More Than a Massage: Emma from Equilibria on Supporting the Whole Person

Our latest guest on The Community Sofa completely changed that perception.

For Episode 2, Courtney and Debs welcomed Emma from Equilibria to the orange sofa for a fascinating conversation about massage, mental wellbeing, complex health conditions and why truly person-centred support means looking beyond a diagnosis and seeing the whole person.

Emma originally qualified as a massage therapist while pursuing a very different career, initially keeping massage largely to friends and family.

After having her children, however, she began exploring how she could use massage to support people's physical and mental wellbeing.

Then life changed.

Emma experienced serious illness within her own family, losing a family member to cancer and later her father to motor neurone disease (MND).

During her father's time in hospice care, Emma saw first-hand how complementary therapies could support someone living with serious illness.

It opened her eyes to an entirely different area of care.

Emma went on to undertake further specialist training, enabling her to work with people experiencing cancer, complex medical conditions, end-of-life care and neurodegenerative conditions including Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis and MND.

What began as an interest had developed into something much more personal: a way of helping people maintain comfort, wellbeing and connection during some of life's most challenging moments.

One of the strongest themes running throughout our conversation was individuality.

Two people may have the same diagnosis but have completely different needs.

Emma explained that specialist knowledge allows her to adapt what she does around each person, taking into account their health, mobility, circumstances and how they're feeling on that particular day.

For some clients, that can even mean providing treatment while they're sitting in their rise-and-recline chair or lying in a hospital bed.

It isn't about making somebody fit the treatment.

It's about making the treatment fit the person.

And before Emma even arrives at someone's home, much of that work has already begun through conversation.

Understanding someone's health, mobility, circumstances and expectations allows her to consider what equipment might be needed and, importantly, gives the client an opportunity to get to know her too.

As Emma explained during our conversation, that personal connection matters. However extensive someone's professional skill set may be, if the relationship isn't right for that individual, the support may not work for them.