Mandarin Oriental’s group director of spa and wellness Jeremy McCarthy, believes that the spa experience is as psychological as it is physical.

Speaking exclusively to Spa Business, the former psychology undergraduate who received the first-ever Debra Simon Award for Leader in Furthering Mental Wellness at last year’s Global Wellness Summit, revealed that before he’d even discovered positive psychology, he’d always felt that the spa experience was a psychological one.

“I was always thinking about the things we’re doing in our spas - about the impact on people’s mindsets, or the ways that people are feeling and the thoughts that they are having,” he said.

“Most people don’t see psychology and spa as going together, but I always have,” he continued. “If you think about how most spas market themselves, it’s very focused on the physical aspects of the experience.

"But really, our business is about how we make people feel when they leave the spa - how they feel about themselves and how at ease they are in their mind - not just in their body.”

McCarthy also went on to say that spa is one of the only healing institutions in our society that people actually look forward to going to, enjoy while they’re there, and remember fondly afterwards.

To read the full interview with McCarthy in the current issue of Spa Business, click here.