This week I am bringing in Jason Erickson to talk about modalities and why they can sometimes hold us back from being better therapists and better educators. A little bit about Jason, he is a former chronic pain patient, and his back to pain-free health inspired him to become a therapist, a trainer, and an educator. Jason has a Massage practice in Minnesota, where he also trains clients, and works with elite athletes. He is also the Master of Ceremonies for the San Diego Pain Summit and has presented at the International Massage Therapy Research Conference. I really enjoy Jason’s easy going style, and his passion to help people. We touch on a number of interesting topics in this episode, but the one that stuck out the most to me was how to approach a modality without loosing the flexibility to treat each client individually. As usual I ask my question about failure, and we learn what new habit he has recently adopted.
In this episode:
[2:00] Jason’s path to bodywork
[5:20] Which modalities Jason uses
[11:01] Drawbacks of having too many explanations
[15:35] Finding the balance between structure and flexibility
[19:45] A thought experiment
[23:08] Common mistakes massage therapists make
[29:00]} Common mistakes massage teachers make
[35:01] Memorable failure
[37:58] Positive new habit
Notable quotes from Jason:
“Do we all need completely different stories, when we are all doing essentially the same thing?”
“I think there are some explanations that I’ve been given that are less likely to be wrong than others.”
“Even the simplest of techniques remain interesting if I remain curious about what I am actually doing.”
“The modality says, this is how things work, here is what we are going to do, here is why we are going to do it.
“If there is a certification, especially a re-certification, then they want to make sure you are maintaining the purity of what the modality has been teaching.”
“The more we hold tight to a rational sense of purity about modalities, the harder it will be for those modalities to be alive, flexible, and become less wrong over time.”
“As massage therapist we say a lot of stupid things, and I have said a lot of them myself.”