Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Author's perspective., August 2, 2005
As the author of The Balanced Body I welcome constructive criticism of my ideas and writing. However, I feel obligated to respond to the review of my book by John R. Frame because his comments grossly misrepresent the philosophy and application of techniques presented in the book. His descriptions of the results of his deep tissue sessions demonstrate a profound lack of understanding of the methodology of the integrated deep tissue therapy system as described in The Balanced Body.
Mr. Frame states that when he followed the routines in the book to the letter, his treatments were universally detested by every client. Perhaps this is because he chose to ignore the often repeated admonition in the book that the practice routines are not meant to be strictly adhered to but rather serve as training tools and to provide general guidelines in designing individualized, client-centered sessions. To quote page 13: "The routines given in the lessons do not represent exact reproductions of specific bodywork sessions that would actually be performed on a client. Rather, they outline a general sequence of possible moves for an area of the body. Each routine describes techniques for releasing most of the muscles associated with that particular part of the body. Although the therapist needs to know all of these techniques, he or she would not use every procedure described on any one client."
The reviewer also claims that he had to give a client an additional massage as compensation for the pain and discomfort he had inflicted during a deep tissue session. This unfortunate circumstance was most likely due to Mr. Frame's not being attentive to the response of his client to his touch and not making the necessary adjustments. Nowhere in The Balanced Body is uncomfortable, invasive pressure advocated. In fact it is actively discouraged. To quote page 36: "To be able to relax and willingly accept deeper gradations of pressure, the client must be assured that the therapist is mindful of the effects of his or her touch on the client's body. The therapist must be capable of making the necessary adjustments to prevent touch from becoming painful, harmful, or intrusive. The organic, ever-changing nature of the interaction between the therapist and client during a deep tissue session requires constant vigilance to ensure that the quality of therapy remains productive."
It is interesting that the reviewer refers to the book he is reviewing as the text he used as a student in school. As a matter of fact, the training manual that he worked from was the first edition of this work, which was a privately produced, much smaller text meant to accompany the curriculum he was being taught. The current edition, which is sold by Amazon, is the 2nd edition of this work. It has been greatly expanded and augmented to serve the massage community at large. It seems likely that Mr. Frame has never even seen the edition of the book he is supposedly reviewing. I suggest that he read the second edition carefully and follow the proper guidelines to prevent him from continually hurting his clients.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A very good choice for learning deep tissue therapeutics, September 18, 2005
I have been a massage instructor for a number of years on the east coast, and I have been using Mr Scheumann's book the "Balanced Body" in the college that I teach for 3 years. In order for my review to seem pertinent, I feel as though I should give my background. I not only teach advanced tissue massage and A&P at a college, I am also a CEU provider for the NCBTMB in NMT and Myofascial Release continuing education courses.
I am going to get right into the meat of Mr Scheumann's book. I find his introduction and musculoskeletal anatomy of each of the hands-on chapters to be a good review for my students who have had some previous A&P. The introduction paints a concise and vivid picture of the muscular physiology and kinesiology of the body area, and the musculoskeletal section gives the students a quick and thorough review of the muscular and skeletal anatomy that is needed for the hands-on techniques. The postural analysis tables are a quick and easy reference for any student, and the exercise and self-treatment section are simple exercises for a student to apply.
Now to the hands-on treatment, the NMT techniques that Mr Scheumann describes in the book are standard NMT treatments. They are well written and easy to follow for any person who has a basic training and aptitude for massage. The NMT treatments not only treat the belly of the muscle, but the author guides the reader through treatments of the origin and insertion of many of the muscles throughout his book (a good thorough NMT treatment). As far as the myofascial release treatments that are laid out in the book, are also basic treatments that are easy to follow. In this readers opinion, myofascial release and NMT go hand in hand. A true thorough therapeutic treatment of the body can easily be achieved with these two alone.
In my humble opinion, the only reason that this book didn't get five stars from me is due to the polarity and shiatsu techniques that are given in the hands-on chapter. I understand what the author is trying to achieve by bringing the eastern and western energetics and therapeutics together, but I believe the book falls short in achieving this goal. As far as, the western techniques that are offered within the text, the book gets five stars.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Much more than a text book!, October 5, 2003
The Balanced Body started out as just a text book for me when I started Massage Therapy School. Over time it has become my Deep Tissue companion. The mind/body connection explorations, together with the easy to follow lessons have made learning and practicing effective Deep Tissue Bodywork a reality. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn Deep Tissue, or take their bodywork to another level.
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