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soniaRun your massage therapy practice so that people aren't relieved (as well as pissed) when you stand them up.
Around Thanksgiving, I went looking for Somatic Experiencing (trauma work) practitioners, and found a massage therapist less than a mile from my place. Awesome! Unfortunately her hours are 10-4 weekdays, which coincides with my work hours, but I figured she has kids, and messaged her on her website contact form. Never heard back. Mid-December, I tried emailing her directly, didn't hear back.
She finally messaged me back Jan 10, she'd been sick, kids were on vacation, blah blah. Fine, whatever, and I have 2 days off before MLK Day weekend. Nope, she's either booked or can't make it for some other reason. But we worked out that her husband has the day off on MLK Day and can watch the kids, so she could give me a 2:30 appointment. Yay!
She sent me this 6 page small print intake and consent form that asks, among many other things, "Please name the most traumatic events or situations you have experienced in your life." WTF, Do Not Do This. It brings people's most traumatic events to mind with no support or trust relationship to contain it. I guess she's only trauma-aware for acute and more-easily remediable trauma like car crashes. Although even that, you don't want to randomly bring up for people. Again, WTF, did her instructors suggest this? Why hasn't someone clued her in yet.
So I was highly dubious at this point, but decided to go ahead with the appointment. Maybe it would be helpful in some way, and I'm trying to make room for good outcomes. I did put a note in the intake form about, "This can be a difficult question for people to encounter without support."
After I'd been sitting in front of her office for 10 minutes today, I texted her, and she called and said she blew it and couldn't get there. I said, "Ok. Bye." and hung up. I just didn't have anything further to say. When I got home, she had texted me to apologize further and offer to get there in an hour and charge me half the usual amount. I just said, "Thanks for the offer, but it doesn't seem like this is meant to be."
Half? Really? She charges the full amount for no-shows, a statement I had to initial on her consent form. I probably wouldn't have taken the offer of a free session either, but at half, there was no chance.
When we were first discussing schedules, she offered to refer me out, which I did appreciate, except one of her referrals was someone I've already seen who wasn't a great fit for me, and the other is someone I traded with over 20 years ago who's connected with my very estranged ex. Fortunately she's way up in the hills, so I could use that as an excuse for saying she's not a good fit.
Around Thanksgiving, I went looking for Somatic Experiencing (trauma work) practitioners, and found a massage therapist less than a mile from my place. Awesome! Unfortunately her hours are 10-4 weekdays, which coincides with my work hours, but I figured she has kids, and messaged her on her website contact form. Never heard back. Mid-December, I tried emailing her directly, didn't hear back.
She finally messaged me back Jan 10, she'd been sick, kids were on vacation, blah blah. Fine, whatever, and I have 2 days off before MLK Day weekend. Nope, she's either booked or can't make it for some other reason. But we worked out that her husband has the day off on MLK Day and can watch the kids, so she could give me a 2:30 appointment. Yay!
She sent me this 6 page small print intake and consent form that asks, among many other things, "Please name the most traumatic events or situations you have experienced in your life." WTF, Do Not Do This. It brings people's most traumatic events to mind with no support or trust relationship to contain it. I guess she's only trauma-aware for acute and more-easily remediable trauma like car crashes. Although even that, you don't want to randomly bring up for people. Again, WTF, did her instructors suggest this? Why hasn't someone clued her in yet.
So I was highly dubious at this point, but decided to go ahead with the appointment. Maybe it would be helpful in some way, and I'm trying to make room for good outcomes. I did put a note in the intake form about, "This can be a difficult question for people to encounter without support."
After I'd been sitting in front of her office for 10 minutes today, I texted her, and she called and said she blew it and couldn't get there. I said, "Ok. Bye." and hung up. I just didn't have anything further to say. When I got home, she had texted me to apologize further and offer to get there in an hour and charge me half the usual amount. I just said, "Thanks for the offer, but it doesn't seem like this is meant to be."
Half? Really? She charges the full amount for no-shows, a statement I had to initial on her consent form. I probably wouldn't have taken the offer of a free session either, but at half, there was no chance.
When we were first discussing schedules, she offered to refer me out, which I did appreciate, except one of her referrals was someone I've already seen who wasn't a great fit for me, and the other is someone I traded with over 20 years ago who's connected with my very estranged ex. Fortunately she's way up in the hills, so I could use that as an excuse for saying she's not a good fit.
Yikes!
Date: 2026-01-20 12:30 am (UTC)Sounds like not seeing her was a gift. I'm so sorry that an approach you respect (Somatic Experiencing) was connected with a clueless practitioner.
Re: Yikes!
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