Using Movies to Teach

I love introducing films into the classroom to illustrate topics. Educational video is great, but I'm talking about Hollywood. Nothing pulls in a student like a good story and the nice thing about a movie is that it wraps it all up in a tidy, 2-hour package. It is something that a student can relate to and it will engage them in their learning.

Prepare the Student

The important thing about using movies as instructional tools is to set the stage appropriately and follow up after. Typically, I show a film after I've had a lesson or series of lessons about the themes I want the film to illustrate. That way the class has already had a discussion about the theory and the film can demonstrate a "real life" application, albeit a dramatized one. To set the stage right, you need to give the student some information to look for while watching. This will change the viewing experience from a passive role to an active one. They will be searching the material for information and they will be comparing it to what they already know.

Follow It Up

Just as important as setting the stage is the follw up. The film should be followed by an activity to integrate the learning; ideally an activity that will allow the students to come together in their understanding. A good method is to have the students write a reaction paper to the film, giving them some guidelines for their discussion and tying their own emotional reactions to the material. Then bringing the students together in a discussion will emphasis the themes. Many students will come to the same conclusions, but they will all have different takes and some students will surprise you with what they find.

The Legend of Bagger Vance

I'm going to use this movie as an example of one of the films I use in class. In one particular class, we discuss the theory behind many topics vital to a massage therapist's success - ethics, boundaries, relationships, communication, thinking vs. feeling... all of which are addressed in this film.

Other Films:

1. Contact - Beliefs, values, persistence, communication, relationships
2. Pay It Forward - Ethics, values, social responsibility

The great thing is that the film brings the "real world" into the classroom. It gives the students a break from listening to a lecture from their regular instructor (students always love guest speakers). But the main advantage of using film to illustrate a point is that it gets the students thinking situationally - outside the classroom.

What films can you think of that could be used to teach?

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Your Perception Is Your Reality

“Your perception is your reality”

I recently heard someone say this and I thought it would make a great critical thinking question, especially when applied in context to massage and our client relationships. This is a pretty deep statement and has implications that affect all aspects of our lives. Many times people perceive what they want to perceive. In class, we identified five areas of impact – personally, professionally, communication, your clients, and your work.

Personal Perceptions

Your personal perceptions dramatically affect your own self-esteem and relationships. In essence, your own self-perception is actually the basis of self-esteem. Relationships also have a large element of perception. I know that I have seen people that when they state “I’m not happy in my relationship” it is less of an observation and more of a decision. They have decided that they are not happy and that nothing about it ever will. Others seem to be able to make it through hard times by having the faith that it is only a temporary struggle and that brighter times are ahead. We call these kinds of perceptions a person’s character and we describe it in terms of being optimistic or pessimistic or cheerful or sarcastic. These personal perceptions can really color a person’s world. Stereotypes are an example of this too.

Professional Perceptions

Let’s talk about ethics first. When it comes to ethics, there are times when perceptions can matter almost more than the substance. Were you to socialize with a client, another client or professional could easily perceive the relationship as being improper. Really any interaction is open to interpretation about motives and you only have any kind of control over the impression that you present (I call it impression management). While you can’t control the thoughts of another person, you want to avoid anything that could give the “appearance of impropriety”.

Professional perceptions are also exemplified in job interviews. Your performance in that interview is dependent on how that interviewer perceives you. In this case the perception can quite literally create the reality in that you will never really be that employee unless they perceive you to be.

Communication

Since communication takes two, and the two can never completely know each other’s mind, there is an aspect of interpretation. How many times have we discovered a miscommunication because one person perceived a meaning the other never intended? Sometimes perceptions can also relate to selectivity – only seeing or hearing what one wants to see or hear. Different perspectives will also place different priorities on different things. You may intend emphasis on one thing, but someone else prioritizes another.

Your Clients

I know I’ve seen many clients who say that they are stressed. Sometimes I have to wonder how much of that is a symptom and how much is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Are they stressed, or does believing that they are stressed just allow them to accept it and not find a way to get rid of it? If a client resigns themself to a life of chronic pain, does the perception create or contribute to that reality? There is a connection.

Another aspect is the “I can’t” mentality. You know what I’m talking about. A child is working on their math homework and is saying “I can’t do it” and then after a lot of frustration and agony they do in 30 seconds what they’ve been “unable” to do for half an hour. They’re just trapped in a mindset and convinced their self that it is too hard. They can’t do it as long as they believe that they can’t. Other examples can be clients stating that they can’t function without a steady stream of caffeine, that they don’t have time to take care of their self, or eating right is impossible.

