Massage in the wake of trauma

Trauma Informed Massage

Positive, intentional, healing, caring touch.

For people who have undergone a traumatic experience


At Nimbus, we believe that massage can help those who have experienced trauma and people who live with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder/Injury through the power of positive, intentional, healing, and caring touch.

Therefore we have invested in training for our team in Trauma Informed Massage. Since there is a strong link between PTSD/PTSI and chronic pain, and we specialize in helping people manage chronic pain, we felt that this knowledge was important to serving our clients.

Those who have undergone dangerous, violent, scary, and stressful events may need a little extra care or have specific goals related to their experience. Our therapists are willing and able to make accommodations in order to provide a safe space for healing to occur. Book your session according to your main session goal, you will be asked in the intake form about recent or past trauma.

Common Adjustments

  • Only having very specific areas of the body touched – or starting with one or two and gradually introducing more areas of the body (or not).
  • Focusing on calming techniques.
  • Having specific pressure or pacing requests.
  • Avoiding or adding techniques based on comfort.
  • Starting with touch only and “working up” to massage.
  • Having a lot of communication before, during, and after a session.
  • Needing non-traditional positioning.
  • Remaining fully clothed.
  • Changing the music or having no music.
  • Incorporating grounding techniques if necessary.

Our goal is to make each session comfortable, welcoming, and effective.  Therefore, the client is in control of what happens during their massage.

However, there are some things our team will not do as part of a massage, including:

  • Actively try to elicit a specific emotional response.
  • Try to recreate a traumatic event.
  • Engage in counseling.
  • Keep working without getting permission if the person on the table is showing signs of distress or strong emotion.
  • Tell a client to try to tough it out through something uncomfortable.

We can blend trauma-informed therapy into any massage session.

 

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