Are you a massage therapist who feels in over your head or finds yourself avoiding crucial conversations about mental health with your patients? You don't have to keep feeling that way.

In this powerful episode, we tackle the reality that your patients often carry more than just physical pain. We introduce a systematic and compassionate approach to navigating mental health discussions right in your treatment room—a method that is designed to build trust, honour professional boundaries, and significantly improve patient outcomes.

This isn't about becoming a counsellor. It's about becoming a better massage therapist—one who is equipped to hold space for the whole person, not just their physical issues.

Learn how to:

• Confidently approach sensitive mental health topics.
• Become the therapist patients trust with their whole health journey.
• Protect yourself from burnout so you can sustain your work for years to come.

Ready to level up your practice?

Find out more about the Mental Health First Aid course—a training specifically designed to equip you for these crucial conversations.

The next live course is happening on December 14th! Join the waitlist now using the link in the show notes for early access before enrollment opens to the public.

Because the patients who need you most are the ones carrying the deepest burdens. Equip yourself to meet them where they are.

Click HERE to sign up on the waitlist

Research paper reference: Taccolini Manzoni, A. C., Bastos de Oliveira, N. T., Nunes Cabral, C. M., & Aquaroni Ricci, N. (2018). The role of the therapeutic alliance on pain relief in musculoskeletal rehabilitation: A systematic review. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice, 34(12), 901–915. https://doi.org/10.1080/09593985.2018.1431343

Have you ever frozen mid-massage because a patient opened up about something heavy—trauma, grief, or deep anxiety—and you had no idea how to respond?

In this raw and honest episode,I share the story I rarely like to tell: the day I completely failed a patient after he shared a horrifying moment from his past. I unpack a cringeworthy mistake I made—centering myself in his trauma—and explain why the conventional advice to keep "mental health out of your scope" is actually causing harm to both you and your patients.

Inside this episode, you’ll hear:

• The Moment of Panic: I detail the intense story David shared and the immediate panic that caused me to shut the conversation down entirely.
• Unpacking the Failure: The specific, yet common, mistake I made by comparing experiences, apologizing, and ultimately rejecting the connection.
• Challenging the Old Belief: Why mental health conversations are NOT out of your scope of practice, and how avoiding them leads to guilt, exhaustion, and patient rejection.
• The Need for a Framework: You can't rely on empathy alone. I introduce the idea of a systematic approach—a set of steps that allows you to show up with confidence, compassion, and clear boundaries without overstepping.
• The Cost of Winging It: Learn how not having a system puts you at risk of burnout and professional liability, and prevents you from building the deep trust that leads to better patient outcomes.

If you're tired of feeling guilty, unprepared, or burnt out by the emotional weight of your practice, this episode is your wake-up call.

Learn More: Join the waitlist for Jamie's Mental Health First Aid for Massage Therapists course to get the framework that trades panic for presence: https://go.themtdc.com/mhfa-waitlist

Next Week: Jamie discusses the time a patient had a full-blown panic attack on the table, and how the subsequent mental health conversations transformed their therapeutic relationship.

Are you the massage therapist who silently panics when a client opens up about their anxiety, depression, or trauma?

You’re deep in a relaxing treatment, the music is playing, and suddenly your client drops a heavy truth about their life—not their low back pain. You freeze. Your heart pounds. “What do I say? I’m just a massage therapist.” You nod, offer a generic, "I'm so sorry," and quickly pivot back to the physical work, feeling completely unprepared and guilty.

If this happens to you every week, you are not alone. Our industry has created an impossible paradox: patients instinctively trust us and open up, but our training has failed to teach us how to compassionately and competently respond.

In this essential episode, we break the silence and discuss the uncomfortable truth about mental health in the massage room:

• 💔 The Devastating Consequence of Freezing: How constantly avoiding these vital human moments leads to therapist burnout, guilt, and makes your patient feel dismissed during their most vulnerable moment.
• 🛑 The Impossible Paradox: Why regulatory bodies tell us to "stay in our lane," yet the reality of our job demands we hold a safe, therapeutic space for a stressed-out nervous system.
• 🔑 The Confident Response: Discover the difference between the panicked response and a powerful, compassionate response that validates your client, maintains your professional scope, and positions you as a deeply trusted professional.
• 💡 More Than Just Physical: Understand why this isn't about becoming a psychologist, but about professional responsibility and using the therapeutic relationship to achieve far better treatment outcomes.

You are already holding space for your patients' mental health. It’s time to stop doing it with a script that was never written.

Ready to stop panicking and start responding with confidence, competence, and compassion? The next step is getting the training you were never given.

Get on the waitlist for our next Mental Health First Aid course today: https://go.themtdc.com/mhfa-waitlist