Massage for Women Recovering From Abuse

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Misty L. Trepke

http://www.searching-alternative.com

 

Massage for Women Recovering from Abuse

--by Phyllis Keenan-Lazarson

 

As women recover from abuse, they become more aware of their bodies.

This awareness often coexists with both emotional and physical pain.

Survivors often learn to cope with the pain of abuse by numbing

their feelings. The occurrences and feelings become trapped in their

bodies. As they remember their pasts, the discomfort can become

overwhelming. Talking may help to sort out the past and release some

of the emotional stress. At some point probably well into

psychotherapy, they may begin to find new ways of relating to

themselves and others. Women who have been abused need to feel safe

before they can allow themselves to be touched. It may take time and

patience to learn to relax and even to enjoy being touched in a

gentle and nurturing way.

 

Massage practitioners experienced in working with abused women can

provide this safe and nurturing touch. The massage session can

provide the necessary environment where this can happen, by allowing

women to ask for what they want or need (in a massage). It may also

provide the environment for them to specify kinds of touch that they

do not want. For example, it may be entirely too uncomfortable to be

touched while having the lights dimmed.

 

The requests may make sense only to the women receiving the massage.

They may be entirely based on feelings alone or they may be based on

just having the ability to ask.

 

The massage is a way to focus on pre-set patterns and release the

blocked energy being held within old pains. The gentle strokes of an

experienced massage practitioner may allow the release of this

tension to be simply relaxing.

 

The massage may only be a way to release the physical muscle

tension. Along with psychotherapy, there can be a balance of healing

both the physical and emotional pain. As women take charge of their

bodies, they may find a new freedoms and an ability to nurture

themselves and grow in the manner that they choose for themselves.