PMC Professional Behavior 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A prenatal massage therapist notices a client is crying quietly during the session. What is the most professionally appropriate response?
- Immediately end the session and ask the client to leave
- Pause, offer a tissue, and ask gently if she would like to continue or stop (Correct answer)
- Continue working and ignore the emotional response to maintain focus
- Call the client's obstetrician without the client's knowledge
Correct answer: Pause, offer a tissue, and ask gently if she would like to continue or stop
Acknowledging the client's emotional state with compassion while offering her control over the session respects her autonomy and emotional safety.
Question 2: When a prenatal client asks a massage therapist for advice about which prenatal vitamins to take, the therapist should:
- Recommend a specific brand based on personal experience
- Provide a general list of vitamins commonly used in pregnancy
- Explain that nutritional supplementation is outside the massage therapist's scope of practice and refer to the OB (Correct answer)
- Research the topic and report back at the next appointment
Correct answer: Explain that nutritional supplementation is outside the massage therapist's scope of practice and refer to the OB
Recommending supplements falls outside the massage therapist's scope of practice; the appropriate action is to refer to a qualified medical provider.
Question 3: A therapist's professional liability insurance lapses during an active prenatal practice. What should the therapist do?
- Continue practicing since most sessions are low-risk
- Immediately suspend practice until insurance is reinstated (Correct answer)
- Only see established clients until the policy renews
- Notify clients verbally that coverage has lapsed but continue sessions
Correct answer: Immediately suspend practice until insurance is reinstated
Practicing without active professional liability insurance exposes both the therapist and clients to unacceptable risk and may violate licensing requirements.
Question 4: Which practice best demonstrates professional boundary maintenance with a prenatal client who brings gifts repeatedly?
- Accept all gifts to avoid offending the client
- Accept small gifts but set a clear boundary if the behavior continues (Correct answer)
- Return all gifts immediately and terminate the therapeutic relationship
- Accept gifts privately but document them in session notes
Correct answer: Accept small gifts but set a clear boundary if the behavior continues
Accepting an occasional small gift may be culturally appropriate, but the therapist should communicate clearly if the gifting pattern suggests boundary issues.
Question 5: A prenatal massage therapist's personal social media post includes a comment about having a 'difficult pregnant client today.' This is a violation of:
- Social media platform terms of service only
- Client confidentiality and professional ethics standards (Correct answer)
- State massage therapy advertising rules only
- No professional standard, as no name was mentioned
Correct answer: Client confidentiality and professional ethics standards
Even without naming the client, sharing identifiable or emotionally charged details about clients on social media violates confidentiality and professional ethics.
Question 6: What is the primary purpose of obtaining informed consent before a prenatal massage session?
- To protect the therapist from all legal liability
- To ensure the client understands the risks, benefits, and alternatives so she can make an autonomous decision (Correct answer)
- To document that the client has paid for services
- To satisfy insurance billing requirements
Correct answer: To ensure the client understands the risks, benefits, and alternatives so she can make an autonomous decision
Informed consent ensures the client has enough information to voluntarily agree to treatment, respecting her right to self-determination.
Question 7: A therapist realizes mid-session that a client's blood pressure reading taken earlier was dangerously high and was overlooked. The professional course of action is to:
- Finish the session since it has already started
- Stop the session, calmly inform the client, and advise her to seek immediate medical evaluation (Correct answer)
- Call 911 on behalf of the client without informing her first
- Make a note in the file and address it before the next appointment
Correct answer: Stop the session, calmly inform the client, and advise her to seek immediate medical evaluation
Dangerously elevated blood pressure is a medical emergency requiring the session to stop and the client to be directed to immediate care.
PMC Professional Behavior 2
A prenatal massage therapist notices a client is crying quietly during the session.
What is the most professionally appropriate response?