ZW.) PTSD, Mood Disorders, Mental Health, and the Role of the Body Worker--Lecture & Applied Hands-On Technique: Both Days

Saturday: PTSD, Mood Disorders, Mental Health, and the Role of the Body Worker: Lecture

In this class you will learn the clinical definitions and presentations of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Complex PTSD (CPTSD), and other prevalent mental health conditions. Discussions and lectures will be led on brain chemistry for these conditions and how they present in the physical body from symptoms that are obvious and symptoms that are unknowingly hidden by a massage therapy client.

Whether you want to work directly with clients with PTSD or other mental health conditions or you want to know how to handle those situations that can occur when patients don't disclose mental health issues (or even realize they have them), this class teaches massage therapists the basics of trauma-informed care, which includes the following:

• providing a safe and consistent environment for the client and yourself
• creating trust with your client
• creating transparency about what will happen during the massage
• giving your client voice and empowerment in making decisions for their own treatment

Massage therapists will also take away the following from this class:

• the knowledge and skill to safely practice massage for individuals with diagnosed mental health conditions while maintaining your scope of practice
• the ability to effectively "hold space" for these patients in an effective and appropriate way
• the science, role, and importance of bodywork for clients going through mental health treatment
• the ability to maintain energetic boundaries
• the ability to recognize transference
• the ability to maintain healthy personal boundaries
• ways to modify your massage plan to be more effective and safe for these patients

Note: This class is a lecture class with interactive and dynamic discussions and can be used towards your 24 CE hours to renew your massage license. Satisfies 2 of the 4-hour ethics requirements in Washington State.

Sunday: PTSD, Mood Disorders, Mental Health, and the Role of the Body Worker: Applied Hands-On Technique

This class is a follow up to the prerequisite lecture class "PTSD, Mood Disorders, Mental Health, and the Role of the Body Worker". In this class you will learn how to apply massage therapy for soft tissue symptoms related to mood disorders and mental health conditions. We will utilize various strokes with the intention of stimulating or calming the nervous system as well as addressing the long term and acute somatic effects of these health conditions that live in our soft tissues and fascia.

Active problem solving and treatment planning will be covered. Recognizing signs and symptoms and applying the appropriate massage therapy stokes and modalities will be the main takeaway. Learning to pair and apply logical soft tissue strokes for particular mental health conditions and mood disorders in a client-therapist scenario while maintaining healthy boundaries and staying within our physical and ethical scope of practice will also be a focus.

Prerequisite: The "PTSD, Mood Disorders, Mental Health, and the Role of the Body Worker" lecture class must be taken prior to taking this class.

Note: This class satisfies all 8 hours of "direct supervised massage skills training" required in WAC 246-830-475.