Tempation to keep giving shiatsu treatment
As a shiatsu student I am under pressure to complete 100 treatments before I can graduate from the course. When I start to practise full time I will be under pressure to give as much shiatsu as I can to support myself.
There are always personal and financial reasons why we want to continue giving shiatsu to a client. But at the same time we are ethically responsible for the well being of that client. It is up to the shiatsu practitioner to maintain the boundaries and know when shiatsu is no longer appropriate for that client.
When we start treating a client we take shared responsibility for their healing. If a client’s condition fails to respond to our treatment then that obligation may require us to refer them to another therapist. If we want to help then it may turn out the best way we can do is to introduce them to a practitioner of acupuncture, herbs, or Western medicine.
I have not reached that point with any of my clients yet but that time will come. How I will come to recognise that point in my client’s journey is something I need to remain open to. How I will handle that situation is a skill that I will have to learn. But hard as it is to tell a client that shiatsu may no longer be appropriate for them it may sometimes necessary to end that therapeutic relationship.
Tony Brown @ November 28, 2007