Due to the fact that impression plays an important part in this type of treatment, the patient must be suitably impressed by what they see. To be sure that the patient gets the right impression, the room must be clean, tidy, pleasant, comfortable, and insulated from the possible - hustle and bustle - of the supplementary business activities such as the ushering of other patients through the reception area, etc.

The appearance and attitude of the therapist are also important. His or her attire should be neat and clinical, but not too severe so as to frighten the patient. There are some points that can be more easily remembered when presented as the written word, and they are as follows:

1. Always tell the patient exactly what you want them to do, but one thing at a time; otherwise, not only will they have the task of remembering a whole string of instructions but they could experience uncertainty as to when each of the instructions should be implemented. Neither of these situations would be conducive to relaxation.

2. When giving instructions to your patient, you must always politely request rather than order.

3. Discourage conversation by keeping the questions that you ask at a minimum, and when questions are put to you by the patient, answer as briefly as possible without seeming brusque.

4. Give all of your attention to the patient for the whole of the session. Always remember that your facial expression can indicate your mode of thinking. If at any time you give your patient the impression that your attention is veering towards anything other than the job in hand, your hopes of successfully relaxing him will surely fade.

When preparing to commence massage treatment, in addition to those obvious things such as checking that the nails of your fingers and thumbs are short, and that you have removed your wristwatch, bracelets and rings, you must make sure that all personal adornments worn by your patient, such as wristwatch, bracelets, bangles, necklaces, earrings (other than studs or very small rings), glasses, and certain types of hearing-aid are all removed. Furthermore, because relaxation massage includes cranio-facial massage, the patient should be asked whether or not he (or she) is wearing contact lenses. If contact lenses are being worn, the therapist should request that they be removed, otherwise, facial massage must be restricted to those areas well away from the eyes.

When the patient's various items of adornment have been removed, they should be placed in a part of the treatment room where he (or she) can be aware of their presence throughout the session of treatment. By not having completely separated owner and possessions, you will have eliminated the possibility of the patient worrying about the safety of his (or her) possessions had you placed them out of sight in another room.

With your patient suitably positioned supine on the couch, and having let him see you wash your hands, you are almost ready to begin the actual massage. But even so, further preparatory measures must be taken during the actual treatment in the form of two observations. You must take advantage of every opportunity to discover whether the patient has dentures, and whether or not he/she is wearing a wig.

Observations of this kind must of course be made without the patient's knowledge; but the observations are nevertheless very necessary. To accidentally move the wig or dentures during massage, would not only shatter his/her confidence in you, it would destroy his chances of relaxing during the current session of treatment.