Hypno-massage

what next!...aqua massage:confused:

I have done a day workshop in hypno-massage as I am both a hypnotherapist and massage therapist and was interested in how the two may be combined. The course was interesting and since then, whilst I have not specifically booked any clients for a "hypno-massage" I have used the technique on massage clients who have been interested when I told them about it. Powerful - not sure although I feel things did start to shift a bit for me after I received it for the first time. Deeply relaxing - defintely. Although I am not someone who uses the technique extensively and therefore not an "expert".

Aqua-massage? I am sure there is. There is certainly a form of aquatic bodywork called watsu which incorporates elements of shiatsu.

I once read about someone who combined hypnosis with massage and charged £180. I thought: hmmm, good wheeze... tell them their five minutes on the couch was a full hour, then make them book another session immediately.

Now I'm training in hypnotherapy myself, so I'd better not joke any more! I'm quite interested, though, in ways of combining the two. I realised some time ago that massage clients often go into quite a deep trance state, so probably no induction would be needed, but that state could be used for making post-hypnotic suggestions. I'd be interested to hear from others who combine massage and hypnosis.

I once had to give a witness statement to the police (not this country) about a 'therapist' who had come to my house for the purposes of treating me with hypno-therapy (he had excellent credentials - or so I was led to believe!). He came to my house as he was mobile and did not have a clinic base. His catchment was huge, and he also worked almost exclusively with teenagers, aged 12 - 16 - he saw me as he had been recommended by a friend, and he was based a few blocks from my home.

He arrived for the treatment. Suggested that I would be more comfortable reclining on the sofa, and he chose the chair at the end, where my feet were. He was to treat me for anxiety, which was manifesting in a variety of ways. The treatment started and I was soon very relaxed, totally aware of my surroundings and didn't want to move a muscle. (I was already au fait with the therapy having had it before). However, I was aware that he had moved out of his chair, and then totally aware when my skirt was lifted and he put his hand on my thigh, and started 'massaging' towards my groin. At this point I was wide awake - coughed loudly and started 'stirring'. He sat down immediately. I then sat up and sat that I didn't think I was a good subject, as I wasn't 'getting it'. He said he understood and said there would be no charge (I wouldn't have parted with a cent anyway!) and he left. I started doing a bit of investigating, as I knew he had treated a couple of neighbourhood children - I spoke to the parents - each said that the kids didn't want to see him after the first session...... The outcome was, that he was NOT a trained hypno-therapist. He worked part time doing something completely unrelated. He was a soccer coach for a number of local junior teams, and advertised his 'therapy' to the parents as a way of helping the children improve their abilities.

Suffice to say, a few months later I was asked to give a statement to the local police, and he was taken to court by a number of people, who had found out that he had been interfereing with their children. His 'credentials' were false and he did not have any diplomas or insurance. He had also treated the secretary at a local school - she had thought that the thigh massage was a necessary part of the treatment, but only saw him once as she was freaked out by him.

I would be very dubious about seeing someone who told me they did hypno-massage. Both therapies, as 'stand alones' have profoundly relaxing benefits - why merge them?

Oh my God, Jabba, that's horrible!

However, I don't think people who haven't had your kind of unfortunate experience would think of hypno-massage as something creepy like that? I had never thought of it that way anyway!

Massage does put a lot of people in a trance-like state so, yeah, I thought it could be a good idea to combine both together. £180 is ridiculous though...

Celtia, do you think the workshop was useful or could you have thought of how to combine the two together yourself? I am interested but also really short on cash right now...

x

Funny coincidence: I have just received an email from a man who would like both hypnotherapy and massage combined...
I am not sure about it, as 1) I normally don't offer massage for men (unless they've been referred to me, as I work from home) and 2) I have never done it...

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. He must have been pretty stupid not to realise that even under hypnosis we are fully aware of what is going on.

I would be very dubious about seeing someone who told me they did hypno-massage. Both therapies, as 'stand alones' have profoundly relaxing benefits - why merge them?

