Therapist-Client Connection Linked to Healing

Twenty out of 21 massage therapists report experiencing a sense of "special connection" to some clients, leading researchers to surmise that massage therapists are tapping into a healing process above and beyond physical manipulation.

For the study, author Michael E. Hyland, Ph.D., a professor of health psychology at the University of Plymouth, United Kingdom, set out to explore whether massage therapy affects clients on an energetic as well as on a physical level. "That people can be influenced through the mechanism suggested by energy medicine is controversial; that people can be influenced by touch is not," Hyland writes. "The experience [reported by massage therapists] of this 'special connection' appears inconsistent with the orthodox presentation of massage as only a physical therapy."

Massage therapists and clients filled out a questionnaire that asked about their sense of special connection during a massage session; how, when and under what circumstances it occurs; if they perceive a therapeutic value from this connection; and what they believe the connection to be.

Almost all of the therapists and clients reported feeling a special connection occur during some, but not all, massage sessions. Each group felt the connection had therapeutic value, and 90 percent of the therapists felt that it was therapeutic for themselves as well as for their clients, although it could also feel draining. The therapists described the connection as unity, trust, oneness or of souls touching. Clients reported feeling the therapist with whom this occurred was a special friend; or experienced a sense of empathy, understanding and being cared for.

Therapists felt the connection was caused by a flow of energy between themselves and their clients. Sixty-two percent felt they were tapping into a universal or spiritual source. Factors that influenced the connection were: being in a calm, relaxed setting, free from distractions and largely unbound by time restrictions; the therapists' state of mind and health; and their ability to allow a degree of closeness with the client.

"In summary," Hyland writes, "the sense of special connection does seem to occur reasonably often in [massage therapists], and É this experience is also mirrored in the clients' accounts. É[This] shows that there are some striking parallels between the reports of [massage therapists] and healers É [and] is certainly worth further investigation."