The ancient practice of massage therapy (MT) is increasingly being examined by modern scientific methods. A year-by-year examination of the Medline and PsycInfo research databases shows a steady increase in the number of MT studies published in the last fifteen years, while 2005 saw the accumulation of sufficient scientific interest in MT to make possible the first Highlighting Massage Therapy in Complementary and Alternative Medicine Research conference in the beautiful city of Albuquerque. These are wonderful developments, because it is only through science that MT will be optimally understood, refined, and combined with other approaches to health and well-being, thereby maximizing its human benefit.

As my colleague Janet Kahn has noted in Massage Magazine January 2006, an unexpected theme that emerged from the Albuquerque conference was interest in, and enthusiasm for, case studies. And why not? While demanding, completing a case study is an opportunity for the inquisitive and dedicated practitioner-researcher to make a genuine scientific contribution to the field. Further benefits occur when the practitioner-researcher, challenged to integrate the subjective, intuitive nature of practice with the objective nature of data, strengthens his or her explanatory and analytical skills. In this way, case studies do double-duty for the profession of MT, simultaneously strengthening the skills of the individual practitioner-researcher, while also enriching the broad knowledge base available to us all.

What is more, this is the perfect time for the serious MT practitioner to take on a case study and begin the transition to becoming a practitioner-researcher. Outlets such as www.massagetherapypractice.com have the potential to communicate your work to fellow MT professionals, while the Massage Therapy Foundation now supports separate Case Report Contests for students and practitioners that include substantial rewards for the top entries.

Case studies are not the last word in MT research. Based as they are on a single subject, and lacking experimental control, there is much they cannot tell us. But case studies are to applied science as pawns are to the game of chess. In the Game of Kings, one cannot have a sound strategy with the pawns alone; rather, pawns come into their own as part of a coordinated strategy that maximizes their potential and supports the more powerful pieces. And so it is in applied science, where case studies form the front line, generating kernels of knowledge, insight, and inspiration that in turn support the endgame pieces of applied science, such as controlled trials and meta-analyses. Just as the great eighteenth-century chess master Philidor considered pawns to be the “soul of chess,” let us consider that case studies are the soul of massage therapy’s applied science.

Biography

Christopher A. Moyer is Assistant Professor of Psychology at University of Wisconsin-Stout beginning in the Fall of 2007. He also serves on Massage Therapy Practice.com's Editorial Advisory Panel. He can reached through his faculty web page by clicking here!