Massage
at Crossings Healingworks
Massage therapy has been used as a healing tool for thousands of years in many cultures (including by Hippocrates, the “father” of modern medicine). Massage combines the art and science of using touch for therapeutic purposes, primarily through the hands-on manipulation of muscles and soft tissues of the body. It is increasingly being embraced by businesses, including hospitals, as a healthy, drug-free way to reduce work-related stress.
Health-care environments have traditionally been associated with high occupational stress (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health). For those nurses working with trauma patients, this stress can also include symptoms of secondary (or vicarious) post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Touch therapies are being successfully incorporated in the collaborative, multi-dimensional strategies emerging to treat PTSD. This has included massage therapists providing on-site massage to rescue workers, fire fighters, survivors and victim’s families after natural disasters and traumatic events, including at the Pentagon and the World Trade Center after the 9/11 attacks. (www.amtamassage.org).
(back to top of page) (back to Healingworks main page)
There is growing research documentation (www.miami.edu/touch-research/home.html), and public recognition that massage is not simply a luxury. It offers benefits beyond relaxation for our physical, mental and emotional well-being. Some of these benefits include:
physically – deep relaxation, improved sleep, better circulation of blood, oxygen and lymph, increased energy and ease of movement, reduction/relief of pain and muscle tension, and a strengthened immune system;
mentally – relaxed state of alertness, clearer thinking, enhanced creativity and problem-solving skills, and a greater ability to monitor stress signals and respond appropriately;
emotionally – feelings of well-being and emotional resilience, clearer and more constructive communication, greater ease and clarity of emotional expression, reduced levels of anxiety and depression, increased awareness of the body-mind connection, and a sense of being unified and in harmony.
Massage Therapists at Crossings Healingworks are licensed by the State of Maryland, State Board of Chiropractic Examiners. They have all graduated from fully accredited massage therapy schools and have done, or are now doing, advanced training in working with people suffering from primary or secondary Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Contact us:
301 565-4924, x335
healingworks@crossingshealing.com
Crossings Healingworks
8505 Fenton Street, Suite 202
Silver Spring, MD 20910
