Archive for Julie Onofrio

Tipping Massage Therapists

September 12, 2007 Julie Onofrio News

After a very interesting discussion on tipping on my Yahoo Group for www.massagepracticebuilder.com I have gathered some of the information to share it here on the blog.
Is it appropriate to tip a massage therapist?

Is it appropriate for a massage therapist to encourage tipping?

Is it appropriate for massage therapists to accept tips? Should you even mention tipping on your website, policies or anywhere in your office?
Massage Therapists for the most part are licensed health care professionals. Some states still do not recognize us for that.

Tipping comes from the

“Are tips required?” and then answer
with: “No. Although greatly appreciated, tips are not
required.”

‘Clinical clients may not
tip, wellness clients may tip is so inclined, Thank you.’
In our office we have discreet signs which simply
state “Gratuities graciously accepted” along with envelopes that
clients can use and write a note on if they wish at the reception
counter

“Massage is generally a tipping industry and supports the
therapist’s income”, or “general gratuities are 15-20% and should
always simply be a reflection of your customer satisfaction”, etc

Tipping a massage therapist varies widely mainly because of the wide variety of fees that massage therapists charge and how they view their practice.  A massage therapist that views their practice as being a ‘medical or clinical’ massage practice will probably be charging more and may also be licensed as a health care provider which would make tipping the massage therapist inappropriate.

Most spas expect the client to tip the massage therapist and don’t pay the massage therapist much  based on this assumption.  Tipping is usually much appreciated by the massage therapist.

Do you tip your massage therapist?

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From Massagenerd.com – RE: NCBTMB

September 12, 2007 Julie Onofrio News

From NCBTMB
Posted in Massage, NCBTMB by Massage Nerd on the August 16th, 2007

Dear Colleagues, Do You Recognize this Document? Can this document be improved? In an effort to improve the NCBTMB Candidate Handbook and application process, we are asking for feedback from school personnel who are familiar with this document. To participate, download Version 7.1 of this handbook which is located on the NCBTMB website (www.ncbtmb.com). Once you have located the areas in the Candidate Handbook that you wish to comment on, click on the link below. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=1UIaFf1QuP3Od7MmDmiwUg_3d_3d This link will take you to the “Call for Comments Survey” where you can navigate the handbook page by page inputting comments as you go. You may also leave and return to the survey as needed. When you are finished, the survey results will be automatically sent back to us. Your comments will help us to revise the handbook and facilitate the application process. Your students will appreciate the changes you help us make. Thank you in advance for your participation. If you have any questions, please contact Elaine Calenda, School Outreach Advisory Panel chair at ecalenda@bcmt.org or call: 800-442-5131. Thanks! School Outreach National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork 1901 S. Meyers Road, Suite 240 Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181-5243 Email: schooloutreach@ncbtmb.com

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Defining Massage

August 30, 2007 Julie Onofrio Ethics

One of the challenges the massage profession has is a major obstacle in educating the public as to what massage is or is not. Since we do not have a clear definition of it for ourselves – how can we educate people as to what it is?

What is massage? What is bodywork? Is massage bodywork? Is bodywork massage? Is Reiki, structural integration, polarity therapy, reflexology, Bowen therapy, Trager, Rosen method, Rubenfield synergy, Shiatsu, Hakomi considered massage? Is it bodywork? Do you need to know Swedish Massage for those types of therapies (and go to massage school and be licensed as a massage therapist to do those types of massage techniques?)

Then there is the whole problem of defining ‘Medical Massage” – is medical massage a technique or just the ability to bill insurance companies for massage therapy services. If it is a technique – what technique or techniques are included and not included? Some are claiming that relaxation massage is not medical massage but if stress is the number one cause of most diseases and conditions and relaxation massage is the best modality for treating stress will we be cutting our own throats by not allowing relaxation massage therapists (who usually have less than 500 hours of massage training) to do medical massage? The problem now is that because it is not defined by the massage profession – the insurance companies are defining it.

The definitions of each different type of massage/bodywork or whatever you want to call it can be further defined for clarification. What is deep tissue bodywork? What is myofacial release? What is triggerpoint therapy? What is sports massage? What is swedish massage?
What type of training and experience is needed for doing each and every type of massage/bodywork?

The reason why we need to start clearly defining these words and techniques is so that we can then show these to state boards when they try to limit what we do or define what we do in other ways. It is also important in educating the public and promoting our profession as a whole and it really affects each massage therapist’s ability to work successfully with each client. This is seen when you go into a spa like I did a few months ago asking for a relaxing massage but not deep tissue as I have a lot of experience in getting Rolfed and doing structural integration. Deep tissue to me means challenging the deeper muscles of the body which usually has a degree of discomfort to it. I said that I wanted very firm relaxation massage and then when I got there I could hardly feel the persons hands on me. Now the clients experience is also so varied, but in this case the massage practitioner had no means of connecting to my needs. She never asked questions to find out how much pressure that meant to me or tried to figure it out in any way. I tried to keep telling her but I got no response and gave up (which is a whole other story – how many people getting a massage do not get their needs met because they don’t say anything?) Needless to say, I got a free deep tissue massage out of it later after speaking to the management. How we define and teach people to use such techniques really has a global effect of creating an image for the massage profession. How can we start defining ourselves to create a more professional and cohesive image? How can we start defining what we do so as to have a common language that ALL can understand?

