Need suggestions from luxury resort spa therapists if possible, please!
Responses from any therapists are appreciated, but this is a special difficulty our therapists have been struggling with for years and we are hoping for real life successful suggestions that are tried and true! (Please assume proper body mechanics, self care, diet, physical training, high level of experience and years of additional training for deep therapy are in place - VERBIAGE is what is needed)
Background: Treatment is described as ‘therapeutic deep’, top dollar is charged (treatment includes access to spa amenities), spa is high volume with therapists having zero control over the schedule, deep therapy is possibly the most commonly requested service. (Please do not suggest finding a job elsewhere, the spa will likely always exist, and if this group of therapist leaves, there will be another group right behind.)
When guests say, “Go as deep as you can, I like it hard, very hard. You can’t hurt me. Give it all you’ve got. Go as deep as you can,” and therapists reply that they provide a traditional deep but the client pushes back, how do you keep control of the situation and boundaries in place while in a location where guest experience is of primary importance to this large resort as well as the major chain it is part of? It’s not that this situation happens daily, but it happens frequently in our very large spa. We are looking for ways to keep this under control so that therapists stop getting hurt. We have therapists out having surgeries that have resulted from trying to satisfy this type of guest. Other therapists appeared to be headed in that direction. It is not a body mechanics thing. It is unrealistic demands from guests. Telling the guest that something can hurt them doesn’t work. They don’t care. Telling them it may hurt the therapist is not allowed.
Dynamic cupping, warm stones and tools may be used with client permission. The place where therapists seem to be getting hurt is when the clients are requesting extremely deep effleurage. Even with the use of forearms, cervical vertebrae are being hurt. Electric tables are used and frequently adjusted for body mechanics. Excellent therapists, excellent spa equipment, the problem are those that are demanding what is extreme. At a luxury resort, the word ‘no’ is not permitted.
Additionally, because of secret shoppers and the standards we are required to meet, we must ask the guest at least twice during the service how the pressure is. These people always request more. The therapists are already using maximum pressure at the time that question is asked. Please provide any suggestions that we can take to leadership. Those in leadership do not have experience as a massage therapists. Explict explanations and verbiage would be much appreciated. Thank you for your help!