A Letter from “m”.
My work with Karen has been profound. Because of my history with insidious abuse masked in medical care, I have become guarded around professionals supposedly offering care to my body. However, with Karen, I feel the freedom to be where I am at in that story and not rush the process or shame my coping mechanisms for survival. By having a different experience with her, together we can express much kindness toward the parts of me that are slow to open up.
I feel her care and respect from the very moment I walk in to the very moment I leave. Even though from session to session my needs shift, I feel Karen is completely receptive to those differences without a hint of judgment that I have come to fear as someone who is highly sensitive. Karen encourages me to speak to how I have been emotionally and consider together where in my body I have held those feelings. Karen’s intuitive, responsive care has been down to small details, such as utilizing colorful table sheets after my realizing that white medical sheets lead to flashbacks of my medical abuse. Also, we have come to utilize Karen asking and receiving my permission when moving toward massaging vulnerable areas of my body; this retrains my whole self to begin to reclaim that I am in charge of my body. In addition, after asking permission, occasionally Karen offers intuitive insight about my tension areas that flows from her being well-versed in the language of the muscles and body energy; these occasional moments have freed me up to find words for my experience and become more integrated.
Periodically, Karen has mirrored back to me the change she has noticed in me over the years, and I have come to celebrate the cumulative shift toward my feeling safe and respected in a space that has historically felt unsafe and vulnerable in my past. Overall, I have come to treasure these times together as superfluous luxury as much as essential soul and body care that enables me to proceed in co-concurrent therapy as well as my therapeutic profession.
For those of you who are considering therapeutic massage with Karen, these are words for you: If your story feels complex, Karen is someone who will welcome you without judgment and engage you as a holistic and delightful human. With Karen, it is not just a massage for your body; it is therapeutic care for your whole self. Karen’s approach to therapeutic massage invites all of you to the room and partners with you to customize care for your felt safety and integrating goodness.
M.