People with mental illness often have high levels of stress and limited coping strategies. So the Massage Therapy Foundation awarded a $3,493 community- outreach grant to the Lester and Rosalie Anixter Center of Chicago, Illinois, to provide the center’s mentally ill clients with massage.

The center provides services that help people with mental illness participate in life. The center’s Body-Mind-Health Program, funded by the Massage Therapy Foundation grant, introduced massage therapy and self-massage to about 50 clients with illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression.

“Our clients have a high level of stress, and limited ability and resources to utilize and learn coping strategies for relaxation, stress reduction and enhanced self-care,” said Charita Graham, director of mental health services for the center. “We reviewed a number of studies on stress reduction to assist us in designing program services and found that many studies have concluded that massage therapy is an effective tool to aid stress reduction and relaxation.”

Graham applied for the Massage Therapy Foundation grant in order to pay three massage therapists to provide monthly self-massage classes and weekly massage therapy.

“The clients enjoyed the massages and experienced a reduction in stress levels,” said Graham. “They were motivated toward self-care and had increased levels of well-being.”

— Brandi Schlossberg