"I'm afraid I'll lose my clients if I raise my rates... One of my clients was told by a fellow professional that she should not receive work from anyone else but him... I feel guilty when clients don't feel better at the end of the session... Most of my clients still want me to do deep tissue and my body is hurting more and more...Whenever I work with her I start to feel helpless because she seems so miserable." These difficult issues from professional bodyworkers are typical of the many that are brought up in continuing education. Clearly, bodyworkers, like other professional caregivers, have a strong need for on-going support and advice in dealing with these kinds of concerns.

This is the first in a series of articles dealing with the range of actual ethical situations that occur in our work, situations that can perplex bodyworkers due in part to an overzealous application of psychological principles. This is an actual case from my practice. In another article we will deal with the ethical implications of this client relationship and others and hopefully expand our understanding of these issues.

Questions raised by Jack Blackburn for the Future of Bodywork Seminar in the realm of Insurance Coverage: What is the situation with 3rd party payers and how will it change in the future? If bodyworkers had a union, how would that affect our relationship with insurance companies? Are there provisions for bodywork in the new national health proposals?

Questions raised by Jack Blackburn for the Future of Bodywork Seminar in the realm of Somatic Interactions with Clients: One of the biggest revolutions in health care and the other caregiving professions is somatics, meaning recruiting the body-mind of the client or patient into active engagement in their own healing process through their own feeling awareness in their body. Because we spend much hands-on time with our clients and their bodies, we can be in the forefront of this potential revolution.

Questions raised by Jack Blackburn for the Future of Bodywork Seminar in the realm of the Health Care Industry: To what extent is the public aware of the actual benefits of bodywork? Is there still confusion in some regions with prostitution? How does the medical profession view massage? Are primary provider prescriptions reflective of understanding what we are accomplishing with clients?

Questions raised by Jack Blackburn for the Future of Bodywork Seminar in the realm of Public Awareness: To what extent is the public aware of the actual benefits of bodywork? Is there still confusion in some regions with prostitution? How does the medical profession view massage? Are primary provider prescriptions reflective of understanding what we are accomplishing with clients?

Questions raised by Jack Blackburn for the Future of Bodywork Seminar in the realm of Leadership and National Organizations: Who will be the future leaders in the bodywork professions and what will their qualifications be? What visions for the future will capture the energy and imaginations of our profession as a whole? Will corporate boards and profit making decide our future? Will the benefits of bodywork come to be supported by research and public recognition?

Questions raised by Jack Blackburn for the Future of Bodywork Seminar in the realm of the financial situation of the industry: Are most bodyworkers self-supporting or are they being subsidized by others? How many bodyworkers are supporting a family on their earnings? ...In general, bodywork schools are charging more money each year

Questions raised by Jack Blackburn for the Future of Bodywork Seminar in the realm of Questions in Research: In order to be recognized by the other caregiving professions, bodyworkers will have to support and conduct research that authentically investigates the effects we see in our sessions. We need to develop our own questions from our own experiences; we need to understand placebo effects, we need to use openness and curiosity about our work to guide us.

Questions raised by Jack Blackburn for the Future of Bodywork Seminar in the realm of redefining the profession: Will manual therapists become the source of breakthroughs in somatic medicine and new forms of life fulfillment for their clients? It is easy to see that bodyworkers can choose to play very significant roles in the development of different approaches to human health and lifestyle.

Questions raised by Jack Blackburn for the Future of Bodywork Seminar in the realm of training and education: Observing the current situation for new bodywork trainings, how has the situation of bodywork education changed in the last few years and what are the trends?

(Part 3 of 3) The above quote has been stated and re-stated throughout human history. Whenever we hear it we are shocked because in our ordinary perceptions of things, it makes no sense. After all, isn’t it the wisdom of experience that causes us to feel that our fears and mistrust are keeping us safe?

(Part 2 of 3) “No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear. For fear being an apprehension of pain or death, it operates in a manner that resembles actual pain.

(Part 1 of 3) Like those who tread on the tiger’s tail in the I Ching, we have to learn that the glow of the tiger’s eyes is not fearful, judgmental, harsh (or dangerous?). In fact the glow of the tiger’s eyes (tyger, tyger burning bright) are the markers on our path.

I have been working as a bodyworker since 1986 and I have given thousands of sessions and taught hundreds of classes since then. I was not originally taught how to work on clients' faces. After receiving a session of esthetic massage from a Japanese practitioner in Hawaii, I started to question why I was not touching the face.

This article is a follow up to the articles I’ve written about the problem of caretaking in the field of bodywork. I titled the series “Issues in Supervision” because I see the process of supervision as fundamental to our work as practitioners and also to the future of our profession.

It has been a wonderful transition between summer and Fall here, with the calls of the cicadas merging into cricket sounds merging into typhoon winds and showers. I was able to give a Reiki Master course at the foot of Mount Fuji as it was being dusted with snow. Two Americans came over to be in the training, a first for Trillium Institute Japan!

At the end of May I presented a seminar in Yokohama: The Power of Touch, for bodyworkers, counselors and the general public. The purpose of the seminar was to present different aspects of touch, different physical and mental conditions, problems from the absence of touch, and why touch is so important in our lives.

In 1979 I, and my family, departed Palo Alto and after some months of travel and exploration we settled on Orcas Island. What had led to this move came as a result of many messages, which I heard inside. The messages started when I took a ten-day solo-backpacking trip in the High Sierras in California. I had fasted before the trip and was determined to continue the fasting until I became aware of my inner guidance.