One of the main reasons that people are drawn to the massage profession is that they are seeking a career in which they can help others more and participate in work that is more meaningful. While that is all well and good, there is usually a whole other side to helping that people never dreamed they would have to deal with. When people come to the massage profession only to help, they seem to think that helping others will get them the money that they need to live or they may even go as far to say that they don’t need much money or that it isn’t about the money. Being in such a fog about money is usually what leads to such thinking or should I say they aren’t thinking.
I also get a fair amount of massage therapists emailing me or sharing their stories on various forums about how they are underpaid and not taken seriously by their employers. They initially agreed to specific terms without really knowing what they were getting into and are left feeling resentful when working on clients or dealing with the employers.
Mikelann Valterra in her book “Why women earn less” (which I think really could be called ‘why massage therapists earn less”), she outlines some things to think about to see if you are in a money fog:
Do you regularly balance a check book?
Do you know exactly how much you are making each month?
Do you know where all of your money goes?
Do you know if you are saving enough for emergencies and retirement?
Many high school students today are researching careers and jobs and the first thing they ask me on my site www.massagetherapycareers.com is how much can I make as a massage therapist? The massage schools will tell them that massage therapists are charging $60-$80 per hour and more but fail to leave out the fact that this is not really what you make as a massage therapist. If you are working for yourself you need to deduct expenses or if you are working for someone else you usually get about 20-30% of that which isn’t much after you pay taxes on it all.
It is good that high school students are asking today. I know when I went to college a very long time ago, I never went with the intention of how much money I could make.
Choosing a career based on your need to help others is really also saying something else. Why are you wanting to be a massage therapist? There is usually really an unconscious deeper need being played out which is usually really a need for love, attention or acceptance. Choosing a career without knowing or caring how much you can make could mean that you are in a money fog.
You can best do that by taking a look at what you charge clients for your services as well as what you charge for no shows or last minute cancellations. I read in one of the massage magazines awhile ago a survey that asked how many people charged for no shows and most said they didn’t and always made excuses for the client. I was quite shocked. (I’ll have to find that again.) That’s a great example of money fog.
The way to get out of a money fog is to track just how much you are spending and become more aware of your spending patterns and money blueprints. Also joining or starting a peer supervision group can assist you in becoming more aware of issues like this which is the first step and basically the answer to changing your beliefs about money. I am starting an online peer supervision/mastermind group very soon - hopefully next week and will start taking applications from interested participants so stay tuned for more information.
Blogging has become one of my hobbies. What I like about it is that it is easy to use.
The thing with blogging though if you want to make money on something, you have to blog regularly - like once or twice a week at least. Some people may be intimidated by that amount.
There are free blogs you can set up at places like blogger.com but my favorite is wordpress. You can set up one for free at wordpress.com.
I also have written an ebook on how to set up a wordpress blog using my favorite webhost - ez-web-hosting.com. You can purchase the ebook at my site www.workless-playmore.com
The reason why you may want to host your own blog is so that you can get your site found by the search engines and have more control over your settings and information. You can also get your own domain name and that really helps in getting traffic. Chose a domain name that represents what you write about or do. It is all explained more in my ebook along with what plugins and settings to use to get traffic.
As you probably are realizing, Site Build it! has regular sales but they aren’t as good as the last Christmas sale where you can buy one and get one free.
The Valentines Day Sale is on now where you can get one website building system for $299 and get the second one for $100.
If you don’t know what Site Build it! is all about, it must be your first time on my blog or site. You can read more about what it is but the short version is it is an online business building system that helps you brainstorm, develop and create a website through which you can make money - supplement your income or make a living online. You can read more on my website www.thebodyworker.com or massagetherapycareers.com
ABMP reports in their 2007 member survey report that Close to 83 percent are women. AMTA report that their members are 85% female and 15% are male. Male’s entering the massage profession find themselves in the minority which is a very unusual place for men to be.
One of the most FAQ’s on my website -www.massagetherapycareers.com is about the demand for men in the massage profession. FAQ- Is the massage profession for men?
