Affinity Bodyworks

Reviews & Feedback

"Susanne has a good routine for relieving tension, nice staying power and soothing quality of touch."
- Elaine Calenda* RMT, AOS, NCTMB

"You have a beautiful touch. Your hands are soft and nurturing but you also have a firm pressure. You are sensitive to client needs and you easily established a safe space for me as your client. You communicated very clearly with me and listened carefully to my needs. You presented yourself in a very professional way. You asked good questions and made sure that you knew what was important to me. Then throughout the session you checked in but also demonstrated your ability to listen with your hands as well. Your work at the hips and gluts was very thorough and complete. You focused on areas of need but still managed to address my full body, making the session feel very complete." - Jack Vandenberg ** BA, Ed S RMT, AOS, NCTMB

(More information on the backgrounds of Elaine Calenda and Jack Vandenberg at the bottom of this page)

Client feedback on specific work

Trigger points were great! I liked the pressure she applied, released the knots right away.

I thought she did a great job of communicating and getting my trouble spots, I liked the shoulder blade work.

I really liked when she synchronized her motions with my breath.

Released a lot of pressure. Susanne was very thorough, and had great post-massage observations.

Susanne was attentive to tense areas & used specific techniques to work on them – very effective.

Good techniques and communication. Great deep massage, liked the deep neck work.

She relaxed everything that needed relaxing. I am leaving with no pain in my problem spots.

Very effective techniques. Susanne is a great listener & communicator – she gave me some good advice for what I needed specifically. I enjoyed the low back and Gluts massage.

I liked the techniques she used – I discovered some things I needed, of which I was unaware. I felt very relaxed overall.

Great trigger point work and explanation.
What I liked most about my session was that she targeted my shoulders and gave me suggestions for exercises to do in the future.

I liked the extraordinary and unusually deep pressure, superb!

What I liked most was her holistic approach. She incorporated various techniques & maintained excellent communication. Responded immediately to both verbal and muscle feedback

Feedback on quality of touch, communication & demeanor

She has a lovely touch, warm hands & lots of great techniques.

I liked the extraordinary and unusually deep pressure, superb!

Relaxing. I felt she had good intuitive sense about what areas needed more attention.

She made sure pressure wasn’t too much, I could feel tender spots being worked out.

Great touch! Great communication! Very professional! She is definitely passionate about massage and holistic health care, which shows in her work. I like her connected touch and how she cares about the needs of the client. Tuned into what I needed very quickly, released a lot of energy. Great massage, the depth you got to was just right.

Listened to me, good use of time and interactive experience; pretty thorough given the short amount of time she had.

Very professional, but also personable.

She made me feel comfy and relaxed and my whole body feels lighter now. I had never had a massage & was a bit nervous coming in, but the minute I met Susanne I felt at ease.

Very good touch. What I liked most was her! Very pleasant, informative, professional and skilled.

Good rapport and attentive; suggestions were very helpful. Calm and relaxed atmosphere, asked about my needs. Addressed what I asked her to. Wonderful hand massage.

Very communicative, ease of dialogue, gave suggestions for what I can work on, on my own. Willing to explore issues that arose in my awareness during the massage.

Very attentive to specific goals/conditions of client, instead of one-size fits-all approach I’ve sometimes seen at studios. Neck work helped very much; good communication, ideas for lessening symptoms on problem areas, proactive ideas.

It felt very good – relaxing where I didn’t know I had tightness. Susanne was very responsive to my concern of the day (my whiplash injury) She applied sufficient pressure & communicated what she was doing and why.

Susanne communicated during the entire session to meet my needs with pressure and various techniques to make this an excellent overall experience. Thank you!!

I loved Susanne’s communication – she encouraged a more active participation on my part.

She was very good and worked on areas I specifically requested.

The massage was very relaxing, it felt like it was over too soon.

Good communication – she listened to where I am in my process (post-rolfing) What I liked most about the session were the after-effects, I feel taller and I have more “space” around me

Attentive and communicative, varied pressure and depth as necessary. She was professional and explained what she was doing all throughout the session. What I liked most about the session was being able to relax, wish it was longer.

Great mix of techniques/approaches. What I liked most was her ability to approach problem areas from multiple angles and integrate the pieces.

Great use of a variety of techniques and explanation of technique purposes, as well as self care suggestions with visuals.

Her work is enhanced with the use of a variety of strokes. Excellent focus, technique and attitude

*Elaine Calenda
Elaine graduated from the Swedish Institute in 1979 and gained clinical work experience at the Center of Osteopathic Sports Medicine in NYC. Elaine was an instructor at the Swedish Institute for six years and taught at BCMT for the past 20 years, as well as functioned as the Dean of BCMT for the last several years. She has participated in curriculum development in BCMT’s Massage Therapy Certificate and AOS Degree program. She has also contributed to several BCMT-led research projects including: “The Effects of Massage for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome” and “Chronic Tension Headache.” Elaine wrote for massage and CAM publications and participated in a number of committees dedicated to the advancement of the profession. She was a contributing author to the textbook Teaching Massage.

** Jack Vandenberg
Jack earned a BA in Education from Biola University and his Education Specialist in Curriculum, Administration, and Supervision degree from the University of Colorado at Denver. In 2005, he began his private massage practice using a combination of modalities to treat the whole person. He has also completed additional training in sports and orthopedic massage, and has worked in a neuromuscular massage clinic. He is a graduate of both BCMT’s Certificate and AOS Degree in Massage Therapy programs and currently is an instructor at BCMT.

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