As October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, I thought this would be a good time to discuss how we support our clients.

Complementary Therapies support people through their cancer diagnosis from the initial shock of diagnosis through to the end of their treatments and beyond. For some sadly it will also be through palliative care. Our treatments are known to help alleviate anxiety, reduce stress and improve quality of life.

However we do so much more, as through our treatments we create a welcoming, gentle and safe environment. Clients come to recognise that your treatment is their time to relax, to let go, to talk about their fears, their joys, or regrets and to suspend time, feeling relief from the cycle of emotions they are facing daily.

Whichever therapy we deliver, with practice we can all achieve stillness. Through stillness, we work with our client and focus purely on them, setting intentions to ease and alleviate their condition. With this focus in mind we facilitate stillness for the client.

We know our therapies assist in with:

  1. Relieving stress
  2. Easing muscle tension and stiffness
  3. Alleviating anxiety
  4. Fatigue (extreme tiredness)
  5. Relaxation
  6. Emotional wellbeing
  7. Improving quality of life
  8. Providing valuable ‘me-time’

Working in cancer care is varied, because cancer does not discriminate and we meet people of all ages and circumstances, with very different needs. There are many forms of training which will help you tailor your treatments to a client’s condition.

Many years ago I trained in Massage and scar work, this is quite specific training which I have used with clients who have had amputations. Reflex Lymph Drainage is also an incredibly useful training specific to treating lymphoedema. Both these techniques are very effective in relieving side effects from cancer treatments. I found training in Craniosacral Therapy an amazing asset to every treatment I deliver, it developed my ‘listening’ skills when I have hands on work with massage, reflexology and reiki and allows me to respond to what the body is telling me.

My training ‘Complementary Therapies in Cancer Care’ is specific to Massage, Reflexology and Reiki practitioners. The emphasis is on teaching the stages of cancer; the psychological and social impact of cancer, listening first hand to what people are going through, developing good communication, providing guidelines, best practices and contraindications to treat clients throughout every stage of their diagnosis.  There are videos on appropriate pressures and touch threshold, positioning clients, how to de-stress clients before you even treat them and techniques specific to massage, reflexology and reiki.

We support clients through our dedication and integrity in our training. It is a great privilege to feel a client’s system surrender and become calm under our touch and the treatments we provide. I cannot think of a better way to serve others.

Interesting studies and links: 

A Systematic Review: Effect of complementary and alternative medicine interventions on cancer related pain among breast cancer patients (2020)

Result: Along with other CT’s, Massage, Reflexology and Reiki improve cancer-related pain in breast cancer patients. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32147038/

REFLEXOLOGY: Reflexology in the management of chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy: A pilot randomized controlled trial.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29353627/

MASSAGE: Massage after a breast cancer diagnosis:  https://breastcancernow.org/about-us/news-personal-stories/massage-after-breast-cancer-diagnosis-it-safe#:~:text=There%20is%20no%20evidence%20that,for%20people%20with%20breast%20cancer.

REIKI STUDY: Effects of Reiki therapy on pain and anxiety in adults:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24582620/

Result: Although the number of studies is limited, based on the size Cohen’s d statistics calculated in this review, there is evidence to suggest that Reiki therapy may be effective for pain and anxiety.

Qualified Complementary Therapists supporting people with a cancer diagnosis can be found at: https://butterflytouchtherapiestraining.com/directory/