In the Media

Have magic hands, will travel: Massage therapy goes to the office. 

By W.U. Sokolic

When Bernard Doogue needs a release from the stress of his job as general manager and owner of five Coldwell Banker Real Estate offices, he calls on Tyler Watson.

Watson, owner of Corporate Touch, goes to Doogue's Cherry Hill office, and, in less than an hour, massages the tension away. His two-year-old Cherry Hill company takes massage therapy on the road--to businesses and corporations.

As with more traditional forms of massage--Watson also practices Swedish massage in Philadelphia--on-site massage works on both the physical and mental levels. In a typical session, clients lean forward slightly on the [massage] chair, leaving the back, neck, arms and head exposed for massage. Then, using fingertip massage techniques, Watson probes tension areas. He even puts clients through an exercise routine.

"This appeals to me," Doogue said of his sessions with Watson. "He comes to my office. I don't have to spend an hour there and an hour back."

"Performed on a regular basis, it stimulates circulation and soothes the nervous system," easing muscle tension and relieving knots, Watson said.

Watson, 31, took a circuitous route to his profession. He graduated from Rutgers University in 1987 with a degree in psychology. After graduation, he worked as a marine mammal trainer at Sea World in Orlando, Fla. The job provided him a break from the academic world, he said.

Between shows, he did massages on co-workers, building up enough of a reputation that people told him he should rub for a living.

So in 1990, Watson moved north and enrolled at the Pennsylvania School of Muscle Therapy in King of Prussia.

For clients such as Doogue, on-site massage is like preventive medicine.

"This is a busy, stressed-out environment," he said. "Massages increase my productivity. And the feeling lasts through the rest of the day. I find I sleep better at home. It more than pays for itself in reduced tension."