Exposure to frightening, shocking, and/or dangerous events such as combat, abuse, or disasters can result in the experience of trauma and development of Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). At any given time, about 24.4 million people are struggling with PTSD (McCafferty, 2016). While trauma is a universal experience, those with PTSD experience ongoing trauma reactions, leaving them feeling out of control and perpetually unsafe. Today we’re reviewing how individuals who have experienced trauma and PTSD can benefit from massage therapy.
How might the experience of trauma manifest in the mind/body? Here are a few common symptoms of PTSD:
Hypervigilance may show up as holding one’s breath or clenching fingers. Or a person may be overly aware of environmental stimuli and potential threats.
Hyperarousal can manifest as anxiety, difficulty sleeping, a quick startle response, and low pain tolerance.
Shame and Guilt are emotions often associated with PTSD. Individuals may blame themselves for stressful events. Feelings of unworthiness and humiliation are also common.
Dissociation and Intrusive Thoughts are common mental experiences of those who have experienced trauma and PTSD. The mind may switch between alarming reliving of the traumatic experience and distancing from reality as a protective measure.
Three Ways Massage Therapy can Heal Trauma and PTSD
- By decreasing stress and promoting sensations of physical safety. Trauma can lead to physical and emotional stress. Researchers have found that massage can help by decreasing bodily tension and pain, while also lessening depression, anxiety, and irritability (Collinge, Kahn, & Soltysik, 2012).
- By connecting emotional experiences to physical sensations. Cynthia Price’s 2005 study in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine found that Body Oriented Therapy with psychotherapy helped appreciate how certain emotions manifested in their bodies.In her research into how massage therapy compliments other treatments, Deborah Sue Frank interviewed massage therapists with experience working with clients who suffered PTSD. One LMT in this study explained that massage treatment for PTSD was a “mutual process of observation, understanding, and discovery” (2013, p. 28). She said, “I observe the body to see, to help them understand where they are holding the stress of that trauma. And, once they discover that area, then I can help them get in touch with that story.”
- By decreasing the biochemicals associated with hyperarousal and hypervigilance. Van der Kolk and others have shown how trauma can lead people to get stuck in a state of hyperarousal. Disorders such as PTSD occur when there is no way to release stress. For instance, a soldier may be unable to flee a traumatic moment. The body’s natural tools to combat trauma (fight, flight, flee, and connect) are thwarted, and the individual becomes trapped in the never-ending stress response (Van der Kolk, 2014). During moments of hypervigilance and hyperarousal, cortisol floods the system, triggering the individual to re-experience intense stress over and over again. Tense muscles and associated muscular pain are side effects of this “stuck” stress response.
While top-down techniques such as talk therapy help individuals with PTSD identify and understand their hyperarousal, bottom-up approaches including manual therapies can reduce cortisol levels while also increasing feel-good neurochemicals such as serotonin and dopamine.
For all these reasons, massage is a good component to include in a trauma treatment plan. It is a great tool to have alongside talk therapy. Clients who aim to complement talk therapy and other anti-PTSD treatments with massage therapy should select LMTs who are trauma-informed, and therefore use grounding communication techniques such as gaining consent before starting treatment. This can help clients feel in control of the treatment session, preventing recurrence of emotional experiences associated with PTSD.
If you’re an LMT, you’re likely to encounter clients with symptoms of trauma and PTSD at some point in your massage therapy career. Or you may feel drawn to cater your services especially to this client population. In both circumstances, your massage therapy school may not have offered information on this topic. As such, massage therapy continuing education classes are a great resource for deepening your expertise in PTSD massage techniques.
Massage therapists who are yearning to assist others with healing from trauma can add to their healing toolbox through relevant CE. East West College offers several courses each semester that can contribute to your trauma-informed massage therapy practice. For instance, this July we’re hosting a two-day Anatomy Trains workshop to help you read how experiences of trauma may have been stored in a person’s musculo-skeletal system, and to understand how to create a manual therapy and movement plan to effect lasting change. Read more about this and other upcoming training sessions at our Portland massage school’s massage therapy Continuing Education page.
Resources:
Collinge, W., Kahn, J., & Soltysik, R. (2012). Promoting reintegration of national guard veterans and their partners using a self-directed program of integrative therapies: A pilot study. Military Medicine, 177, 1477-1485.
Frank, D. S. (2013). The well-embodied professional: Attitudes around integrating massage therapy & psychotherapy when treating trauma. Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers. Paper 177. http://sophia.stkate.edu/msw_papers/177
McCafferty, I. (2016, May 24). In safe hands: Massage & PTSD. AMTA.
Price, C. (2005). Body-oriented therapy in recovery from child sexual abuse: An efficacy study. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 11, 46-57.
Van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Viking.
