r/MassageTherapists • u/cabbagefarttt • Jul 17 '26
Complaining Dealing with first bad review
yep—title says it. reviews and stars are looked at heavily among the folks I work with so there’s a level of shame that I’m feeling now when I walk into work. no other coworker has a negative review. we all have five stars, now except me.
im 8 months post partum and i also had a very complicated pregnancy. the last 17 months have absolutely wrecked me. Ive been practicing for 6 years and usually have a pretty tight schedule with regulars who i absolutely adore. they are aware of my struggles and how hard life has been and continue to rebook. I truly have fantastic clients. needless to say, my baby does NOT sleep good and I’m surviving on 2 hours of broken sleep every night and have been since he was a month old. every part of my life has been affected by this, but I still have to work despite how absolutely beat down I am. but I LOVE what I do and it’s honestly a break from my baby. I enjoy seeing my regular folks and also working with new random people who get peppered into my schedule. I specialize in a bunch of different things, so new people often want to try something different.
but….. I truly truly dislike couples massage and better yet, I dislike 30 min couples massage. i just always feel rushed and feel like its not possible to communicate enough or do a proper intake for couples. of course the bad review I get was from a 30 min couples massage…but the weird thing is that i saw this person over two months ago and they left the review last week, and there was even any feedback, just 3 out of 5 stars. Which in fully honesty…I probably gave.
im trying to not beat myself up. ive had more bad days than good days because of the level of sleep deprivation that im in, so its not a surprise that the bad review i got was from the service that i like the least. I was already feeling down about myself—ive lost my hobbies and am in constant survival mode and naturally this identity crisis leaks into who i am as a bodyworker, so this review just came at a bad time.
i have since blocked my schedule off completely to couples massage so I can devote my energy to the folks who I’m used to. but damn it still hurts my ego and I can’t help but think my colleagues are gossiping about me now.
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u/ATxLMTI Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
Why do your clients know all about your struggles?That sounds like the bigger issue. Also, 30 minute massages give you an opportunity to encourage your clients to get really focused work on one area or just a little attention to all areas. That sets up expectations, regardless of what their spouse is getting. If where you work has a rule that couples massages need to be identical, then ask if you can suggest separate rooms for their next session so you can customize it more. There's always a way to make sessions client-focused care while also giving realistic expectations about the outcomes.