Massage Therapy Journal Fall 2024

Fall 2024 • 21

neurodiversity. “Be open to hearing feedback from your clients, or even solicit feedback,” Pohl says. “Keep a growth mindset and seek out information on your own, which will help with any client, but especially neurodivergent folks.” Additionally, understanding how other identities intersect a client’s neurodiversity is important. “Understanding the intersectionality of neurodiversity with other identities, like being transgender or having chronic illness, can help any practitioner develop better skills for their neurodiverse clients, as well as neurotypical clients,” Pohl encourages. Be flexible and communicate clearly and directly. Pohl suggests making yourself available to your neurodivergent clients in a variety of ways. “I offer free 15-minute video or phone consultations to answer questions for folks who might have reservations or might just not know anything about

massage,” they say. “I also answer any messages through my website and Instagram account as quickly and directly as possible.” Giving neurodiverse clients multiple ways to communicate with you and learn about your practice and massage therapy is also recommended. “Having multiple options for how neurodiverse clients can talk with me helps encompass many different communication needs,” Pohl says. Even for clients that say they’ve had massage before, Pohl finds walking them through what to expect, see and feel during a massage session beneficial. “I let them know we can stop at any time, move away from any sensitive areas, and that they can ask for any changes in touch pressure, and environmental factors like sound, light and temperature,” they add. “I also always tell them they are allowed to talk to me, ask questions, request narration or be completely silent.”

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