Massage Santa Barbara

I talk to a lot of massage therapists who don't require their clients to fill out an intake sheet. Abhishek Agarwal addresses this issue in his article, "Massage Treatment Intake Forms - Reasons For Their Importance To Therapists", stressing the importance of their use.

I find that new clients are often surprised when I ask them to fill out an intake sheet. But they seem to be impressed. It gets the relationship started on a very professional note.

As Agarwal notes:

"Massage treatment intake forms convey a wealth of useful information that provides the starting point for treatment."

It's clear that Agarwal is not just doing "feel good" massage in an expensive spa, but rather custom designing his treatments to suit the healing needs of each client.

"All patients do not receive the same massage treatment."

He reminds us...

"The objective of a massage treatment intake form is certainly to make available a unique massage treatment experience with the best possible results."

Agarwal also lists the following areas which can be clarified by the simple use of an intake sheet:

1. Medical history
2. Present medical problems
3. Extent of motion
4. Purpose of treatment
5. Personal viewpoint concerning massage therapy (for instance, do you consider massage to be a practicable physical therapy or just a soothing, relaxing, indulgence?)

Intake forms also of course have contact info on them. I always offer clients the option of joining my email list. This way, I can offer my regular clients holiday discounts, etc., that I may not offer to the general public. Agarwal continues his article by giving some examples of what needs to be on the intake sheet.

1. Address and contact data
2. Levels of stress
3. Strain
4. Headaches
5. Medical conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, epilepsy, circulatory and cardiac conditions
6. Latest procedures or problems such as surgery, broken bones, pregnancy, back problems, tissue damage
7. Problems with pain like back pain, sensitive areas, numbness, pressures, or piercing pains

I also like to put my cancelation policy at the bottom of my intake sheet. Of course, you can make exceptions for clients who are late or a same-day-cancel only in the most extreme emergency situations, but I've found that it's best to have a strict 24-hour policy and sometimes give a break than to have a lenient policy or no policy at all and then have to "have a talk" with a client who flakes frequently. Agarwal leaves potential clients with these words:

"With the help of the information supplied by you, the therapist develops a massage procedure especially for you in order that you attain whatever you set to accomplish from your personal massage treatment experience."

You can download my intake sheet as an example.

Go to our front page to participate in the poll and let us know if you use an intake sheet or not.

Read the original article here.