The treatment plan

A client profile:  John Moran is a thirty-four year old man who lives with his fiancée in the town centre of Galway. He is the bar manager of a local venue and is a singer in a rock band. He is a very busy man and seldom has time for himself. His job is very stressful as his boss puts him under a lot of pressure.

He also finds dealing with drunken customers very stressful and often ends the night with a headache. He doesn’t get much sleep ( about six hours a night at the most) because he finds it hard to switch his brain off when he is trying to sleep and doesn’t have a day off. He is a non-smoker but feels that the smokey working atmosphere is having a toll on his lungs.

On average he does at least one gig a week with his own band. They play all over the country so he spends a lot of time traveling at the weekend. Although he puts a lot of time into the band, organising bookings etc he finds this very enjoyable. He does find however those things can get on top of him and he gets a bit overwhelmed.

Because of the amount of time he spends at work he gets little time to exercise. He was once very fit, he use to work on a building site, but would see himself as been very unfit now. He has put on a bit of weight over the last couple of years and is finding it hard to lose it as he loves his sweet stuff and eats a lot of microwave meals.

The treatment plan: Because John Moran has no serioushealthproblems, and I found no areas of tension or stiffness, I intend to make John’s sessions as relaxing as possible. I will put more emphasis on effleurage and petrissage movements and stray away from frictions and percussion. This will also help him with his sleeping problems. I will try to make the session as relaxing as possible to help him get some time away from his stresses. I will encourage him to try to eat more healthily and try to take some exercise. I will suggest that he cuts down on his caffeine intake and try to relax a bit more.

SESSION ONE

Details of how the client felt during and after the treatment:  John Moran seemed to be a bit nervous at the beginning of the session so I asked him what his concerns where. He told me that he had never gone for a massage session before and wasn’t really sure what was going to happen. I explained that he would be covered with towels at all times apart from the area that I was working on.

I explained that I would start on his legs, go to his abdomen, followed by his head shoulders and arms. I would then ask him to turn over and I would work on the back of his body. I told him that if at any time he was feeling uncomfortable, tender or in pain to let me know. He seemed a bit calmer and relaxed after this and so we proceeded with the session.

Reflective practise:  Judging by the amount ofstressthat John is under form work I was expected to find areas of tension in his body. However over the entire message I found no area of significant stiffness or tension. All his muscles seemed quite relaxed.

Details of home care advice given:  For homecare advice I suggested that he cut down on his caffeine intake as this may be a factor in his sleeping patterns. I also encouraged him to drink plenty of water as he drinks very little to none at the moment. I also suggested that he cut down on his sweet and biscuit intake and try to eat a more balanced diet.