Articles

TASA ID: 22108

Leaders are sticking their heads into the sand of reality on Omicron. Unless they take needed steps, the results may be catastrophic for their nonprofits.

Omicron took over from Delta in the US in late December. The CDC warns that Omicron’s higher infectivity and ability to escape vaccines will overwhelm many hospitals in January.

Unfortunately, most organizations are not pivoting effectively to meet Omicron. From the start of the pandemic, many leaders insisted on a return to a “normal” office-centric culture. That’s despite the fact that a large majority of employees express a strong desire for a flexible hybrid or fully remote schedule.

TASA ID: 4192

In Part One of “Keeping Clients Safe,” we discussed how to avoid injuring clients. In Part Two, we will look at another way we can protect clients by attending to their personal and emotional safety. A successful practice is one where all participants—clients and therapists—respect and value each other’s personal boundaries.

TASA ID: 4192

Few things are worse than asking a returning client how they feel after a session and having them reply: “I don’t know what you did, but my pain is much, much worse.” Every therapist I know sincerely wants to help their clients feel better, whether the treatment is geared toward relaxation or a specific injury or pain. Unfortunately, in my work as an expert witness, I have seen many cases of well-meaning therapists who have seriously injured their clients.

In one case, a therapist intended to stretch a client’s shoulder, yet pulled on the client’s arm with such force that the client needed two surgeries over the course of one year to fix the damage. In another case, a therapist’s aggressive approach to working an aching forearm left that client needing six months to recover from complete loss of strength due to nerve damage. I also know of several cases where clients presented with broken ribs as a result of overly vigorous massages.

In addition to the horrific experience, pain, disability, and expenses incurred by the clients, these cases also resulted in lawsuits, damage to the therapists’ reputations, and loss of a professional licensure to practice. In some cases, careers were prematurely ended. What might be to blame? A lack of knowledge? An inflated ego? Poor judgment? Low-quality education? Inadequate skill? It’s hard to know, but here are some guidelines to help prevent this from happening to you.

TASA ID: 4192

Thanks to the women of the #MeToo movement, who have courageously exposed rampant sexual harassment and assault, our society is being forced to confront this upsetting reality and change it for future generations. The massage treatment room is a microcosm of the greater society, so we sadly find the same types of issues there. Much like in the greater community, more attention needs to be paid to this phenomenon in the field of massage.

TASA ID: 1646

Some state governors seem obsessed about blocking President Biden, CDC, and NIH, with multiple mandates requiring that masks in schools be worn by teachers, students, campus office workers, janitors, principals, student aids, parent volunteers, bus drivers, and counselors.