Each year, about 1.5 million people in the US are diagnosed with cancer. Many of them choose to seek massage therapy for healing support during their cancer journey. At the same time, the massage therapy profession is still regrouping from the myth that was taught for decades: that massage therapy was contraindicated for cancer. People with cancer, and even some with cancer histories, have been turned away from massage because massage therapists were taught that massage could spread the disease. You might have learned this in massage school, or heard later that cancer was a flat-out massage contraindication. Perhaps you were told that massage could be done with permission from the client’s physician. Maybe you were taught that you needed some sort of additional training to do it safely. While these mixed messages are frustrating, they reflect our profession’s wish to do no harm. It’s been a slow, bumpy recovery from decades of turning people away.
Even so, growing numbers of Massage Therapists have chosen to work with people with cancer. I have spoken to thousands of them, and they tell me they find great joy and purpose in their work. They describe the great honor it is to bring comfort to a client during such an important time of life. They find deep meaning even though the work is hard at times. They also tell me they need lots of help. That good support and self-care are essential, but not enough. They read everything they can find on massage and cancer: articles, textbooks, and even research papers (many on our bibliography page at www.tracywalton.com). They take advanced training, and often multiple trainings with different instructors and perspectives. They find support from the Society for Oncology Massage at www.s4om.org. As the field of massage therapy expands, it is encouraging and inspiring to see therapists drawn to this soulful work. Tracy Walton and Julie Streeter are teaching a 4-Day Intensive course, “Oncology Massage Therapy: Caring for Clients with Cancer,” at the Florida School of Massage, January 18-21. The course includes a practice clinic on the 4th day, a chance to work with client volunteers with cancer and cancer histories. To learn more and register, visit www.tracywalton.com. To sign up for the clinic, call Susie Finfrock, our clinic coordinator, at 352 316 6991.
