What is a trauma-informed approach to massage therapy?

For me, trauma-informed care isn’t a technique—it’s a way of being with someone. It’s a practice rooted in trust, clarity, and a steady respect for each person’s inner world. It means tending to the space between practitioner and client with gentleness, clear communication, and collaboration, so that nothing is rushed and nothing is assumed.

This approach doesn’t depend on anyone sharing their history. Instead, it honours the simple truth that every body deserves to feel safe, to have choice, and to remain in control of their own experience.

Trauma-informed practice is less about what I do with my hands and more about the spirit in which I offer the work—the atmosphere of safety, spaciousness, and autonomy that allows the body to soften in its own time.

The four principles of trauma-informed massage therapy

1. Trauma awareness

2. Safety and trust

3. Collaborative choice and connection

4. Strength-based skill-building

1. Trauma Awareness

For me, trauma awareness begins with recognising how profoundly past experiences can shape the way a person moves through the world. People develop all sorts of creative, intelligent adaptations to help themselves cope or stay safe, and these responses can show up in the treatment room in many ways—irritability, pulling away from appointments, feeling flat or unmotivated, struggling to name preferences, or sensing a distance from one’s own body.

Through a trauma-aware lens, these responses aren’t framed as problems; they’re understood as survival strategies that once served a purpose. This perspective softens the edges of challenging moments and helps me stay present, steady, and compassionate while holding clear professional boundaries.

Trauma awareness doesn’t mean being a trauma expert. It simply means being able to recognise when someone’s reactions might be shaped by their history, and responding with the kind of care that honours their pace, their agency, and their dignity.