In Your Work

Perceptions here can create some conflict when you perceive something to be beneficial to a client and others may disagree. A huge example of this is I have heard of some spas prohibiting their MTs from working on clients’ gluteal areas because of the perception that it is sexual. These clients miss out on an important integrative region of their body because of a perception (I’d say misconception, but that is my perception! :D). You may perceive that a client needs more pressure to achieve the results they seek, but they perceive that the pressure is already too hard. You perceive that trigger points are to blame for the agonizing pain they are in, but they perceive that trigger point work is simply increasing the pain they are experiencing.

So What To Do About Perceptions?

The good news is that you do have control over your perceptions and, to a lesser degree, others’ perceptions as well. Even a phrase like “look on the bright side” indicates that there is a choice about how you choose to perceive something. An important thing is to do some periodic self-evaluation and see (pun intended) if there are any perceptions that hold you back. Do you have any self-fulfilling prophecies? “I think, therefore I am” could be changed to “I think ______, therefore I am _______.” To a degree, when you think certain thoughts, you start behaving in a way to start to bring those thoughts into reality. Affirmations work this way. You choose something you want to be (a perception), and through repetition you change your thought processes to make it a reality.

Another simple strategy is to just do it. How many times have you thought something was hard or impossible only to realize it wasn’t all that bad? When an event occurs that dramatically changes our entire world view, we call it a paradigm shift. We can cause these to happen intentionally by opening ourselves up to new experience.

I certainly hope that you’ve perceived this to be helpful!

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Bad Experiences

Another Critical Thinking Exercise from class...

The Question:

Think of a really bad experience you had with a “professional”, a business, or a service provider.

1. What went wrong – with the circumstance and the resolution process?
2. What happened after? Was it resolved?
3. If you were them, what could you do to have prevented or dealt with this situation?

The Ugly

The students had some fun with this one. I mean, who doesn't like to tell their horror stories about something like this. Statistically, if someone has a bad experience with a business, they will go and tell at least 10 other people about it. Why? Because people love to gossip about this stuff and see people's reactions ("They did what?!"). If only they did the same thing when they have a good experience.

These stories ranged from a hotel room paid for a month in advance with a bug infestation and the fight to get their money back, to a dentist that started drilling without anesthesia or permission, to auto sales, to insurance claims, to omnipresent and dastardly telecom companies, to a doctor that assumed everybody that he saw was filing a fraudulent workman's compensation claim and refusing to actually do his job and diagnose their pain, to a landlord taking a complaint about an authorized cat to the level of screaming that their tenant was a bad mother and a worthless human being. Man! Everybody has one of these stories to tell.

We've all had these ugly experiences. Getting shuffled from department to department and having to explain the same thing over and over to an army of people, none of whom are equipped to help you with your problem. Skepticism or outright disbelief that you, the customer, are actually telling them the truth!

The Bad

In these student stories, we identified a number of common themes that make for a bad experience:

1. Rude, abrasive, aggressive, or insulting: This one was common. Resorting to insults and attacks will never turn the conversation in a positive direction. In fact, it will almost inevitably escalate the hostility in the conflict. If a client does this to you, it still isn't right to return the favor.
2. Assumptions: We all know the old saying here about assume and "u and me". There is a distinction between using experience to make an educated guess in anticipating the needs of another and making an assumption that you already know what they're thinking or want.
3. "Own Agendas": One of the biggest problems I see with unsuccessful MTs/sessions is that the therapist thought they knew better than the client about what was right. That way the needs were ignored. You use your knowledge to inform your work, but we don't dictate to the client what is right for them (and it is unethical to do anything that benefits you at their expense!)
4. Conflicts of Interest: Who are they really working for? You or their shareholders? This goes hand in hand with having your own agenda. Client-centered practices require that you do what is best for your client. It should for all business!
5. Bait & Switch: Of course this is illegal as well as unethical. Misleading clients into getting something other than what they expected won't win any hearts.
6. Lack of Concern: They just don't care about you and your life, only about your customer number, payment history, profitability. Massage is a people business, so caring is our business. Don't make this mistake.
7. Incompetence: There's no excuse for not knowing what you're doing or what you're selling. One student had an experience where the sales clerk didn't even know the most basic things that they sold in their store, before copping an attitude about it!
8. NOT LISTENING: Big one, this, and common. It goes along with agendas, rudeness, and others. When customers get angry, it's most often because they aren't being heard (of course this is set off by something). You can't solve the problem if you don't listen to what it is.

