If you love spas but have ever doubted their importance, get a copy of the new e-book, "The Psychology of Spas and Well-Being: A Guide to the Science of Holistic Healing" by Jeremy McCarthy. One of the most interesting thinkers in the spa profession, Jeremy explains why spas are so good at doing what they do -- making people feel good -- and how that expertise can help transform our nation's health and well-being.
The e-book comes out of research McCarthy did while earning his Masters of Applied Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, which specializes in positive psychology. It is on sale for $24 at his website, The Psychology of Well-being and during July, you can get 25% off the PDF version only with the discount code TPOW25.
Reading the book is like having a front row seat at an expensive spa industry symposium. "Spas and churches may be the only two places left in our society where we are forced to separate from technology and spend some time in silent reflection," writes McCarthy. This is just one of many insights that will help spa professionals and spa lovers look at the services they provide and enjoy in a different and more meaningful light.
Jeremy has one of the biggest spa jobs in America -- Director of Spa Operations, Development and Marketing for Starwood Hotels and Resorts. The brands he manages include Heavenly Spa by Westin, AWAY Spa by W Hotels, Shine Spa for Sheraton, Explore Spa by Le Meridien, and Iridium Spa for St. Regis Hotels and Resorts.
He wrote the book to better understand what makes a spa experience worthwhile, and why it is so popular. He wanted to see if the spa industry's promotion of healing across mind, body and spirit could be validated by reviewing literature in the field of psychology, and found out that it can.
Through the power of touch, human relationships, intention and many other factors, spas are truly a healing place and a helping profession, McCarthy argues. "Even the most apparently superficial of spa beauty treatments can have meaningful and positive psychological impacts," he writes.
"Even a spa service as simple as tweezing a client's eyebrows cannot be isolated to only the physical domain since how we look influences how we feel, and vice versa." Beauty therapists in one study said that what was common to their all service offerings is that they were making people feel better and giving them confidence.
"In the spa setting, not only do people benefit from the presence of another person, whose role is to nurture and care for you, but those benefits are deepened because they are transmitted through touch," McCarthy writes.
Many spa professionals and spa goers have long known the importance of spas and the healing that can go on there. So it's wonderful that McCarthy has gone to the trouble to collect all the evidence for what many of us already know to be true.
Thank you for this article. Sometimes I get so caught up in the before and after proof of my services that I forget the true value of them. My antiaging services will always be more satisfying and nurturing than any trip to the derm or simple purchase of a cream. If this were the case, those electric massage chairs you see in the mall would have replaced all need for human massage! Not the case at all. I cannot go without my weekly massage, or if I do I’m pretty grouchy! Long live spa services!