Women have played the role of nurturing for so long that many are drawn to the massage profession to continue their work of helping others. I actually just had the thought that maybe it is also the reason why so many people struggle as a massage therapist. Through my own process of learning and discovering the hidden side of helping (see the code of the caretaker category) and seeing it in the massage therapists that I work with and interact with online and in person, I have seen that so many massage therapists confuse helping with running a business. (This is a whole other post for later!)
So what are the challenges for men in the massage profession?
Women clients find themselves uncomfortable being touched my men in some situations. The abuse of women by men sets up the bad image that males are faced with as a massage therapist. Men are skeptical of getting massage by men as they may also feel threatened sexually or they just prefer to have the nurturing of a woman.
Whatever the reasons many men are left out in the cold when looking for a job because men do not seem to be in demand in the massage profession. But how much of that is actually create by the massage profession itself?
In about 2002, I asked a male massage therapist, Ryan Hoyme (who went on to create www.massagenerd.com) to write an article on my website -www.thebodyworker.com about what issues males are faced with and how he overcame those issues.
Through the years he has also gotten many inquiries and replies to his article and he has posted them on his website at www.massagenerd.com.
The thing is that there are many successful men in the massage profession. Many have gone on to become teachers and develop their own methods of massage and bodywork. Many have written books.
Keith Grant- Massage School teacher and writer who is very informed about the politics in the massage profession and is working to create standards for the massage profession. His website is www.ramblemuse.com
Joseph Heller -Studied with Ida Rolf and created his own version of Structural Integration called Hellerwork.
Milton Trager- Tragerwork and Mentastics.
These are just a few of the many males in the profession who have created a name for themselves. They all have done it by working on many people and studying the body.
I also wonder if part of the problem is that men are not used to being discriminated against. It is a new feeling for them to be faced with. Massage schools are also telling them they will have difficulties and so when they are faced with hiring challenges they may take it personally.
The thing is that if whether you think you will or will not have issues or challenges as a male in the massage profession - you are right.
Focusing on the problem will keep you stuck on the problem. Focusing on the solution will keep you focused on creating what you want for yourself.
If you find that you are always finding the spa or job that is against hiring males, it is just a good opportunity to look at your own resistance and fear of working in the massage profession as a male. Most of the time it is some unconscious thought process that is keeping you from finding your ideal job.
One of the things you can do is to join or start your own peer supervision group that can be men only or a mixed group. Talking about these issues is one of the most important things we can do as a profession. Being able to share your concerns and yes- feelings is how the images of males as being a minority in the massage profession can begin to be changed.
Dating massage clients has in the past been seen as acceptable and almost a way of life when I went to massage school 20 years ago. Teachers dated students. Students dated each other. So it wasn’t anything to think that dating a client would not be acceptable.
As massage becomes more accepted as a profession it is important to start understanding the issues that come up around dating clients. Massage schools are starting to mention it in their classes and some states like here in WA are starting to make it illegal to date clients. In 2006 it was made into a law that massage therapists can not date a client within 2 years of seeing that client. The specifics are outlined in the WAC 246-16-100
The thing is that there are still so many massage therapists out there that don’t think it is a problem to date a client. What happens is that clients come to us for help. That act of seeking help often creates a reenactment of our early relationships with caregivers. They think that they will be taken care of like their parent (s) did or should have. Clients come to us in a vulnerable state and the act of getting a massage which requires that massage clients take their clothes off and let a stranger touch them also creates more vulnerability. To put it simply, clients can easily think and act like we are their parents and they want to recreate that early merging and bonding energy that occurs that makes them feel safe. It happens in other personal relationships in fact all most all relationships. I can’t actually think of an instance where it doesn’t happen.
What happens is that the early feelings are also ‘remembered’ through the touch that is given in a massage which complicates the matter even more. Touch elicits the bodies feelings.
The therapeutic relationship is created where the client can come in and project their early feelings onto the massage therapist. Some of the ways that it is shown is when clients bring you gifts, offer to do things for you, or think that YOU are the cause of their healing. These are what is called signs of transference.
