File: Office Binder>Staff Clinical
Massage Therapy Scripting
Massage in an important and valuable contribution in a chiropractic or multidisciplinary practice. In working in a setting like this, it is important that there is continuity between the providers and a constant awareness of the patient’s needs.
When a potential massage client comes in for an introductory service, the therapist must be comfortable recommending additional services to the client that they would need and are beneficial to them.
The success of our or any massage program lies in providing excellent service to the public, but also in making clients aware of additional services that they may need. In interviewing some of the top providers (massage therapists, chiropractors, acupuncturists), they routinely stress the importance of being sincere and straightforward in recommending additional care.
This article discusses successful scripting for recommending further services.
Service Availability
The clinic should have in place written massage packages available for purchase. These can include, 3, 6 or 12 massages packages or 6 month or 12 month massage programs (massage clubs) offered at a discount off your normal fees.
Your normal hourly rate should be high. Introductory services and packages should be priced competitively and attractively to offer a discount.
In order to fit in with our practice, it is vital that the massage therapist communicates with the clients/patients on the same level. Patients come to our office to seek our help to live a healthier life and they are looking to us for direction. The success of the therapist will depend on his or her intention and his or her willingness to communicate and recommend care to the client or patient.
When a client is coming in for a 30min introductory massage, the therapist must realize that this is an introductory service. It is to introduce the client to the clinic, our services, the therapist, and to give the client an idea of what they need to be doing next.
During the introductory massage, the therapist should explain what our clinic offers. This includes explaining how we take a holistic approached to the client’s health, that we focus on there overall health and wellness - not just their pain and symptoms, and that we seek to address the cause of their health issues. The therapist should explain each problem she is finding during the massage, relate it to the client’s complaints, and explain how massage and / or chiropractic would be beneficial for the problem. It is important during this time to establish rapport with the client and to understand their current problems, lifestyle limitations, stresses, and health goals.
Time should be spent during the initial part of the massage to understand the client’s problems, the history of the their current illness, what makes their problem better or worse, what other interventions they have tried, and what their goals are for their health.
Near the end of the massage, the therapist should discuss continued care with the client. This should be done face-to-face and eye-to-eye.
Sample Scripts
Here are sample scripts that can be tailored to the situation and client:
“Sally, I’m very glad we had this time together. I hope you better understand what our clinic provides. Based on what you have told me on what I see here, I am going to recommend a course of treatment for you. You will feel better with one massage, but we are really not addressing the problem fully. Is that something your interested in? Good, I’m glad to hear that. Because of the problems you mentioned and the stress you have in your life with work and family that you mentioned, I am going to recommend a series of 6 massages. We have very affordable plans and I think that this will really help us get a stable approach going to your health. Is that something you are interested in?”
Alternative script:
“Mary, based on everything you have said and what I am feeling her, you have some issues going on that I am concerned about. You do have some muscle tightness and problems, but I think some of this is nerve related. I want to bring the doctor in for a minute to check this out. Is that all right with you?”
At this point the therapist would bring in the chiropractor, explain the problems in front of the client, and have the chiropractor spend 4-5 minutes discussing what is going on with the client. The chiropractor can recommend additional care or examination, if needed.
A third alternative to addressing client’s health issue is to schedule the client for an initial consultation with the chiropractor. This affords the chiropractor an opportunity to meet the client, review the intake form, and introduce the client to the massage therapist. The chiropractor should let the client know, “ I will stop in after your massage to see how things went. We can discuss any needed care recommendations at that time.”
To be clear, neither the therapist or the chiropractor should recommend any treatment for the client that is not necessary or is over and above what the client needs. At the same time, it is a complete disservice and unethical to not tell the client what you are finding and what you are recommending for care. Being wishy-washy or indecisive is not beneficial to the client, therapist, or the clinic.
The same scripts can be used during introductory chair massages.
Our chiropractors routinely discuss massage with most patients in the practice and recommend this to help with their health and healing. It is expected that the massage therapist will be sending most of their massage clients over for chiropractic as well. Therapists that are uncomfortable referring patients over for chiropractic or do not routinely refer their patients for chiropractic evaluations should not be working in a multi-disciplinary setting.
It is important that care recommendations come from the heart and with the patient’s best interest in mind. You should not be pushy or aggressive, but should be confidant, assertive and certain in your recommendations. If you can not be certain in your recommendations, then you should get additional training, certification, and experience so that you can provide to your clients.
By taking a multidisciplinary approach with our patients, we can get better and longer lasting results and have healthier, happier patients.
David Michel
Petty Michel & Associates
Petty, Michel & Associates 2010 Massage Therapy Scripting.doc – Revised 5/3/10