The Art of
Palpation,
The Practice
of Caring
A Loving Tribute to
Chris O’Connor
T
By Don Dillon, RMT
here was no missing Chris O’Connor, even in the
crowded halls of the ONE Concept Canadian Mas-
sage Conference. His eyes - piercingly perceptive
and radiantly warm - housed in a massive frame he
used benevolently to engender kindness, love and
caring to everyone he engaged. Any person I’ve spoken to says
the same thing, “He gives the best hugs.”
Chris died in March of this year. His contemporaries, stu-
dents, patients, friends and family will dearly miss him. This
article is a tribute to Chris’s professional life: the example he
provided in regularly stretching, developing and improving
himself as he practiced the art of palpation, and cultivated the
practice of caring.
I first reached out to Chris after reading about his experi-
ence treating patients at Homewood Health Centre, one of the
largest mental health and addiction facilities in Canada. Imme-
diately affable, Chris suggested we meet over coffee. I recom-
mended Chris apply to speak at ONE Concept’s conference, and
I encouraged Chris in the development of his book, The Art of
Palpation. Chris struck me as the kind of person I would covet
as a life-long friend.
Over his 18 years of professional practice, Chris cultivated
skills as a Registered Massage Therapist, public speaker, osteo-
pathic practitioner and provider of medical acupuncture. For
most of those years, Chris worked primarily at the Homewood
Health Centre, a hospital focused on the treatment of addictions
and behavioral disorders.
Chris was particularly perceptive to the special needs of indi-
viduals affected by trauma. In his article, Trusting Hands: Mas-
sage Therapy Treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Recovery
(MTC Spring 2014) he writes, “Alexithymia - an inability to feel
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one’s emotions - is a common co-morbidity with Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD). Victims often cannot discern what emo-
tions they are feeling, are skilled at not feeling, or do not even
know how their emotions feel in their bodies.
Massage, executed carefully, can play a very important thera-
peutic role here. Care must be taken to ensure treatment is led
by the client – not by the therapist. Trust is paramount with this
demographic. Failure to gain and maintain trust will jeopardize
the efficacy of your treatment and impede your client’s recovery.”
Chris took interest in other patient populations too, working
with a local high school wrestling team in Guelph, and volun-
teering in Guatemala for the jornada (medical mission directed
towards underserviced populations) with the Global Health-
works Foundation (GHF). From the GHF website, Kelly Call,
GHF logistics volunteer states “Chris is great for moral. He’s just
a big, lovable guy. And he’s easygoing. He might be intimidating
at first because of his size, but he’s a gentle spirit.”
In Journey to Healing: Guatemalan Outreach Offers Unique
Opportunity for Learning While Making a Difference in the
Health of Underserved Populations, (Massage Therapy Canada,
Summer 2015), Chris shares his experience. “Many of the
patients who come to the centre are suffering the destructive
effects of alcoholism, physical and sexual abuse. Volunteers find
themselves giving massage to people who are in dire need of
respect and positive touch, not just medical care.”
Chris insisted on viewing the person as a complete and inte-
grated whole. “I often tell people that I have never treated a