Helping Massage Clients Overcome Fear of Touch

You can not overstate the importance of touch. The need for touch is a basic, primal need. The outcomes of touch deprivation are serious, resulting in negative health outcomes. Anxiety, depression and even immune system disorders may result from being deprived of touch. Touch helps us feel connected and emotionally fulfilled.

Research supports the need for touch and its vital importance to infant development for humans as well as animal species. In fact, researchers say touch in early infancy may be the most important sense. Before birth, a fetus has an ample opportunity to sense contact with its own body and the prenatal environment around it. Add to that the skin is the largest sense organ and typically infants seek as much physical contact with another person as possible.[1]

Studies conducted of orphaned human infants raised in deprived situations show that lack of nurturing contact with others has devasting consequences for their development.

It is not only human infants that need touch. A famous experiment conducted in 1958 with infant monkeys who were given wire and cloth-covered surrogate mothers, the infants demonstrated that physical contact was desired over closeness to food sources. [2] While food may be essential for survival touch is necessary to sustain us.

For many, massage provides an effective way to benefit from the therapeutic value of touch, aiding in reducing anxiety and depression and helping to create a sense of well-being, comfort and connection.

Understanding the fear of being touched

But what of prospective clients who have a fear of being touched? Whether because of trauma in their past, anxiety or sensory sensitivities, some individuals may have a fear of touch that may discourage them from seeking massage or approaching treatment with apprehension.

At its extreme, fear of touch can be intense, and irrational. The phobia of being touched is called haphephobia, those who have it feel extremely distress over the thought of being touched. There can be several reasons for haphephobia. Some researchers attribute it to changes in the brain or possibly an individual is born with it. Traumatic past experiences, such as sexual assault, also may be at the root of the fear.

For those with a phobia of being touched, their anxiety can manifest itself in physical symptoms, including nausea, vomiting and panic attacks. It even can be paralyzing. People with haphephobia may avoid situations where they touch or be touched by others, as an example even being too close to other people in a crowded space. The fear of being touched by someone with haphephobia can interfere with their ability to function in normal day-to-day activities.

Helping clients overcome fear of touch

Before the session begins, you want to conduct a thorough consultation to establish comfort levels and preferences Not every client will be forthcoming in discussing a touch violation in their past. On average, one of every five clients a practitioner sees has a history of trauma or abuse. [3]

Establish a safe-centered touch routine to recruit a client’s trust, advises Nicole, L.Ac., MTCM in an article for Institute for Integrative Healthcare. She offers the following considerations to either include in every session or at least keep in your awareness: [4]

1. Ensure clients that their comfort is your priority by encouraging them to communicate with you from the session’s start to ensure clients you prioritize their comfort.
2. Adhere to the highest level of professional draping standards.
3. Give clients the power to choose what, if any, clothing they wear for a session.
4. Be clear about your professional boundaries before a session and during one (if necessary).
5. As much as possible, maintain continual contact during a session so that your client knows where you are always.
6. Stay grounded, present, and supportive if a client has an emotional release.

Introducing touch gradually

For clients who a fear of touch, you want to start slowly with non-invasive practices. For example, start with hand holding or gently applying a warm compress to instill a connection and ease tension. Mindful breathing techniques can enhance relaxation, helping clients manage their anxiety. [5]

Also consider that techniques that promote relaxation and stress relief, such as aromatherapy massage or hot stone therapy, can be less intimidating for clients sensitive to touch than deep tissue massage. [6]

Should you offer massage for haphephobia?

For someone with haphephobia, massage may not be suitable and in fact may increase anxiety and distress. Generally, the condition is treated with counseling; cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which helps patients reframe negative thought patterns around touch and intimacy; exposure therapy, in which the patients are exposed to touch-related situations gradually to build tolerance to touch; and medications such as antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications.

Massage can promote relaxation and lower anxiety in individuals and help someone become more comfortable with touch. However, when dealing with individuals who suffer from haphephobia, massage should be always introduced gradually, and the individual needs to feel