​At New Town, we are lucky to have the time of a fully qualified and trained massage therapist, offering a unique and valued service to Reading Settings, providing 1:1 sessions to children and young people, training to staff and support for parents and carers. Sophie has worked in this job role for over 10 years, and is very proud of what she does.  

 Massage therapy aims to provide a relaxing experience for children and young people to support and regulate their emotional and sensory needs. Sessions are tailored to each child’s individual needs and all therapy sessions are delivered on a one-to-one basis.    

Sessions usually start with an exercise which may help your child improve a range of skills such as spatial awareness, fine motor, sequencing and crossing the midline. Sophie may also assist your child in completing recommended exercises/activities from other professional reports i.e. Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy.   

Your child and Sophie may spend time talking about concerns or worries that they may be experiencing, and Sophie may be able to offer support and advice through breathing and grounding techniques.    

Hand massage follows, which is a calming technique and reduces stress and anxiety.  Hand massage can also support handwriting skills. In this section on our website you will find a video on how you can do hand massage at home.     

Finally, there is an opportunity for a back and head massage. Parental and child consent is required, and it is carried out on a massage table, through clothing, using hands and massage tools. At home, you can offer your child story massage. Links to stories that you can use with guidance on how to put this in place in a quiet space at home is on this page.