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Draping versus No Draping
With that said, I believe TX's current regulations states: draping will be used during the session, unless otherwise agreed to by both the client and the licensee
I read this to say that draping is NOT a state requirement but a client-therapist consideration. This may explain why I get a lot of requests for non draping sessions.
Just yesterday I got a request from someone looking for a professional massage but states that he does not like draping. He also offered to pay more if I would allow this.
My first instinct with all these clients is that no draping request = wanting something extra than a professional massage. However the state regulations says contrary.
So am I foolish for turning down a session because of this? I know I must follow my intuition, so I have already written him a note thanking him for the interest but letting him know that it would make me too uncomfortable. I explained that this was not how I was taught or how I practice, and therefore doing such a session would not be giving him the best I could give.
But I am curious as to other's thoughts and practices with regards to draping. Do you get a lot of requests to exclude it? What are your state's regulations? Have you ever worked on someone who wasn't draped?
Let the dialog begin...
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Dan Brownell on
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I just finished doing a video that shows massage draping with sheets and a towel. I have to do the editing, then it will be posted on my website, blog, and YouTube. I will return with a link to the video when it gets uploaded so if anyone wants to share it on their websites or blogs, they can. If you want to send me a request so that you get the link by email just send me your email address through here and you will get the link as soon as the video is uploaded.
PS, I have a "draping policy" on my standard intake form. It states our standard and offers alternatives, I leave it to the client to ask for alternatives.
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Permalink Reply by Lee Edelberg on
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Dan, I'll be interested in seeing what you're offering in the video.
I have a line on my intake where a client can put a check mark "Draping Preference: more coverage less coverage"
It often generates a conversation and sometimes someone writes something like "don't care" or even occasionally "no draping".
It is useful.
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I will post the link to the video as soon as I upload it to youtube, Lee.
My form just tells of alternative draping material, I really don't get much response, of course I don't think they read it really. lol But it doesn't make a difference to me really. I think a towel is easier, and no draping is better. But it's the clients choice and if they don't ask for/ about alternate draping, i just use the "standard" sheets.
Lee Edelberg said:Dan, I'll be interested in seeing what you're offering in the video.
I have a line on my intake where a client can put a check mark "Draping Preference: more coverage less coverage"
It often generates a conversation and sometimes someone writes something like "don't care" or even occasionally "no draping".
It is useful.
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Permalink Reply by tj bobbers on
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all of you are full of shame and drapping sux! massage sux in this day and age- SHAME SHAME SHAME ! loveugodbless tj kabbalah matthewshepard madonnalicious
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all of you are full of shame and drapping sux! massage sux in this day and age- SHAME SHAME SHAME ! loveugodbless tj kabbalah matthewshepard madonnalicious
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all of you are full of shame and drapping sux! massage sux in this day and age- SHAME SHAME SHAME ! loveugodbless tj kabbalah matthewshepard madonnalicious
Rhonda Koch said:We must drape in WI. and I must admit, I'm pretty happy about that!!
Sounds like you handled the situation the best you could, by explaining your feelings. He can look for someone who is happy to oblige assuming your state allows. No one wants to 'turn away' business but as you already stated...if you are not comfortable, you won't be doing your best work.
It really is as simple as that in any situation. If something has made a client uncomfortable they won't be happy and if WE are uncomfortable we aren't doing the best we can for that client.
Clients choose different therapists for different reasons and having to pick because of draping, or not, is just another choice they have. You'll have PLENTY of clients that pick you because it is a standard that you set for yourself.
That's just my 2 cents!!!
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To Jimmy Gialelis,
How dare you speak for all men? You neither know me as a man, nor have the right to speak for me. Being nude is a prelude to sexual crime, innuendo, or abuse? Really?? Perhaps hospitals and other medical and care-giving establishments also need your lectures on immoral nudity and professionalism?
State your personal opinions upon the merits and ideals of your own name. Not on others. I can speak for myself. I don't believe being nude is a prelude to sexual promiscuity. Being sexually aggressive is a prelude to sexual promiscuity.
Massage therapists still have a long way to go? Where do you practice? The Red Light District?
I don't argue that it is absolutely a therapist's right to require draping. 99.5% of therapists do. But leave it at that. Don't speak for the other .5%, or the clients that prefer non draping.
Absolutely ridiculous.
Jimmy Gialelis said:Daniel, I think you missed my point. Just because the law does not equivically state you don't need to drape in bold, obvious terms, that doesn't mean it's ethical to not drape. In fact, I argue it is unethical to not drape a client. You are putting yourself in danger of a major boundary violation when you perform massages in this fashion. To avoid ethical dilemnas and situations where your integrity is challenged, don't even put yourself in that position. That's my point.
Also, one more point, for our profession to advance in credibility, it's important we maintain the highest standards of professionalism. It is necessary that we EDUCATE those individuals who believe in never being draped that draping is necessary for a therapeutic session in achieving optimal results. The more we educate clients and help them see how ethical we practice our trade, the more credibility we will receive from the general public and this opens more doors for our industry!
