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SMRT Changes
Student Interaction
Recently I had the an interaction with a student/therapist in one of my SMRT classes about “new” bodywork. He came into class assuming that this SMRT class would be a breeze for him because he had 30 years experience and had been made to take CE classes every 2 years for license renewal. Since, in his opinion, there is nothing new, everything is a take on something else, and he had a solid base of knowledge from other classes, he would just glide through class picking up or remembering little tidbits while getting worked on and getting his required CE’s.
On day 2, he explained this to me and told me that he had truly struggled on day 1 because SMRT was different than anything he had taken before. He did better on day 2 and by day 3 was talking about how truly effective SMRT work is. Then he later let me know that he was able to seamlessly integrate SMRT into his bodywork and his clients loved the work. He was seeing lasting results beyond what he and his clients had previously experienced.
SMRT Changes
What this brings up for me, as a teacher, is that I need to manage students expectations so that they are not overwhelmed the first day of SMRT class. This therapist is not the first to have told me this, but he did phrase it in a way that taught me quite a bit about why it happens.
As therapists, we must continuously manage our client’s expectations. There are so many different types of bodywork and each therapist interprets each type of bodywork differently, leaving endless possibility and potential for new ways to treat and touch the human body. Each therapist’s practice is defined by what he or she believes bodywork to be (which could have been defined by basic education, past instructors, state defined scope of practice, etc), research (if it is read, understood, and applied), what his or her hands feel, experience (not just years of experience, but type of work), and what each if our bodies can do.
We should inform our clients verbally, through our actions, and through our touch of what we do as a therapist. Each new learning experience adds to and changes how we work. Years of work, the clients we work with, and how our bodies change modify how we work. New research teaches us to approach the human body in a different way. None of this negates who we have been. It just expands our thinking and our touch so we can interact differently with our current clients and, hopefully, with new clients.
Upcoming Schedule
New is a good – a very good – thing. So, learn something new by going to this link, to learn SMRT by video or join the Full Circle staff in any of these locations for a live seminar:
Madison, WI – August 17-19, 2018
Pittsburgh, PA – August 24-26, 2018
Columbus, OH – September 7-9, 2018
Kansas City, MO – September 14-16, 2018
Raleigh, NC – September 21-23, 2018
Albany, NY – October 5-7, 2018
Portland, OR – October 12-14, 2018
Salt Lake City, UT – October 12-14, 2018
Dewey Beach, DE – November 2-4, 2018
Kalamazoo, MI – November 9-11, 2018
Austin, TX – January 25-27, 2019
Tucson, AZ – February 15-17, 2019
For more 2019 locations, check our website.
