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 […]
Posted on May 10th, 2008 by Laura Allen
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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 […]
Posted on May 1st, 2008 by Laura Allen
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Every time I teach a continuing ed class, I ask for a show of hands of how many people have had a massage in the past week, month, or year. I’m always blown away by the fact that in a room full of massage therapists, the people who have had a massage in the past month […]
Posted on April 20th, 2008 by Laura Allen
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This weekend I’m teaching How to Pass the NCE at the North Carolina AMTA conference, and as usual when I teach this class I’m looking forward to a classroom full of students who are both anxious and excited; the end of massage school is near and the beginning of their career is on the line.
I’ve […]
Posted on April 10th, 2008 by Laura Allen
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My staff members are all independent contractors. I get a lot of calls from others who are working as ICs, and from people who are utilizing IC labor in their business, and I’m sometimes appalled at the things I hear.
Independent contractors put up with a lot, most of the time because they need the job and they’re […]
Posted on March 28th, 2008 by Laura Allen
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I am seeing a disturbing trend in the past few years, and that is the children whose little bodies are such stressed-out wrecks full of taut muscles and knots. I’m not a parent, so this isn’t something I’ve dealt with personally on a daily basis (or been the cause of, thankfully). But there are a few […]
Posted on March 20th, 2008 by Laura Allen
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This weekend the change over to daylight savings time is a sure sign that spring is on the way. We had a little strange weather here in the NC mountains this weekend with a weird ice storm one moment, and five minutes later the sun coming out. I’m glad to say it doesn’t look like […]
Posted on March 10th, 2008 by Laura Allen
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I was fortunate enough yesterday to host Nina McIntosh, author of The Educated Heart, at my continuing ed facility for a class on ethics. The Educated Heart was the first ethics book specifically written for those in our profession. It came out in 1999, went through 8 printings, and in 2005 LWW acquired it and […]
Posted on March 2nd, 2008 by Laura Allen
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Don’t you just cringe when you hear the term massage parlor? I certainly do. I usually try to consider the source and correct the person without being rude about it. The other day an elderly client called her ride after the session and totally without malice said into the phone, “I’m finished at the massage […]
Posted on February 23rd, 2008 by Laura Allen
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Are you already sick and tired of hearing about the presidential election? I am, and just think, it’s going to drag on until November, but it’s made me think this would be a good time to write about the politics of massage.
I am currently serving a term on our state massage therapy board. What a […]
Posted on February 14th, 2008 by Laura Allen
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