Therapeutic Massage and Sexuality: Is there a Link?

Massage has always been related to prostitution. However, many trained and dedicated therapists have been successful in changing this perception with their efforts and services in the field of therapeutic massage.

The best part is that massage services has been legitimized as a feasible and principled profession. Unfortunately, there are many gray areas related to massage in the present day. People still believe that there is a deep relationship existing between massage and sexuality.

It is important to know a lot about therapeutic massage and sexuality in order to understand the link between the two.

There are many who massage therapists that have reported requests coming from their clients for some kind of sexual activity as an integral part of massage sessions.

The requests usually range from typical non-verbal pelvic movement to verbal requests for “joyful endings”. Many massage seekers are also seen informing their therapists that they would not mind sex during massage if were offered.

With so much that has been said and written about massage and sex, it has become very necessary to know about the relationship between massage and sexuality.

The Great Confusion

It is natural that a client may place request for sexual favors during the massage session. This is due to the confusion going on the mind of the client about what is being offered in the name of massage.


There are many reasons behind this confusion. Sometimes people who are provided with sexual pleasures during a massage narrate experiences to their friends.

This works like word of mouth and spreads from one group of people to the other. The experience they had may be in a foreign country or a place where sex is considered to be a normal regime during massage. Sometimes the client tends to misunderstand because the therapy is done is a loving or sensual manner. This make the client misunderstand the intentions of the therapist.

Removing the Confusion

There are several ways in which the client gets confused about the role of sexuality in the massage treatment. The basic confusion can be cleared via using a clearly written disclosure statement.

A verbal statement would also work in some cases. The basic idea is to set things straight in the beginning so that no confusion is left in the mind of the client.

Sometimes the client gets confused due to the way draping is done by the therapist. In case, the draping is done carelessly or in a way that it exposes genitals during some specific moves, the client may consider this as an invitation for sexual favor.

The therapist should take special care to cover the genital region properly to avoid unintentional contact with the area. The basic idea is to tell the client that the session simply includes a massage sans sex.

The therapist should not stay in the room while client undresses as this may send a confusing communication about the possibilities during the massage.

Avoiding eye contact is a must. Touching sensitive areas such as inner thighs, breasts, etc should be avoided.

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