massage therapy journal

keeping you in touch.

  

Reaching More

While Smith and Morien saw success as well, they’re ready to up the ante. “I’m excited with the results,” Morien says, “But I’m also a scientist and, therefore, cautious. I’d like a greater sample size for a more robust effect.” They hope to return next year, with more massage therapists, if possible, working on more children.

Smith wants more massage therapists on board in general. “We do not have enough trained therapists right now to handle the burn population,” she says. She says that therapists will likely find the work tremendously satisfying.

“For me, as a therapist, to be able to work with burn survivors, or anyone with traumatic scarring, to acknowledge where they are in the process and introduce appropriate touch—well, I can’t explain the feeling I have after a session—I’m just so full ,” Smith says. “They realize that it’s OK—that they’re OK—and they start to accept themselves more.”

Garrison says that, as the kids at Camp Amigo proved, touch can be so much more than skin deep. “I’ve found that the psychological side is as important as the physical. You start to accept that your body may look different, but you’re still lovable and worthy of touch, and that it doesn’t have to hurt. For me, it’s very transcendental. I heal as much as they heal.”

Clare La Plante is a freelance writer based in Evanston, Illinois. She is a regular contributor to mtj and her work has also appeared in a number of national business publications. Clare is also the author of Wall Street on a Shoestring. (Avon Books, 1998).

Q&A
with Annie Morien, PhD, PA-C,LMT, Nancy Keeney Smith, NCTMB &
Diane Garrison, BA, LMT

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