The Good

Whew! A lot went wrong, didn't it? On the other hand, the class identified a number of themes as being essential to the relationship either to begin with... or to repair it when things have gone wrong.

1. Boundaries: Know what you are willing to give and take and stick to it. Communicate it clearly and firmly and keep things "in bounds". Limit discussions to the matter at hand. That landlord was way out of line for calling her a bad mother simply because she had a cat!
2. Respect: We've all heard of the Golden Rule - treat other the way you would want to be treated - but the platinum rule takes it to the next level - treat others the way that they would want to be treated. Not everybody wants to be treated like you would. This automatically rules out aggression, insults, and dismissal.
3. Follow Through: If you say you're going to do something, do it. No excuses. You should always operate this way, but when you are trying to mend a relationship, it is an absolute must. Don't make promises you can't keep.
4. Accomodation: Know what you are willing to part with or what you are willing to do to placate this customer. Figure this out ahead of time so that you don't make a mistake in the moment. It may include bending the rules a little - like coming in on your day off or staying late for them, or comping a service or gift certificate. Remember - a customer who had a problem that was resolved to their satisfaction is more loyal than a customer who never had a problem at all.
5. Communication: Honestly, most conflicts are the result of mis-communication. Don't make it worse by continuing the mistake. Make sure that you take extra efforts to ensure that both parties are clear on the message. Listen. Listen. Listen. Often, when people are angry, it is mostly out of frustration that they are not being heard. Allow them to speak. Make sure you pay close attention not just to the words, but to the meaning behind them.
   
6. Informed Consent: They want to know what their in for and it is your job to let them know. Build realistic expectations with your clients and make sure you give them all of the information they need in order to make an educated decision about what is right for them.
7. Professionalism: Conduct yourself appropriately and diplomatically. Make sure you maintain your client-centered attitude throughout. Professionalism is a skill and a habit. Make sure you think about these kinds of situations ahead of time and figure out how you would like to handle them to create and ideal resolution.
8. Deliver: Make sure they get what they pay for. Don't overstep your bounds (and scope of practice), but make sure you live up to your billing. Make sure you bring your A-game to the table every time, for every client, without fail.

Once again, an excellent discussion. Mind you, I helped to frame some of these terms, but my students came up with all of this on their own, simply by relating their own stories. Kudos!

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Missing Beauty

A former student of mine sent me this and I used it in class as a Critical Thinking Exercise.

What do you see?

Washington DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

Four minutes later the violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the till and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes, a young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes: a 3 year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly, as the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced them to move on.

45 minutes; the musician played. Only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace.

One hour; he finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. He collected $3.

Not too surprising, don't you think? We've probably all seen something like this happen before, right? Maybe...

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and peoples priorities. The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments.... how many other things are we missing?

What we pay attention to isn’t always deserving of it. We could be missing the blossom of a wild rose.

Interesting, isn't it? I broadened the discussion to include what happens to we MTs if we neglect to pay attention. What do we miss? I've known many MTs that never have time to take a vacation, or work seven days a week, or go in to work on a single client on a day they were supposed to be off. Are we too busy?

It's important to take the time out to recharge your batteries or you'll burnout quick. Massage therapy is a demanding profession, one in which we must don our professional mask and play the part for our clients. We create a client-centered practice, but what about us? Do we get too drained from giving that we have no more to give? Are we too focused on what we need to do to make our practice thrive that we forget who we are, why we're doing it, or what is really important? Maybe that is related to the change in motivation I discussed last week.

How many of us have experienced something wonderful, something beautiful that happened spontaneously? I'm sure all of us. In our rush to create our practices, our futures, and to control our world, we can also unintentionally plan "out" the room for spontanaiety and appreciation of the unexpected. Don't be so present in your practise that you cease to be present in the moment!

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Effects and Benefits of Massage Therapy

This is the first in my Critical Thinking Series of questions from class discussions.

Question:

How does understanding the effects and benefits of massage or massage techniques make you a better massage therapist and/or more successful?

As we discussed this topic as a class, several themes emerged:

1. Effectiveness & Outcomes
2. Contraindications
3. Professionalism
4. Marketing
5. Communication & Education

Effectiveness & Outcomes

The very first student comment to this question was in selecting treatment. We examined the adage "If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail" and how it applied to this idea. In understanding how a massage technique will affect the body, we also can determine whether or not it is appropriate or effective for a given problem. Selecting more effective techniques leads to better outcomes.

