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Ep 79 – Toxic Mold Syndrome: “I Have a Client Who …” Pathology Conversations with Ruth Werner
02/26/2021
A new client calls for a manual lymph drainage session, and they have a diagnosis the massage therapist has never heard of—toxic mold syndrome. Information online about this condition is confusing and inconsistent. What is toxic mold syndrome? Does it even exist? Why is it so controversial? And most of all, what can we do to help this client?
Ep 78 – Video 101: Intimidation-Free Tips for Practice Promotion with The Massage Nerd Ryan Hoyme
02/22/2021
Video can be key to promoting and growing your practice. Yes, it may be intimidating, but learning a few skills can introduce potential clients to yourself and existing clients to the full gamut of your techniques and modalities. Bring your website and social content to life and beyond the written word. Ryan Hoyme, the Massage Nerd, tells you which platforms to use and lets you in on equipment choices.
02/19/2021
A client with a serious circulatory problem—a failed femoral-popliteal bypass, or “fem-pop” surgery—wants a massage while he’s waiting for his next procedure. There’s no data on massage and failed fem-pops at all. What can this massage therapist do? In this episode, we look at fem-pop surgeries and the reasons why a person might need it. Then, we take apart some of the variables that go into making decisions about massage therapy for this client. It’s a critical-thinking exercise with immediate repercussions for this client and his health and comfort.
Ep 76 – Learning by Being a Client with Cindy Williams
02/16/2021
Being a client makes you a better therapist. Besides the obvious self-care benefits, it heightens your awareness of good bodywork and the specifics that make or break a session. Listen as Cindy Williams puts on her professional educator hat and details moments from a challenging bodywork session where she was the client and her suggestions for improvement.
Ep 75 – Kidney Donor: “I Have a Client Who …” Pathology Conversations with Ruth Werner
02/12/2021
A contributor has an unusual question: how soon can I work with someone who recently donated a kidney? We have lots of information about massage therapy for people on dialysis, and known cautions for transplant recipients, but we don’t know much about how to help living donors. In this episode, we take a look at what it’s like to give up a kidney and what kinds of accommodations for massage that requires.
Ep 74 – Tackling the Tough Stuff: Charting, Billing, Pain Management, Research with Diana Thompson
02/08/2021
Doing the hard work has always been in Diana Thompson’s blood. From an early age, philanthropy and health-care inequities fueled her passions. Diana talks with us about the importance of charting and record keeping as critical steps in acting “like health-care providers,” the importance of participation in the client-therapist relationship, and resetting goals with clients to inform their long-term, committed therapeutic wellness path.
Ep 73 – Pregnant + Hand Pain: “I Have a Client Who …” Pathology Conversations with Ruth Werner
02/05/2021
A client is seven months pregnant and has severe pain in both hands and wrists. Is it carpal tunnel? Can massage help? The answers are yes, maybe, AND—watch out for a significant risk.
02/02/2021
Australian practitioner Elicia Crook tells us what it takes to rebook with success—and integrity and heart-centered-ness. She learned from working in a chiropractic office (where she met a retention ninja) and a spa (where she learned about retail sales) and then created a mashup in her business Massage Champions.
01/28/2021
A client has frozen shoulder: a painful, limiting condition, and she is prescribed a powerful drug (methylprednisolone) to help manage it. When it is appropriate for massage to enter this situation?
Ep 70 – Every Session is an Opportunity with Massage Therapy Foundation President Douglas Nelson
01/25/2021
Massage & Bodywork columnist (Table Lessons) and MTF President Douglas Nelson discusses honoring the uniqueness of every therapeutic encounter and remaining open and curious to each client. We discuss the partnership between client and practitioner, outline strong leadership during the pandemic, and define the difference between excellence and art in the work.
Ep 69 – Vertigo: “I Have a Client Who …” Pathology Conversations with Ruth Werner
01/22/2021
A young client has had dizzy spells and neck pain with stiffness for three years. His doctor can’t find anything wrong, and—huzzah!—suggests massage therapy to help. What is the source of his vertigo? Can massage help?
Ep 68 – Muscular Therapy: Built from Curiosity with Dr. Ben Benjamin
01/19/2021
Dr. Ben Benjamin offers his inspirational path—a career driven by his consistent curiosity. Benjamin became interested in the healing power of touch when working with a local manual therapist in his youth to address injuries. Benjamin’s work now includes communication skills, and he occasionally serves as an expert witness in cases of client and practitioner impropriety.
The International SPA Association (ISPA) has announced winners of the 2022 ISPA Innovate Awards, celebrating members whose thoughtful and creative innovations advance the spa industry.
The Nevada legislature introduced Senate Bill 270, the Massage Compact, in March 2023. If you believe an interstate license would benefit massage therapists, write a letter to your representatives.
The Minnesota legislature introduced Senate File 967 and House File 973 in late January. If signed into law, the bills would require statewide licensure for massage and Asian bodywork therapists.
Taking inspiration from a recent ABMP Facebook thread on the subject, freelance writer and LMT Cindy Williams put together a list of her top eight things she loves about being a massage therapist.
Monthly membership programs can turn occasional clients into regulars—and provide you with a steady, reliable stream of income.
Here’s a short list of things that might make us think of skin cancer, but they’re not skin cancer.
In this episode of The ABMP Podcast, Kristin and Darren speak with Ben Brown, founder of HND + TMPL Massage Therapy, about how sound affects the body, mind, and spirit.
ABMP is excited to announce we’ve partnered with Dr. Joe Muscolino to add 83 animated illustration videos and 80 muscle-specific cadaver dissection videos to our already stellar ABMP Five-Minute Muscles program, giving massage therapists even more muscle information at their fingertips.
A massage therapist lives and works near the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment site. They want to know about the possible risks of working with people exposed to chemical toxins.
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