The Massage Pundit

All licensure states that I am aware of require licensees to get continuing education.  Obtaining continuing education is also required for maintaining national certification and professional membership in AMTA.

I’ve been a provider of continuing education for six years now, and one thing has always been disturbing to me.  That’s the number of therapists who call me and say something like, “I need X number of hours, do you have any classes that are that length?” 

Don’t get me wrong; I’m happy to have the business; it’s just that many times they don’t care what the class is as long as it gets them the required number of hours.  I’ve had people attend classes that they obviously didn’t have any real interest in as far as learning new skills; they’re just there because they needed the hours and the class happened to be the right length.  Medical massage therapists have attended my spa class, for instance, and said, “Oh, I only do medical massage.  I’m not going to use any of these techniques, I just needed the hours.”  It’s kind of like they’re saying “You’re boring me to tears, but I’m willing to sit here because I need the hours.”

When I’m looking for classes to take for my own continuing education, I’m looking for something that will enhance my skill set and my knowledge; I’m looking for something that I can take back to my clients to help them in ways I might not have used before, or something that will expand my menu of services, or that will help improve my business practices.  I don’t want to take a class that doesn’t have any real interest to me just because I need a few hours.  I’d be snoring like a pack mule before the first break if I did that, and I don’t want to waste my hard-earned money on taking a class that doesn’t have any appeal to me.

Part of the problem is that some folks procrastinate until their expiration date is looming before looking around for continuing ed.  A more serious issue to me is a feeling of entitlement that some people have.  I recently got a call from a woman who told me rather rudely that she had been practicing for 25 years and knew everything she needed to know, and that she considered it a slap in the face that she was required to attend continuing education.  I told her I’d prefer she attend a class somewhere else.  I didn’t want her negativity in my classroom.

I hope that when I’ve been practicing 25 years, I will still be looking forward to learning something new.  I don’t view my obligation to get continuing education as a burden; I view it as an opportunity.  I love to be part of a class that excites me and gets me fired up with the feeling that I can’t wait to get back to the office and try this on so-and-so, or that makes the light bulb go off in my head so I think “I should be doing that.”

I hope that the last day I care about learning anything new is the last day I’m on this planet.

Peace & Prosperity,

Laura Allen

My friend and mentor Felicia Brown introduced me to a term that I like: cooperative competition.  Felicia and I share the philosophy that there are enough aching bodies and stressed-out people to go around, and we encourage therapists to network, network, network, make mutual referrals, and support each other.  I like to think of massage therapists as “the family of hands”, a world-wide circle of energy that we all put our effort and intention into, and draw our strength from like drawing water from a well.  I feel good about the relationships I have with other massage therapists in my area.  I’d pick up the phone and call any of them in a pinch, and I think they feel the same about me. 

I’m blessed with the opportunity to meet therapists from all over, who work and conduct their businesses in a variety of ways.  Yesterday in a class I was teaching, one self-employed therapist brought up the subject of fair competition.  In her area where massage normally goes for around 60.00-65.00 an hour, another therapist recently opened a business down the street from hers and is advertising massage for 20.00 an hour.  Another therapist I know from that town had recently called me about the same thing, concerned that it was really going to hurt her business.

I have an opinion about pricing services: If you’re charging way more or way less than the going rate in your area, there ought to be a good reason for that. Therapists who work from home, for instance, don’t have the same overhead I do; that doesn’t mean their actual time or skill is worth any less than mine, but I don’t have any resentment if they charge a little less than I do.  If you’re in service to the poor, or you’ve decided to focus your practice on elderly people with a fixed income, then go ahead and charge 20.00 and ignore any naysayers.  But if your reasoning is that by charging 20.00 you’ll steal all the clients of the other therapists in the area who are charging 60.00, shame on you.

Yes, this is the land of free enterprise, and you have the right to charge anything you want for your services, if you’re self-employed.  But I think such a business tactic as the one above just serves to alienate you from the other therapists in your area, and that’s a shame.  I’d prefer to know that the other therapists working in my community respect me and have the opinion that I conduct my business with integrity, and I enjoy feeling the same way about them.  When my office is busy, I gladly give out the phone numbers of other therapists in town to people who are trying to get an appointment in a hurry.  I wouldn’t give out the number of someone who was charging 20.00 in an attempt to undercut other therapists.  In fact, I might conclude that the person doing that doesn’t have any self-worth or confidence in their own ability to attract clients at the fair going rate.

Practicing cooperative competition is taking the high road.  Trying to run other therapists out of business is taking a very rocky path to success. 

Peace & Prosperity,

Laura Allen

I have a reference library in my office, and there isn’t a day goes by that I don’t pull at least one book off the shelf in search of information.  The Internet is nice, of course, but I love books, and just the feel of one in hand somehow feels more substantial to me than clicking the mouse.

The massage school I attended had a nice bookstore and whenever I had extra money, I would spend it on books.  I’m still expanding my massage library a decade later, so I want to recommend a few that I consider to be essential to a massage practice:

A Massage Therapist’s Guide to Pathology, by Ruth Werner, is now in its 4th edition (LWW, 2008).  I’ve got the first one and the new one.  Ruth’s book is filled with great pictures of the pathological conditions we’re apt to see on people, especially skin conditions.  This book has been the tipping factor many times when I was deciding whether or not it was okay to work on someone or whether I needed to mention something to them I’ve seen on their body.

Drug Handbook for Massage Therapists by Jean Wible (LWW, 2008) is another one that’s invaluable.  Pharmacology wasn’t even mentioned when I went to massage school.  In my big collection of massage school catalogs, I don’t see any mention of it in the curriculums of other schools, either.  This is an overlooked area that’s very important.  Sometimes a client may have a condition that is not a contraindication in itself, but the drug they are taking for it may be.  Our intake form asks people to list their medications, and the first therapist to see them in our office will write on the inside of their folder if there is a contraindication due to medication.  It’s a good practice.

Healing Ancient Wounds: The Renegade’s Wisdom, by my fellow blogger John Barnes, is the definitive book on Myofascial Release.  I still have my old copy I bought when I was a student.  I’m sure it’s been through numerous printings since then.  It’s available on John’s website at www.myofascialrelease.com

Muscles: Testing and Function (Kendall, McCreary et al, 5th ed, LWW, 2005) is the ultimate guide to assessing posture, correcting faults and imbalances, and lengthening shortened muscles.  This book is a classic.  I still have my first edition, and teach a class in structural realignment based on this book. The illustrations and tables are great.

Pain Erasure by Bonnie Prudden is another one I’ve had since massage school.  It’s like a cookbook for massage–assess the condition, and look up the recipe to treat it.  It’s available from www.bonnieprudden.com

There are many more that I’ll mention in future posts, but for a therapist just starting out, these are a great foundation to start building your library.

Peace & Prosperity,

Laura Allen