Deep tissue is slow, firm pressure aimed at one or two stubborn spots. Therapeutic massage is a full-body session with moderate to deep pressure and extra time on whatever bothers you most. Intuitive massage has no set routine at all: I read what your body is holding and blend Swedish, deep work, and energy work as I go.
The short version
Those three sessions get booked more than anything else on my menu, and people mix them up constantly. The names don’t help. So here’s how I’d sort it if you were sitting across from me: pick by what you’re dealing with, not by which one sounds most serious.
If you can point to the problem, you want deep tissue or therapeutic. If you can’t, you want intuitive. The rest of this article is the longer version of that sentence.
Chronic Tension Relief, my deep tissue session
This is for tension that has lived in the same muscles for months. Desk shoulders. A low back that seizes every time you lift the laundry basket. A hip that never fully lets go. On a scale of one to ten, the pressure sits around seven to nine, and it’s slow. Deep work done fast just makes you brace.
I warm the area first with hot towels and aromatherapy, then spend most of the session on the spots that need it. Sixty minutes is enough to work one region well. If you have more than one problem area, book 90. Trying to fit neck, low back, and hips into an hour means each one gets rushed, and rushed deep tissue is worse than none.
Cupping is available as an add-on. The cups lift the tissue instead of pressing it, which some people find easier on a very tight spot. The research on cupping is limited, so I offer it for how it feels, not as a treatment. Details and lengths are on the Chronic Tension Relief page. Mild soreness the next day is common, like after a hard workout.
Therapeutic Massage
This is the all-rounder, and the one I’d point most first-time clients toward. It runs 30 to 120 minutes. You name the spot that’s bothering you, I warm the tissue with heated towels, and then I work through the whole body with extra time on your focus area. Pressure is moderate to deep and moves up or down whenever you ask.
Light assisted stretching is worked in, and I pick an aromatherapy oil at intake. If you’d rather I skip your face and feet and spend that time on your back, say so. The 30-minute version works one area only. Scrub and scalp add-ons are on the booking menu, and the full run of lengths is on the Therapeutic Massage page.
Intuitive Massage
This is my signature session, and it’s the hardest to describe because there’s no script. The intake goes a little deeper than usual. I ask what’s going on physically and what’s going on otherwise. Then I work from what I feel in the tissue and what you told me, shifting between long Swedish strokes, deeper pressure where it’s needed, and stillness or light holds.
Some sessions end up mostly bodywork. Some end up with a lot of quiet. Clients often say they leave both looser and calmer, which is the whole idea. If you want bodywork only and no energy work, tell me and I’ll keep it there. Lengths run 60 to 120 minutes, and the Intuitive Massage page has more on what a session looks like.
Pick by what you’re dealing with
Here’s the sorting I do in my head when someone messages me and says “I don’t know which one to book.”
- One stubborn knot or a region that’s been tight for months: Deep Tissue. Book 90 if it’s more than one spot.
- Stress plus a tight neck, or a body that just feels heavy everywhere: Therapeutic. You’ll get the full body and extra time where it counts.
- Burnt out, flat, and not sure what’s wrong: Intuitive. Come without an agenda and let me figure it out.
- Pregnant: none of the above. Book Prenatal Massage, which uses a pregnancy pillow and skips the pressure points I avoid in pregnancy.
- Want to stay clothed and be stretched instead of kneaded: Ayurvedic Thai Massage, done on a mat with compression and assisted stretches, no oil.
If two of those sound like you, go with the one that’s louder today. We can always change course next time.
Length and price
Deep tissue comes in 60 and 90. Therapeutic runs from 30 up to 120. Intuitive starts at 60 and goes to 120. Longer isn’t always better. A focused 60 beats a wandering 90 if you only have one thing going on. The current rates for every length, plus packs and add-ons, live on the Pricing page, and I keep that page up to date so I don’t have to keep this one current.
Questions people ask
Does deeper pressure mean a better massage?
No. Pressure past what your body accepts makes muscles guard, and a guarding muscle doesn’t release. The right pressure is the most you can relax into.
Can you mix deep tissue into a therapeutic session?
Yes. Therapeutic sessions go moderate to deep on the areas we agree on. If the whole session needs to be deep, book Deep Tissue instead.
What if I book the wrong one?
We adjust in the room. The names help you choose, but I work with the body in front of me.
