NOCTI Guide
“Your Body Doesn’t Care What Technique Is Trending.” Meet Dominic Richards, the Massage Therapist Who Learned
With more than 1,000 hours of professional training across Western and Asian bodywork techniques, Dominic Richards has learned one lesson that matters more than a long services menu: the massage should adapt to the person—not the other way around.
NOCTI Professional Interview • San Francisco, California
Some massage therapists introduce themselves with one specialty. Deep tissue. Sports massage. Swedish. Dominic Richards has a slightly different problem. He learned…a lot. Swedish. Deep tissue. Sports massage. PNF stretching. Reflexology. Thai. Shiatsu. Tui Na. Gua Sha. Chinese fire cupping. Reiki. At some point, we had to ask: Dominic, do you actually use all of this—or did you just really enjoy school? He laughs. “A little of both.” But underneath the joke is something that explains his approach surprisingly well: Dominic doesn’t believe clients should have to fit themselves into a massage technique. The technique should fit the client. ⸻ NOCTI: You have more than 1,000 hours of training. Why go that far? Dominic’s professional background includes more than 1,000 hours of massage training through Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in San Diego. For him, learning multiple styles wasn’t about collecting impressive names. It was about options. Dominic: “Bodies are different. People come in with different goals, different lifestyles and different levels of tension.” “One technique isn’t going to be the answer for everybody.” Someone may spend all day sitting at a computer. Someone else trains heavily. Another person travels constantly. Another simply wants to relax. If the client is different, why should every appointment look exactly the same?
The Internet Wants You to Pick a Massage Before You Know What You Need
Search online and suddenly massage becomes a multiple-choice exam. Deep tissue massage near me. Sports massage. Swedish massage. Thai massage. Cupping. Massage for tight muscles. And first-time clients are expected to somehow know exactly which one their body needs. Dominic thinks that can be backwards. NOCTI: What if somebody comes to you and says, “I honestly don’t know what kind of massage I need”? His answer is immediate. “That’s okay.” “You can tell me what you’re feeling and what you’re hoping to get from the session.” That information can be more useful than arriving with a technique already selected. Where do you feel tension? What kind of work do you do? Do you exercise? Are you looking primarily for relaxation? Do you prefer lighter or firmer pressure? “You don’t need to become a massage expert before booking a massage.” Thankfully. We already have enough homework. ⸻ So… Does Deep Tissue Mean “Make It Hurt”? This question gets a smile. NOCTI: Why do people sometimes think the harder the massage, the better it must be? Dominic: “I think people associate intensity with effectiveness.” But deeper pressure isn’t automatically appropriate simply because somebody wants a “serious” massage. Communication matters. So does the reason somebody booked in the first place. There is a big difference between someone looking for relaxation and someone interested in focused sports bodywork. “Pressure is a tool. It’s not the goal.” That may be one of the simplest explanations we’ve heard. You are not supposed to win your massage. There is no trophy for surviving it.
Sports Massage Isn’t Only for Professional Athletes
Dominic also trained in sports massage and PNF stretching. But you don’t need a sponsorship deal and six-pack abs to care about mobility. NOCTI: Who actually benefits from sports-oriented bodywork? For Dominic, the category can include people who train regularly, recreational athletes and clients whose everyday activity leaves them feeling tight. That might be someone who lifts. Runs. Cycles. Plays recreational sports. Or simply spends Monday through Friday sitting in one position and then tries to become an athlete on Saturday morning. We know that person. Possibly personally. ⸻ Then There’s the Other Side: Sometimes You Just Need to Relax For all of Dominic’s technical training, he doesn’t dismiss something much simpler: Relaxation. His listed training includes both Relaxation/Swedish massage and more targeted modalities such as deep tissue, sports work and stretching. NOCTI: Do people underestimate relaxation because it sounds too simple? Dominic thinks they sometimes do. Not every appointment needs to become a repair project. Some people spend their entire day switched on. Work. Messages. Commute. Phone. Gym. More messages. Then they finally lie down and realize they have forgotten what doing absolutely nothing feels like. For that person, slowing down may be the whole point of the appointment. And that is a perfectly legitimate reason to book. ⸻ From Swedish to Tui Na: Why Learn So Many Styles? This may be the most interesting part of Dominic’s background. His training crosses both Western and Asian bodywork traditions, including Swedish, deep tissue, Thai, Shiatsu and Tui Na, alongside reflexology, Gua Sha, cupping and Reiki.
NOCTI: Do clients care what the technique is called?
Sometimes. But Dominic seems more interested in what the client actually experiences. A list of modalities can look impressive on a website. The real skill is knowing when—or whether—to use them. That distinction is important. More techniques don’t automatically mean a better massage. Knowing how to listen, adapt and choose appropriately is what gives those techniques value. ⸻ The Best Massage May Start Before Anyone Touches You Dominic’s website repeatedly emphasizes individualized bodywork, and that may be the phrase that best summarizes his practice. The appointment doesn’t really begin with a technique. It begins with information. NOCTI: What’s one thing you wish every client would tell you before the session starts? What they’re actually looking for. It sounds obvious. Apparently, it isn’t. Some clients try to be the “easy customer.” Whatever you think. Whatever pressure. Whatever you normally do. But Dominic would rather know. If you dislike very deep pressure, say so. If one area needs attention, mention it. If you’re mainly there because you need to decompress, that’s useful too. Good massage involves communication—not mind reading. Even after 1,000 hours of training, apparently telepathy was not included in the curriculum. Very disappointing. ⸻ NOCTI: After learning so many techniques, what actually makes someone good at this job? This is where the conversation gets interesting. Because the obvious answer would be technique. Dominic’s answer is broader. Training matters. Understanding the work matters. But so does paying attention. A technically impressive massage that ignores the person on the table misses the point. And maybe that is what separates having a long services menu from having actual experience. You can learn twenty techniques. You still have to know when to stop thinking about the technique and start paying attention to the human being in front of you. ⸻ “Massage Near Me” Is Only the Beginning of the Search For someone in San Francisco searching massage near me, there are plenty of choices. But location alone doesn’t answer: What modalities does the provider know? Do they offer relaxation or focused bodywork? Do they understand sports recovery? Can they incorporate stretching? Can you ask questions before booking? Dominic’s own website specifically invites prospective clients to contact him with questions before confirming an appointment. That is something NOCTI believes matters. Finding a provider shouldn’t just mean finding the closest pin on a map. It should mean finding someone whose skills, services and approach match what you actually need. ⸻ Maybe Expertise Is Knowing You Don’t Need to Show Everything You Know Dominic could easily lead with the long list. More than 1,000 hours of education. Multiple Western and Eastern techniques. Sports work. Stretching. Cupping. Gua Sha. Reflexology. But after looking through his practice, the more interesting idea is much simpler. Individualized bodywork. Not: Look how many techniques I know. More like: Which of those skills actually makes sense for this person today? And maybe that is what experience eventually teaches. The client didn’t come in to admire your résumé. They came in hoping to leave feeling better.
Meet Dominic Richards
Dominic Richards is a professional massage therapist currently listed in San Francisco, California, with more than 1,000 hours of training from Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in San Diego. His listed modalities include relaxation/Swedish massage, deep tissue, sports massage, PNF stretching, foot reflexology, Thai, Shiatsu, Tui Na, Gua Sha, Chinese fire cupping and Reiki. For NOCTI users searching for massage near me in San Francisco, men’s massage, deep tissue massage, sports massage, stretching, relaxation massage or individualized bodywork, Dominic’s range offers an example of why looking beyond distance can matter.I
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