Don’t Fear Feedback

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Last week we discussed the importance of following up with your clients to make them feel like they are more than just a time slot on your table. Many therapists fear doing this because it opens you up to immediate, honest feedback from your clients. I can’t stress this enough, don’t fear feedback!

You will never be able to provide better treatments to your clients and help them heal if you fear feedback. Everybody is different and responds to treatments differently. You may use a treatment on 20 patients and see great results, and on the 21st patient, it is not effective. This 21st patient is the one that is going to help you be a better massage therapist as you explore why it didn’t work this time.

All feedback is valuable. You are going to learn from all the feedback you get. There are so many conditions out there that are not a one treatment fix. So, it doesn’t always mean that what we did was wrong or not enough, and negative feedback does not mean your patient hates you, it’s just part of the process of helping people heal.

If a patient is giving you feedback that you don’t want to hear, they are extending an olive branch to help you get better. They are giving you the opportunity to make a change. If you really did figure out that you didn’t do something you should have, or you did something you shouldn’t have, make sure you learn from that experience.

Following up is so crucial in getting honest feedback As the healing process goes on and as the patient’s body adjusts to what we did things are going to change. We are going to get different information. How they feel that night will give you different information than how they felt after a full day of work.

I follow up with every single one of my patients. I don’t necessarily do it every appointment, but it’s at about 90% and if it’s a new patient I follow up for at least the first seven sessions. I know this is a massive part of the reason why I have so much success with my patients. This is something that is going to make you more successful and set you apart from other health providers.

If you are struggling with how to open yourself up to feedback from your patients, we can help! Join my community of massage therapists here.

About the Author

Kym has been practicing massage therapy for 17 years. She graduated from the Northwest School of Massage in Seattle, Washington in 1996 and immediately went into medical massage therapy, treating auto accident injuries and working with physicians treating soft tissue dysfunctions. Throughout the years she has developed a unique technique that breaks the soft tissue holding patterns that develop from years of imbalance and cumulative minor injuries. She works to “reprogram” the muscles and connective tissue from the positions and habits that keep them out of balance and makes them prone to injury. She uses a combination of long, slow trigger point pressure, myofascial release, and range of motion techniques to retrain the body. This approach has both immediate and long term, long lasting effects. While her style is definitely therapeutic more people fall asleep during these sessions than during a Swedish massage. Come see the difference with Kym!