Amelia Mitchell, LMT is a state licensed and nationally certified massage therapist with a private practice in Annapolis, Maryland.
Massage is the foundation of Amelia's bodywork practice. It is the basic language of healing touch, and it provides the structure and framework for many different healing modalities.
It is Amelia's intent to develop a relationship with her clients so that she will be better able to provide them with the therapeutic and restorative benefits that they seek. This includes taking time to talk before each session, time for feedback on previous sessions, time for talking about that day's needs.
Amelia will combine all of her therapeutic techniques within a session as needed to best support the client's needs. This is why she refers to her work as Restorative Massage. She often supports massage work with Lymph Drainage and CranioSacral Therapy techniques as well as her own intuitive ways of getting to the depth of work that is often necessary for healing. Sessions are priced by the time, not the technique, so whatever modality is necessary will be employed for the client's benefit.
A massage with Amelia will almost always include the long, fluid movements of Swedish massage. This massage technique:
These days, there is a devaluing of Swedish massage, an expectation that it won't be a good massage unless it includes Deep Tissue or other advanced techniques. That is often not the case, and seems to simply be a sales technique for Spas to sell higher priced packages or special services. A qualified massage therapist can do incredible things with a simple Swedish massage and clients ought to expect that.
Additional details about scheduling your session, office location, session rates and office hours can be found here on the home page.
When specific areas of pain, restriction, injury or tension are encountered, Deep Tissue Massage is employed. Amelia often incorporates the specific techniques of Trigger Point work and Myofascial work into these situations. This massage technique provides:
Additional details about scheduling your session, office location, session rates and office hours can be found here on the home page.
Amelia's gentle, multidisciplinary approach to massage has been a great success for many clients. It has been especially helpful in:
Note from Amelia about her style of Deep Tissue Massage
From my experience, many people need far more relaxation and stress reduction than focused deep tissue work and to this goal, I work with the whole body from a holistic viewpoint. Allowing the entire system to drop into a state of deep relaxation benefits the whole body, including areas of injury or pain. From a place of quiet relaxation, I then work into the depths of tight, painful, knotted muscles gently and slowly.
My intention is to develop trust between the client, the client's body and myself. Working with the different levels of tissue, supporting lymph flow, flushing out stagnation and listening to the tissue are all parts of my Deep Tissue work. This may feel different than an elbow in your shoulder or a thumb or tool pressed painfully into the depths of muscle tissue, and I have found TLC to be incredibly effective. If the body is in pain, it is often guarding or protecting. By moving in gently and slowly, I can often get past this guarding without activating the muscle tissue in a fight, with more guarding.
There are times when a trigger point, or myofascial adhesions, need attention, and these can be painful. There is a sweet spot to such pain; it is the "hurts so good" level. If we go past the "hurts so good" level and the client is grimacing, clenching or yelping, we have gone too far. I will work to soothe and calm the muscle, and then gently work with it again. After a massage, water, rest and gentle movement will often enhance the effects. I will not do work that would require a client to need painkillers or to recover for 24 hours before feeling better.
According to the August 2005 issue of Consumer Reports magazine, 34,000 people ranked deep tissue massage as more effective in relieving osteoarthritis pain than physical therapy, exercise, prescription medications, chiropractic, acupuncture, diet, glucosamine and over-the-counter drugs.
Amelia regularly publishes an informative newsletter that often includes useful tips or a monthly special.
Click to Visit the Newsletter Archive
Tight Bra Syndrome
This 2008 newsletter article has gotten a lot of attention. Click here to go to a .pdf file, so you can read it yourself.
You can reach Amelia at 410-570-8927, or via email connect at ameliamitchell.com.
Amelia Mitchell, LMT
owner, Ease, Joy &, Alchemy, LLC
our offices are located at the
Chesapeake Holistic Health Center
528C College Parkway
Annapolis, MD 21409