We still have a long way to go, let's push our industry forward instead of letting unethical therapists push us back!
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May an amateur respond? I read the first five pages of this discussion, then the last page. Too much to read in between. But it seems to me the main issue should be that following state law will offer some legal protection against unsupported claims from disgruntled clients. On the personal side, I massage only friends who are comfortable with being nude, but then I have no license to protect and I don't accept money. When I'm receiving a massage, I much prefer to be undraped. It's easy to get overheated with sheet and blanket (popular in Georgia when I was there), and I've had to help my favorite therapist (favorite except for his draping insistence) tug, tuck and maneuver his sheet and blanket around so that he could reach whatever limb he was working on. Too much drama. Even here in Hawaii in my own breezy living room, my therapist prefers to drape me, and I easily get sweaty under a towel. When I moved here I broke the ice with him by offering him a hand towel and a bath towel to cover me with if he didn't enjoy looking at a naked old man. He covered me with the larger towel. When he's stretching me, he tugs and tucks the towel, but still sees everything. When I used to see him in his office, he draped me with a small thin mini-sheet that left nothing to anybody's imagination in a sunlit room, yet it was legal enough. For me, draping is silly, massage is pain relief and sex never happens. Like most men, I want my butt massaged, and you may as well see it as feel it.
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Permalink Reply by michelle travor on
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I rarely comment in public forums because of the tenor of radical responses and because some controversy usually ensues. It seems that may have occurred here as well. But, I feel strongly enough about the topic at hand that I feel compelled to offer a few of my thoughts on the subject.
No doubt I wll be labelled immediately because I admit that I occassionally offer non-draped sessions to both female and male clients. Having said that however, each client is different and the option is never available to new clients. The choice is made after familiarity with their needs and preferences, and their behavior in the office and in the treatment room.
Lets face it, unfortunately, not all clients are mature enough to handle a non-draped session. Equally true, is that not all therapists are mature enough for that kind of session either, so if that is you then you are smart to not provide the option. The sheet makes no difference, it makes no difference to me personally because it is basically the same massage for that person either way. But to some clients it does matter a lot and then in that case it also matters to me very much, because we are multimensional people and trust, sincerity and personal connecting do matter. Connecting, is care giving. Artificiality on any level, is just that, and that insenstivity does not promote health.
As we all should know, the therapeutics of massage are not all in the body, but also in the emotions and cognitions. We are not unidimensional as people or as therapists, and neither are our clients. If a law requires something, it is our responsibility to comply. However, situations and circumstances vary, as do people and their needs. Robotic compliance to an insenstivite health standard does not ensure that the best health is acheived and that the best treatments are delivered.
A large measure of therapy we provide is through engaging and connecting with people, but I am not suggesting an engergy based approach, per se. Artificiality that the client senses or experiences in our offices and on our massage tables degrades therapy and our effectiveness. Its all human needs based and we are all more than a sum of our parts. Consequently, rigidity or sterality in either our approach or in our attitude affects our clients, because they can sense it, just like we can sense the emotions and attitudes behind the postings made here. To deny that is silly and ill-informed.
My points? Whomever said there are no gray areas, is just ignorant of the human condition and of this field, and is also not a true caregiver in my opinion. And, whomever said they are never nude in a Doctors office, apparently has not been to a real doctor. Those who say that an undraped client is a sexual pervert or acting out a sexual fantasy, is an absolutist and I would not wish for anyone to be their client because that is clearly an unhealthy attitude.
Lastly, I have provided care for 30 years. I did so when there were no laws, no licenses and no regulations. Those legal factors are recent developments. For hundreds or maybe even thousands of years, no laws existed on massage therapy. Now that they do exist, nothing for me or my clients have changed, including my ethics and my morality. My business is just as busy as always and there are not enough hours in the days and enough days in the week to accomodate appointment requests. If massage therapy is approached for the true benefit of the client, they will know the difference and will return often to you.
Think about it carefully before you hit the 'add reply' button.
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Permalink Reply by Daniel Cohen on
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Beautifully stated.
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I live and work in Minneapolis. I see many different therapists in Mpls, and the surrounding metropolitan area. I don't go to any Chiropractic offices or any spa-type massage salons. I go to a few small massage parlors but mostly I go to independent providers. Speaking from lots of real-life experience, it is very rare for independent providers to use draping in this area. Usually there is not even a discussion about it, it is just expected that there will be no draping and that draping would get in the way of the massage. I am talking about legitimate professional massage.
On a different note, a trend that I am seeing that is becoming more frequent is for the therapist to either not leave the room while I am getting undressed, or to ask if I would like her to leave the room. The reason for this is because a) it takes less than a minute to get undressed and get on the table (or futon); b) nothing mysterious is happening while getting undressed; and c) the therapist is going to see you anyway so what is the point of standing outside the room for the transition to the table.
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Permalink Reply by Eric Thomas on
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Lomi Lomi is always another modality to use.hardly no drape at all or you can just use towels to cover private area.
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