Contraindications

Naturally, the prior discussion led right into the discussion of what to do when massage is not appropriate. Understanding the effects is a large part of the "do no harm" mantra. It can prevent possible harm, but sometimes it can serve another positive function in practice - positive regard for the client. This overlaps into the next theme, but it demonstrates a positive regard for the client's well-being to help them find the help they need, even if it isn't with you.

Professionalism

As part of this discussion, I asked the students how many of them had had a client who had asked them about a particular massage style or technique and what it did. Of course they all had. The follow up was "what did you say?". It was quickly determined that many hadn't felt they had provided the best answer, or that they had to think about how to condense an entire class down into a simple, understandable statement. The consensus was that you look like an idiot when you are unable to give an answer to those questions. Who should know better what a technique does, you or your client? Understanding these effects makes you appear more professional in the eyes of the client - more competent, more knowledgeable, more credible.

Marketing

Why should they buy what you're selling if you can't even give them a reason? Understanding effects is the foundation of what you need to communicate to your clients. But it doesn't stop there. A discussion of effects seldom means a whole lot to the client. Enter benefits.

Effects vs. Benefits

Effects are what happens in the body - mechanical, physiological, reflex... increased circulation, parasympathetic stimulation, enhanced lymphatic flow, and many, many more. Benefits are what the client experiences because of those effects - they sleep better, experience reduced pain, improved body image... Clients for the most part don't care about the effects (in marketing we call them features) because it doesn't really mean much to them. Benefits, on the other hand, are the things they care about - that register on their consciousness.

Back to Marketing

When a student learns the effects of massage techniques, the next step is to be able to translate those effects into why it is a good thing for the client, aka the benefit. Often this is a very different way to frame it and it is also highly dependent on the audience. It doesn't do a whole lot of good to discuss with an athlete how massage will help them sleep better when they are really concerned with performance improvement. Likewise an insomniac won't care about increased rang of motion and power out of their throwing shoulder. A thorough understanding of effects and benefits allows you to speak in your client's language about their problems. Not grasping this is like trying to speak a foreign language with only half the alphabet.

Communication & Education

Effective marketing is honest education - education about why your service is valuable to your client. Communicating and educating about effects/benefits effectively increases the value that you offer to your clients. You can't teach someone why what you do is important if you don't already know it yourself! To be honest, this category encompasses all of the ones we've talked about so far because education and communication are such an integral part of what we do.

Anything we missed? Please add it to the comments below. Happy massaging!

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Critical Thinking Exercises

Lately I've introduced regular critical thinking exercises into the classroom. I take a question that may or may not have a correct answer, but at the very least draws together various concepts that we've looked at in class, come from the media or current events, or are items that should be part of the students' burgeoning awareness. This has been more successful than I could have imagined.

Originally, I started the practice simply to get my students to think on a higher level than brute memorization, but the effect has been more dramatic. The students are engaged in the topic more, taking more ownership of the concepts, and participating as individuals and a group more heavily. Seeing the impact, I have decided to include this as a daily exercise. I write the question on the board, along with any additional points or lines of thought I'd like the student to consider in their response. Then I give them about 5 minutes to organize their thoughts and write some notes. Then we discuss it as a class and see where it goes. Everybody participates.

Almost invariably so far, I've been impressed. While the students don't necessarily pick up on all of the lines of thinking that I had in mind, they often pull out some ideas that I hadn't considered, or they bring in a different perspective.

Ah, such is the power of collaborative learning!

Enough Rope to...

One thing that I have noticed above all is that given the opportunity, students will usually impress. It makes me think back to the old saying "give them enough rope to hang themselves" and turn it on its head. In this case it seems like I am giving them enough rope to build a bridge. With more or less guidance from me, the students take on the task and pursue the subject - usually with some excitement. It's amazing to see how the students are more engaged - and no wonder, they get to say something instead of just sit back and be talked at.

The reason I chose the rope-bridge analogy is because I have seen this exercise drawing the class closer together as well. The sharing of ideas and group effort to find solutions has had the result of the students participating more as a team than before.

The Future

I'm thinking of turning this into a slightly more formal exercise and have the students note this discussion in a log. That way it won't be some here-and-gone discussion, but there will be a record - something for each student to look back on about all of these important subjects. I know I wish I'd had more detailed notes to reflect back on from when I was in school. Many things become clearer when you talk about them in school, gain some experience, and them come back to ponder them again with new perspective.

I'll post at least some of these discussions here in this forum - as many as I have time for. I hope they help you as much as I've observed!

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