Has Massage Therapy been shown effective for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD)? Any studies or experiences?
Has Massage Therapy been shown to be effective or ineffective against PTSD? (Post traumatis stress disorder)?
Have any studies been made?
I asked before. This was my only answer.
What is your experience?
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
I don't know about studies but I can tell you about experience and give you some ideas.
Massage can trigger emotion which has been stored in the body to come out. This can be good or bad. If the person has been working on their issues in therapy and they are comfortable being with their own emotions then massage can be very good bringing out emotions to be felt and processed, even if the emotions are from stored trauma (PTSD) and even if it was sexual trauma. This is all provided that the massage therapist is properly trained to deal with these issues coming out and the person receiving the massage is ready for that to happen (a few years of therapy and being able to sit with your own difficult emotions).
However, if the person is unable to be with their own emotional states, or has not worked on the trauma in therapy, or has unspoken sexual trauma then massage would be a bad thing. It could re-traumatize or make matters worse. So, I would not recommend massage as a treatment for PTSD for someone who has not had at least 2 years of therapy, is not able to have strong emotions like fear, anger sadness, rage, humiliation, etc. without flipping out, or who has had sexual trauma that they have not worked through to a great extent in therapy.
>>>>>>>WHAT DO YOU THINK<<<<<<<<<<<<
Psychotherapy as a prerequisite for Massage or
Massage as a prerequesite for Psychotherapy.
My suspicion is that Psychotherapists refer their patients to Massage Therapists when the money runs out.
Posted in psychotherapy education
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May 28th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
My perspective is that massage by an experienced and well trained MT can be incredibly valuable in many cases of trauma, including sexual trauma, and in fact this is very common. Unfortunately trauma is very common in our world. These issues can naturally arise in the presence of nurturing touch. Someone who specializes in addressing psychological/emotional issues can be excellent, as many modalities do - though these types of bodywork are distinct from psychotherapy unless the person is also trained in this, and/or works integratively with a counselor. I think waiting for "two years" of therapy before receiving massage is not necessary, though finding the right MT who is well trained is essential. Perhaps most important is that the person feels safe and comfortable with the MT and understands whatever the scope of practice is of the practitioner.
Massage is specifically being used to treat PTSD in returning veterans, as is acupuncture. Some MT's focus on healing from sexual abuse, birth trauma, etc. Many studies can be found on this and on your question with such search terms as PTSD and bodywork or massage on PUB med and elsewhere (google scholar for example), here are some:
May 28th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
yes - look into a practice called reiki - it might be mispelled but it's close
May 28th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Here is the link to the National Library of Medicines "PubMed" - data base of biomedical journals
If you put in post traumatic stress massage in the search engine, you get 4 results. I couldn't post them because its an internal search engine
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez
here are a couple other links you might find interesting
http://www.integrative-healthcare.org/mt/archives/2005/07/the_therapeutic.html
http://www.massagetherapy.com/articles/index.php/article_id/383
http://www.integrative-healthcare.org/mt/archives/2005/07/the_therapeutic.html
May 28th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Read some of these books
Clyde Ford - Where healing waters meet and Compassionate Touch
Books by Besel Vanderkolk
The Psychology of the Body by Elliot Greene
A study A Meta-Analysis of Massage Therapy ResearchChristopher A. Moyer, James Rounds, and James W. HannumUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign that came out in 2004
It can work both ways - massage can release things that psychotherapy won't and psychotherapy can address issues that can't be in massage.