’m the first to admit it–chatty clients are fun. Some of my best friends started out as clients who hopped on the table and started a conversation that wouldn’t quit.
Don’t interrupt my meditation!
But this was, and is, always their choice. It is very important to me that my clients have the option of zoning out during their session. I ask questions beforehand and afterward, but I try to keep my comments to a minimum while they’re on the table, unless they initiate the conversation.
This is because an important part of the healing process involves brain waves–specifically, the alpha and theta wavesinduced by deep relaxation. Not only do alpha and theta brain waves increase your levels of beta-endorphin, noroepinephrine and dopamine, leading to greater mental clarity, ability to focus and surcease of pain, they can lead to moments of deep and valuable insight. Being asked a question which forces you to organize your conscious mind can snap you right back into your everyday beta brainwave state. That’s a lot to sacrifice for the sake of idle chit-chat.
This is also why I resist performing therapeutic techniques that require a lot of conscious feedback from my client while the session is in progress. If they come to me complaining of an acute and specific problem, I may ask for their assistance in discovering and releasing particular areas of restriction. But most of the time I can find these areas with my own hands, and work them out using the feedback the body gives me. That way, my client’s mind is free to heal on several levels at once.