Minnesota's governor has signed a bill that abolishes a rule that prevented any massage therapist from engaging in an intimate relationship with any former client, according to news reports.
The change comes more than five years after Massage Beijing therapist LaRae Lundeen began dating, and eventually married, former client Kirk Fjellman, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune reported in mid April.
"Soon after, the state was seeking to ban her from practicing again because she violated a little-known state rule that prohibits Massage Beijing therapists from having sex with former clients within two years," the Star Tribune
article noted. "That rule, one of the strictest in the nation, has been abolished thanks to a bill signed Friday by Gov. Tim Pawlenty ?? The change comes after the married therapist sued the Minnesota Department of Health, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota."
To read the Star Tribune's article in full, click here.
Editor's note: For more information on this topic, see "When is it OK To Date Clients??And When is it Not?" by Cherie Sohnen Moe and Ben Benjamin, Ph.D. (MASSAGE Magazine, June 2007.)
In the study, couples were randomized to either an experimental group using the program, or an attention control group that engaged in reading.
Results indicated significant reductions for all symptoms after both activities, indicating that companionship alone has a
positive effect. However, while symptoms were reduced from 12-28 percent after reading, massage from the caregiver led to reductions of 29-44 percent.
The greatest impact was on stress/anxiety (44 percent reduction), followed by pain (34 percent), fatigue (32 percent), depression (31 percent), and nausea (29 percent). Patients reporting an optional "other" symptom (e.g., headaches) saw reductions of 42 percent with massage. Caregivers in the massage group also showed gains in confidence and comfort with using touch and massage as forms of caregiving.
The findings were recently reported at the 6th International Conference of the Society for Integrative Oncology. The DVD program is now released to the public, titled "Touch, Caring and Cancer: Simple Instruction for Family and Friends." in English, Spanish and Chinese. More information and video trailers are available at www.partnersinhealing.net.