Professional Classifications of Touch
From: Mosby’s
Fundamentals of Therapeutic Massage,
Second Edition, Sandy Fritz, © 2000.
Professional Classifications of Touch
Modes have been developed for classifying touch.
Touch encompasses various nuances, forms, and
intentions. In the professional
world, touch can be appropriate or inappropriate.
Forms of Inappropriate Touch
Hostile or aggressive touch. Hostile or aggressive
touch occurs when a potential for conflict or power
struggle
exists. Professionals who use touch need to be aware
of the underlying
energy directed toward the client to prevent this
intention in the touch. The obvious is easy:
if you are angry
with a client, it is best not to touch at that
moment and
vice versa; if a client is angry with you, it is
best not to touch
until the energy changes. A more subtle aspect is
the undercurrent of conflict. Say, for example,
that the
client is late for
the appointment, or the practitioner is hurried or
angry about something at home and inadvertently
is more aggressive
during the massage than necessary.
The perception of holding power over another underlies
hostile or aggressive touch. Careful attention
must be paid to this
idea of power in the therapeutic relationship between
the professional and the client. In the professional
relationship,
a power difference between the professional and
the client exists simply because of the knowledge
base
that defines
the profession. Knowledge is power, and most of
the time the professional knows more about
the service
rendered
than the client does. In body therapies, often
the client’s
physical position creates an environment that fosters a
power differential. Clients usually lie down or are seated,
and
the professional is physically above the client, generating
the impression of authority.
Touching is an action energy focused outside the
body that has the ability to exert power. When
a person
is touched,
energy is received and internalized; it is not
overtly an act of exerting power. Although the
ability to
receive touch
is powerful, the difference in the power base
between those who give and those who receive
touch must
be considered. This interplays with the appropriateness
or inappropriateness
of touch. Careful attention must be paid during
professional
touch if the issue of power is to be managed
appropriately.
Erotic or sexual touch. The intention of erotic
or sexual touch is sexual arousal and expression.
The
issue of
erotic touch cannot be sidestepped in the study
of massage therapy
or any other body-oriented treatment in which
touch is a primary aspect of the therapy. Complex
physiologic,
mental
and spiritual aspects, both of the client and
the practitioner, influence the ideas of erotic
touch.
Inherent in many forms of massage and bodywork
is the pleasure of being touched. Pleasure
is an important
therapeutic tool.
In later chapters you will learn that chemicals
in the body create pleasure moods and feelings
of connectedness
increase
during massage. These chemical responses
to massage are
one of the main reasons for the therapeutic
benefit of the methods.
Constant attention must be paid to the appropriate
understanding and interpretation of the feelings
generated
during professional
touch so that pleasurable touch does not
evolve into or is misinterpreted as erotic
touch.
Not only in body-oriented therapies but also
in psychotherapy and other health care
disciplines, it is not uncommon
for professionals occasionally to have
sexual feelings
in the
context of the professional environment.
Professionals are people with complex,
intertwined needs,
desired, and means
of expressing themselves. However, it is
inappropriate for professionals to foster
any type of erotic
feelings with
a client, either within the therapeutic
environment or outside that environment. Erotic
feelings
should never
be acted on
with clients.
Body area of touch sensitivity. Different
areas of the body reflect different tactile
issues.
Research literature
shows
some agreement about areas of the body
that are more
sensitive, or “charged,” in terms of emotion or erotic
interpretation. The more emotionally or physically charged
a body area is,
the more the person may feel insecure, anxious, fearful,
threatened, connected emotionally, intimate, or aroused
when touched in that area.
Some body areas are considered taboo or “no-touch zones” in
terms of professional bodywork touch. Orifices, including
the anus, genitals, mouth, ears, and nose, have the highest
level of taboo in most societies. The ventral, or front,
surfaces of the body, including the breasts, are more charged
than the dorsal surfaces. We see this pattern in massage;
much of the massage session is devoted to the back of the
torso and the legs while the client is lying face down, with
the front of the body “protected” by the massage
table.
The trunk of the body is more “charged” than
are the limbs. For this reason, a client may feel more comfortable
having the legs and arms massaged then the torso. However,
this does not always hold true; often the least intrusive
form of touch is laying a hand on a person’s upper
back near the shoulder, whereas having the hands massaged
can feel very intimate and connected.
The head is an area sensitive to touch.
Although children often are touched
on the head and
face, adults seldom
are touched casually in these areas.
Adults often respond emotionally
to touching of the face and head.
Areas of a person’s body that have undergone trauma,
such as through accidents or surgery, carry more emotional
charge and therefore are more sensitive to interpretation
of the appropriateness of touch.
The appropriateness or inappropriateness
of touch, then, is about when,
the way, and with
what intent we touch.
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