Jeremy McCarthy, group spa director for Mandarin Oriental, gave a speech at the Forum Hotel & Spa event in Paris last week on ways in which spa businesses can impact consumers psychologically rather than focusing only on physical massage.

According to McCarthy, the wellness world is only scratching the surface of ‘holistic’ healing of the body, mind and spirit.

To improve the mental health of guests at wellness institutions globally, McCarthy advocates making people feel good. This means not excluding activities that might be categorised as ‘pampering’ – a word that has received much backlash for its connotations of vanity.

Pampering is an essential part of wellness, according to McCarthy: “How much do you look forward to a healing experience at a hospital? Spas are the only healing institution people look forward to and remember for how good they were made to feel.

“Feeling good makes our physiology work better too, so spas essentially send people out with a forcefield around them – helping them deal with stress differently,” added McCarthy.

While our bodies don’t need to rest during vacations due to prevalent sedentary workplace behaviour, people need to rest their minds, McCarthy said. “The ability to get away from noise and urbanised places is becoming essential.”

McCarthy referenced the YeloSpa facility in New York City that actually sells ‘sleep’. This means guests pay for time in beds pre-or post treatment to experience stillness.

In order to nudge spagoers into pursuing a healthier direction post spa visit, spas should offer lifestyle behaviour advice. Although therapists aren’t doctors, McCarthy believes mental health can be improved via motivational interviewing. This technique involves reminding a spagoer of their health goals by only asking them questions. This would means spas don’t need to prescribe guests medicine.

“The perfect spa is the one that recognises our industry is about transcending the physical,” added McCarthy.