The Placebo Effect for Massage Therapists

I have made an entire YouTube music channel that you can check out and use it in your spa/clinic with your clients, or for yourself at home, meditating, or in the car. Anywhere!

Here is a look at the history of the double blind placebo controlled trial

Know as our gold standard, the double blind placebo controlled trials are what we use to test treatments, drugs and medical procedures to see if they actually work better than a placebo.

So what really are the phase 1, 2 and 3 trials and when do they start checking against a placebo group?

To understand the placebo effect and it's ability to reduce or remove pain we first need to understand how pain works in the body. As you will see, pain is 100% generated in the brain based on varying factors.

Oh, did I just say 'will'? Let me explain that further.

The first element of using the placebo effect is to use it to get the client into your clinic, spa or salon so that you can give them your treatment/advise/exercises etc.  Here is just one way as I show you how to increase the client's expectation and decrease their anxiety, thus releasing the pain relieving, feel good opioid in their bloodstream known as dopamine.

So, you know you can 'wow them' if you can get them into your spa. However, sometimes they may still be 'on the fence' about coming to you. Maybe they had a bad experience in the past with a certain treatment. Whatever it is, I will show you how to deal with what is known as negative conditioning and how to overcome it to get the to come and see you.

You have talked to them and now they call you to book an appointment. Now is not the time to 'drop the ball'. Every moment you are interacting with your client can reinforce their summation of you and enhancing the placebo effect. However, there is also the chance to sew doubts into their mind as well(the nocebo effect). Impress them at every step of the way.

This is the first time the client comes to see you at your salon, spa, clinic or room in your house. They are now going to form opinions consciously and subconsciously in seconds about you. Have you continued to impress them, increasing their expectations and decreasing anxiety, worries or doubts? Is their feel-good natural opioid dopamine being released from what they are now experiencing or not? Remember, every stage is just as important as the other for maximal placebo responses.

I really want to impress upon you the importance of the last lecture. I will take you through some images and see what your impressions about the rooms are and what it says to you about the practitioners.

What you say and do will all have an incredible effect as I have pointed out. Likewise, just like when you go and see your surgeon, Doctor, Osteopath or other professional for the appointment you would not expect them to be wearing an ACDC t-shirt , board short and flip flops. What you wear is vital to the placebo effect. Ask yourself this, what image are you wanting to project to your clients about you? Also, remove any things from your room that reinforce negative impressions. Here I go through it with you.

As research has shown, actively listening to your client, clarifying what they have said and making then feel assured that you have thoroughly understood them and listened to their concerns and now have a very good understanding so that you can help them.

Whether it is a facial client, reflexology, relaxation massage client or any other type of treatment, now is the time to once again show your competence and assure them that they were correct in seeing you. You are caring, compassionate, professional, empathetic and they know that this treatment is going to be excellent from everything they have seen and heard so far. more dopamine just entered the bloodstream. Feeling good!

Once again, we know from studies, like I said to you back in the active listening lecture that if people know that they have been heard and understood they will have much better results no matter what treatment you are giving them. I have supplied some forms that are specific to treating pain and they will give you a better idea of what you could do for your own spa or clinic.

If you are treating someone with pain, then this is how you can respond to them after you have listened to them. Once again, you are the responsible professional that, with your warmth and caring attitude coupled with your experience and knowledge will confidently and competently explain to them what you will be now doing (to the best of your ability)

To maximize the placebo effect when speaking, you wan to be speaking in the past tense. Here I go through exactly what I mean by that.

After the treatment, don't just let them walk out the door without giving them some advice, maybe a home treatment, depending on the client maybe some exercises. Whatever it is, it is something that will help them between treatments.. It could be a serum, a liniment, using the tennis ball to ease up tension between now and the next massage so that they can help themselves get better more quickly. It could be simply some advice to try to go out for a walk for 15 minutes a day to give themselves a break from the computer. Whatever you say is up to you but just make sure that you do it. It shows your concern for them not only when they are with you but also outside of the spa.

This not only shows your caring attitude but it is also a great way to see how they got on after their treatment. You can modify exercises, give advice, decrease fears but it is something so incredibly powerful that I recommend that you do this.

To be a confident practitioner is not easy when you are starting out. I know this as well because I had to start and it was not easy. Here are my recommendations to you.

We know from studies that if you can get your clients coming back in sooner it will have better effects on your clients. How to do this without having your clients thinking that you are taking advantage of them though is a balancing act.

Here is something that has an incredibly powerful placebo effect on your clients and I know this only too well. I talk about a study of people's beliefs based purely on other people's opinions. Use this to once again maximize the potential of the placebo effect.

Here are some key components that we know from studies which have better placebo responses so use them to your advantage when you can to get better results.

OK, we have gone through a lot here so I want to just summarize everything to give you a clear picture of what to do.

A reminder: you can heighten someone's expectations but you still need to produce the goods.

If you don't have much experience and are not sure about muscle testing and checking range of movement the here is something that is an incredibly powerful tool to use on your massage clients

We know from studies that the more informed the practitioner is and if they can give a diagnosis( no matter what that might be i.e. the chiropractor tells you that your hips are out and you have one leg longer than the other, the acupuncturist tells you that you have heart qi deficiency causing your stomach problems etc etc ) you will have better results. This app is a great way to apply it to your clients and show them their muscular imbalances.

So I will go through everything for you here

Here is the app that I am talking about

Now, just like I had spoken about before, you now give them client your expert opinion and recommendations based on your findings.

So what do we know from the studies about frequency of exercises? How often should you suggest them to be done?

It is also important to write articles and other ways to show your expertise.

It is extremely important that you have your clients doing things proactively so that they can become empowered and not feel like they are helpless and are completely reliant on you.

If you do nothing else, recommend this to your clients. It is simply one of the best tips and works wonders.

Using aromatherapy is an incredibly powerful placebo tool. This is just an introduction but if you are serious about using them with your clients then a have a complete course on this called Aromatherapy For Massage Therapists

Here is a simple balm recipe from another course of mine that you can make to heal with pain. I have also supplied a list of essential oils that have analgesic and anti-inflammatory pain relieving qualities

Here is a more complex pain relieving recipe that you can also make (taken from another course of mine)

Fabulous! you have completed the course. I am sure that you will see much better results, more clients, more referrals and better clinical outcomes the more your hone your skills on becoming a master at maximizing the placebo response.