Massage Definitions by State -www.thebodyworker.com

This research study attempts to help define massage -”Development of a taxonomy to describe massage treatments for musculoskeletal pain”

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More on Site Build It!

August 29, 2007 Julie Onofrio News

If you don’t already have a Site Build It! Website, the question is why not?

Do you already have all of the clients that you need to make $100,000 a year as a massage therapist? (yes that’s right – you could be making that. It is about the money contrary to popular beliefs)

Do you not have the time to put into having financial freedom- a residual income?

Do you not know what to write about or create a site about?

Do you not have anything that you are passionate about or know a lot about?

What comes up for you when you start thinking about making more money just writing about what you love and know about?

We have such preconceived notions about work and making money and usually equate them with having it be just that- work. I for one have not worked in 25 years or so – I play and I make money playing. As a massage therapist for 18 years, I have never felt like I was working (ok the insurance billing did get to me a bit but now that I am out of it and just focusing on writing again my play time has gotten back to normal.)

Whether it is for your massage practice or to build a second income – SBI! is always improving and adding new features:

- the new Content 2.0 that allows readers to submit and create content for your website. More content means more great information for the search engines to peruse as well as builds trust in you as the authority on whatever topic you are writing about.

- the new Brainstomer that will be released next week hopefully (or really soon) offers a new concept in figuring out what people are searching for and how to use this information for creating a niche for yourself.

All this on top of all the things that they already provide.

It’s the back to work labor day sale or as I like to think – the “never have to go back to work” sale. Buy one SBI! website for your massage practice for $299 US and get the second one for only $100 extra for creating additional income on a hobby or interest that you have.

Are you guys getting this yet?

Here are some who are…

www.cure-fibromyalgia.com

www.a-body-for-living.com

www.deservingbodymassage.com

http://www.grow-profitable-seminars.com/

If you are worried about not having a topic, not knowing how to write or not knowing anything about websites – you don’t have to worry about that – SBI has a jam packed action guide that is in written and video form that will guide you every step of the way. You can even view the whole thing right now without even owning an SBI! yet – they are that confident of what they are doing.

And you don’t really have anything to lose with their money back guarantee- they realize that it isn’t for everyone. It is for you if you have the motivation and drive to do something better for yourself and family.


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The Massage Therapeutic Relationship

August 8, 2007 Julie Onofrio Ethics, Peer Supervision

Building relationships with clients is an art form. It is really the basis for healing. While your techniques may get people in the door with promises of relief from pain and stress, what heals is your ability to be present with another. This is the therapeutic relationship and I would say that it is a sacred part of being a massage therapist but is the least talked about subject in your massage training.

People can learn massage techniques and use those techniques to help others but the thing is that after working with a variety of people you will find that the same technique does not work for all situations. You can also teach 10 massage therapists the same exact technique in the same class and you will get 11 (not a typo) massage therapists whose work all feel different to the same person and of course that effect multiplies by the number of people who are worked on. Each persons touch will differ because of who they are and their ability to be present with the client. Each client will perceive the touch in a different way depending on who they are and what they are thinking/feeling.

Being present means that you are totally focused on the needs of the client, the healing relationship and not on yourself. Your presence requires attention, interest, acceptance, compassion, empathy and a non-judgmental response. While this may seem like what you are doing or may seem easy – the challenge is to do this but be able to feel whatever is coming up in you without acting on it. When you react to a client, you are acting on the basis of your old patterns and beliefs which has nothing to do with the client. This is countertransference and it happens in all relationships. There are two types of countertransference negative and positive. Negative countertransference is when you are reacting on old issues of your own. Positive countertransference is when you can feel your own feelings but not act on them and stay present with the clients process. This requires that you have a certain degree of individuation -the ability to separate your own feelings from what is happening in the client and the ability to feel your feelings without acting on them. Peer supervision and Psychotherapy can help with the process of individuation.

The book “The Psychology of the Body” by Elliott Greene is a great way to get a better understanding of all of these things related to the therapeutic relationship. He explains some of the components such as transference, countertransference and projection. While this is a much needed start for the massage profession, the book talks about it mainly from the aspect of what the client is going through. What is most important is what the massage therapist goes through and the process of learning to be present with a client in order to be of service to massage clients. It isn’t just something you need to understand from a mental aspect. It is something you need to be able to experience internally. The best way to get that experience is through the process of peer supervision.

The other part of the therapeutic relationship requires that the massage therapist be able to create healthy boundaries for this therapeutic relationship to occur within. This involves setting clear policies and procedures around such things as payment, late fees, cancellation fees, length of treatment session, dual relationships, dating clients, being friends with clients to name a few. The clearer your boundaries are in these simple things the more successful your massage practice will be. People will respect you more when you respect yourself and creating boundaries that serve you will show people that you respect yourself.

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