Questioni am a m.t. instructor. during one of our class discussions,the students told me that they had previously been taught from another instructor that when a customer is taking prozac or any antidepressant,this is a contraindication for massage. i have never heard this. i looked in the text book but all it said was if the massage or medication counteract or increase each other..synergetic or inhibit ...no mention of antidepressants. please help this new teacher who is challenged each and everyday by students who want to prove me wrong!!
AnswerGood evening Terri. Thank you for your question. Please accept my apologies for taking so long to reply.
There is not a lot I can tell you about your situation. Thus, the little I can offer-you are welcome to it.
Firstly, I never accept that the student is always quoting verbatim another teacher. Before buying into the discussion any further-find out who the other teacher is or where the quotation was made. If the teacher's name is not forthcoming-drop the topic. This is the only way to test the intergity the statement.
Secondly, very little research is done on massage. Most of the research I have found over the years-I already knew in the early 1980's-not the 1990's and Two Thousands. My findings were obviously very hit and miss-but the answers were kosher. I very much doubt that specific research has been done already on the effects of massage with prozac in a controlled environment.
A client taking prozac and antidepressants is a sick person. Massage practitioner's should not be treating those clients until they have gone into full recovery and remission. This point is not negotiable. If the client has any relapse for any reason-who do you think is going to be blamed? The point of least resistance. The massage practitioner can be hung out for thousands of Dollars. Sorry to be sounding so negative-but I would rather warn and scare practitioners away from those clients rather than encourage the practitioner to be cavalier.
Thirdly-if such a client approached me with their consumming prozac or other antidepressants-I would ask them to tell me what they know about massage and why they think a massage is what is called for. The answer is going to have to be very convincing against the above background and guidelines. (I hope you understand that point Terri).
I fall into the school of thought which says:
Never deny
Seldom affirm
Always distinguish.
I would let the class prove their point without defending mine!!
Massage attracts a litany of heresies everyday. Tell the students to listen carefully and with discrimination to everybody-and take on board the information their future clients want them to know. Why?
Well, the student's can wallpaper their consulting rooms with certificates and degrees of every sort. The students may not know it-but their next quality control officer is actually their client. Their clients are not interested in all their certificates-all the client wants to find out-is whether or not the practitioner knows what they are doing.
Fourthly-prove you wrong!! Let them try. Aristotle said:
The Greatness of any teacher is never
found in themselves
but in their students.
I agree with Aristotle. Look through all their critical minds. That is usually fear-they learnt something new. If you want to test their knowledge-give them multi-choice questions-five a day. Just see how well they answer simple questions. I assure you-their attitude will change when they fail simple questions.
Tell the class:
"I want to test my bearings with my teaching-you're all doing so well. I'm very pleased with your progress. Please answer these questions for me and we'll see how well you are doing". Make sure the class hands the answers onto you-complete with the pupils names. Now wait and see!! You'll have heaps of fun Terri. I wish I could be there when the students see how hard simple questions are to answer. If the whole class gets the questions right-you made the test too simple. Try harder questions.
Make it clear to the students Terri-you want them all to be better than you. But that standard is decided by their clients-not you.
My clients will not recommend me to anyone. I am their private, personal, secret weapon. If anybody asks my clients who massages them-the standard lies apply. If asked if it is me, whoa! you want to hear the lies my own clients tell their competitors about me! I have never shown any of my clients one solitary certificate or Association Membership. Whether or not I know any anatomy does not impress my clients. All my clients are interested in with me-is what is in me for them. That is, injury free performance. Nothing more. Nothing less.
I could waffle on for hours Terri-I doubt that I could answer your question any better. In fact, I doubt that I even answered your question. But, you are most welcome to contact me again with any questions or comments.
PS I made saints out of all the nuns and priests whoever taught me at school. Please keep in touch and let me know your progress.
Good Luck and Peace from New Zealand.
Cheers
