same way as any other therapist-client relationship. There can be projection, transference, dual relationships, boundary issues, etc. Massage therapy clients can have emotional releases on the table. Any of these have the potential to hook into an unresolved issue the MT is carrying around.
During orientation, a number of students expressed that one of the reasons they chose Heartwood is because they didn't want to learn how to "just rub bodies". I've been trying to think of a non-judgmental way to express that sentiment, but I do feel similarly.
Of course, I suspect that all MTs need to do at least some of this self-work, as one can encounter emotional releases in any setting... I was surprised to hear that they happen in day spas and such, but they do. So if one's intention is to do deeper healing work with clients, then the self-work becomes that much more important.
I wouldn't say my Heartwood process is like therapy, I would say that it is therapy... about one to three month's worth each week in fact. In Rochester I paid just over $200 a month for the services of an ego magickian. So that means that, three weeks into the program, I've experienced $600 to $1,800 worth of transformation at Heartwood. If this continues at the same rate, that will be $2,000 to $6,000 a quarter and $6,000 to $18,000 total that I can subtract from my tuition. I'm quite pleased with that.
Posted by Josh A. at September 11, 2004 11:32 PM