Massage is relaxing and trance-inducing, yes, so that could be a good time to introduce some post-hypnotic suggestion to take advantage (if I can use that phrase in the context of a reply to your post...) of the trance state.

I both teach and use the technique. I charge my usual massage rate for treatments (which is a little less than my hypnotherapy/NLP/coaching rates - quite a lot less than £180!) as it's really a massage treatment rather than a hypnotherapy or coaching session. Hypno-massage is really about deepening the natural trance state that massage induces by using some techniques from hypnotherapy and NLP linguistic patterns (and using them in taking the client case history too). It's more about taking advantage of that state of relaxation to start gently to make changes rather than doing a great amount of change work in trance, and post-hypnotic suggestions do have a part to play. It's certainly not a replacement for hypnotherapy, but in conditions such as IBS it's very useful as an adjunct or a standalone treatment. Also I've found it useful to help some clients who have difficulty in relaxing on the massage couch to let go enough to enjoy the benefits of the bodywork. I sometimes use hypnotic language techniques in conjunction with reflexology as well - just adding a little extra dimension and value for clients.

Celtia, do you think the workshop was useful or could you have thought of how to combine the two together yourself? I am interested but also really short on cash right now...
x

Hmmm. That's a good question. Yes I probably COULD have thought how to combine the two, if someone had asked me to, but without hearing about the workshop and going along, I probably WOULDN'T. I did find the workshop interesting, but I think the massage therapists who were not also hypnotherapists possibly found it more useful than me.

I think it would be great to be able to use some hypnotherapy at the beginning of a massage treatment to help the client to relax into the treatment and start feeling their own bodies so that they can benefit more from the treatment.
I have acouple of clients that find really difficult to relax as their minds are always busy...
Just a thought
M

Hello!

Just an update about hypno-massage as a client asked me to do that tonight and I thought I'd give it a go!
Well, I think it went pretty well, the client was happy and relaxed. He said it was nice because he felt more of a connection. The only thing is, I started the relaxation as soon as I started the massage and he said that he had a little but of back pain at the start, which soon eased off. But it meant he couldn't quite relax at the start because of the pain. So next time I will make sure I wait a few minutes, until the client has setlled, before I start talking him into a trance.

So, it was enjoyable, and I felt comfortable about it, so definitely something I would consider doing again! 🙂

x

Hi

Well Indo, Aqua Massage has been invented some time ago 😉

Hi, Andy :wave:

Everyone else: considering the mind-body complex, much tension held in the body may come from a psychological basis. From my experience in reflexology (for example) IBS stems from a psychological trauma. No wonder the medics have problems in treating such issues.

RP

I both teach and use the technique. I charge my usual massage rate for treatments (which is a little less than my hypnotherapy/NLP/coaching rates - quite a lot less than £180!) as it's really a massage treatment rather than a hypnotherapy or coaching session. Hypno-massage is really about deepening the natural trance state that massage induces by using some techniques from hypnotherapy and NLP linguistic patterns (and using them in taking the client case history too). It's more about taking advantage of that state of relaxation to start gently to make changes rather than doing a great amount of change work in trance, and post-hypnotic suggestions do have a part to play. It's certainly not a replacement for hypnotherapy, but in conditions such as IBS it's very useful as an adjunct or a standalone treatment. Also I've found it useful to help some clients who have difficulty in relaxing on the massage couch to let go enough to enjoy the benefits of the bodywork. I sometimes use hypnotic language techniques in conjunction with reflexology as well - just adding a little extra dimension and value for clients.

please send me the information for hypno-massage I am enrolled in a program for clinic hypnotherapy and i am a licensed massage and bodyworks therapist in NC and i am looking to combo the two. I want to submit information to my state board to see if the will add it as one of the modalities of bodyworks

please send me the information for hypno-massage I am enrolled in a program for clinic hypnotherapy and i am a licensed massage and bodyworks therapist in NC and i am looking to combo the two. I want to submit information to my state board to see if the will add it as one of the modalities of bodyworks

Kay, I suspect Andy won't reply. This post was 10 years ago and Andy hasn't visited the community for the past 8 years. 😉