Frequently Asked Questions

One main advantage is the gentleness of the touch. Indirect techniques do not challenge the body in an aggressive way. Instead the body is encouraged to self-correct. The Essential Connections treatment method has the ability to discern underlying cause(s) for chronic conditions. We work with the tissues, not against them. 

The number of sessions required to make a change depends on the severity of your condition. Usually within three to five sessions, you get a sense of whether this treatment modality will be helpful. Some notice a change after the first session. 

Anyone can benefit from this type of treatment as the goal of Essential Connections is to balance physical, emotional, mental and energetic aspects of self. ESSENTIAL CONNECTIONS may address:

• Traumas: falls; concussions; sports injuries
• Surgery: pre- and post-surgical conditions, including joint replacements
• Chronic pain and headaches
• Chronic stress

Treatment is done on a massage table. Clients remain clothed in comfortable, loose clothing. The pressure used is very light. Assessment starts at the feet. This helps determine imbalances and areas of tension where your body may need support to clear old patterns.  Joy can then identify a primary areas to address.

During these sessions, the body often makes significant changes. It may take several hours or up to a day for you to feel the full effect as your body integrates the changes and the brain recognizes the shift. Most people feel calmer, more clear or ‘lighter’. Occasionally there may be brief periods of irritability or feeling more emotional which quickly passes.

• Registered Massage Therapist, licensed in Ontario
• Evolutionary Process with Denine Savage
• Upledger CranioSacral training
• Barral’s Visceral Manipulation
• Integrative Manual Therapy with Sharon Weiselfish-Giamatteo
• Magraw Method with Kristi Magraw
• Process Accupressure developed by Aminah Raheem
• Certified in Structural Rehabilitation with Sharon Weiselfish-Giamatteo
• Certified in Healing Transformation with Ellen Lewinberg
• Medical Intuition with Tina Zion
• Certified in Body/Mind coaching
• Certified as a Death Doula 

 Embodiment is the ability to discern how your body is responding to situations, places, people and events.  We can think about our response and we can have a bodily sensation in response to that situation. Living in a culture that is mentally dominant there is often not an opportunity to tap into your body’s response. In Joy’s practice of body work and coaching, she teaches the art of listening to their bodies to integrate body and mind.  

Those going through a challenging situation in their life can benefit from an outside perspective. Those in chronic pain, life transitions or recovering from difficult situations can all benefit from coaching. Joy helps you to find and connect with your true self despite whatever is happening. 

Joy has worked with Veteran’s at Sunnybrook Veteran’s Centre.  In this capacity she has worked with specific clients, often for years, through to the end of their life.  As one approaches death, there is a process of letting go.  The gentleness of touch supports the individual in the process of dying.  As decline continues, the non verbal connection of touch creates a container for the process of letting go.

Anyone facing death at any stage, an individual or their families can reach out.   Death doula’s fill in the gaps where medical and support staff fall short.  Death doulas offer a consistent, informative, presence for the family/friends and the individual who is moving towards death.

In whatever capacity Joy interfaces with her clients, she brings warmth, coaching skills, a therapeutic listening ear and a rich clinical experience of 35 years.  There is definitely overlap.  Coaching and bodywork work well together as do some of the other services.