Archive for Become a Massage Therapist

Things they never tell you about being a massage therapist

April 29, 2012 Julie Onofrio Become a Massage Therapist

Being a massage therapist is becoming a popular career choice for many.  People are drawn to the field for many reasons- wanting to help people is one of the main reasons and wanting to have a career where you can make a difference compared to having a corporate job where you often feel like a prisoner at your desk.

The massage school admissions people seem to forget the details though and most do not even know to ask about these kind of things and many of it won’t really matter to most – it is just part of ‘the job’.  People want to know if you can make a good living and things like that.  Just like any career, the answers depend really more on YOU and your abilities to put everything you learn in massage school together into something that creates a successful massage career.

So here goes:  things that they don’t tell you about when thinking about a career in massage

  1. You will be doing a lot of laundry.  Each client requires a fresh set of very clean and sanitized sheets, face covers, bolster covers, pillow cases/covers.  5 clients a day – 5 days a week.
  2. You will need to know how to fold a fitted sheet (if that is what you choose for your massage sheets- most do)
  3. There are some really hairy guys out there that will challenge your use of oil/lotion and application methods in order to give an effective massage.
  4. Yes, You will need to trim your nails really, really short or you will be scratching the client.  They will need to be filed smooth and kept that way.  Forget long nails, fake nails or fancy nail polish.
  5. Yes, the big E (erection) happens. Men do weird things – ejaculate on tables, into towels, ask for happy endings, mess up your sheets and will challenge your boundaries.
  6. You will get clients that have crushes on you, want to date you, want to give you expensive gifts. (Dating clients is illegal in many states and is against the code of ethics of most associations.)
  7. No you don’t have to take math, but you have to take basic college level anatomy and physiology – science! You need math to do your bookkeeping, taxes and such.
  8. Clients may come in sick, with runny noses, icky skin conditions, smelly feet, dirty hair and will come in right from the gym/workout sweaty from head to toe and expect you to touch them.
  9. You will glide through massage school easily and graduate with honors and get a high paying ($45 an hour or more) right away – NOT.  Massage school often brings up peoples issues around touch and will often be a big growth process.  You will learn more about yourself.
  10. You want to be a massage therapist because you want to help others.  They don’t tell you that helping others is the surest way to end up in burnout and that there are many deeper issues around helping others that are more about you than anything else.

What do you wish someone told you about becoming a MT?  What did they tell you in the admissions department or during school that you wished you had known about before deciding on a career in massage?

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Researching Massage Schools

April 28, 2012 Julie Onofrio Become a Massage Therapist

Researching massage schools in order to find the best massage school is really a process of knowing as much as you can about the career and about the massage profession in order to be able to separate the hype from what the massage school is really about.  The biggest thing to remember is that a website that provides you with all of the information up front about what you need to know, has a higher chance of being a reputable massage school.

The sites that are listed on the top of the first page of the search results many not always be the best choice.

Some of the things that I think you will need to know are the obvious things:

  • Tuition.  The cost of massage school ranges anywhere from $5000 to $25,000.  Massage schools will make you call them to get the prices or make you contact them so then they have your contact info to keep calling/emailing you to get you into their massage school.  You have to figure out what massage school is really worth, how much training you will really need and balance that with what you can afford to pay.  Since entry level pay is about $15 an hour and you usually only work about 25 hours or less, you obviously will have trouble paying for school loans at a higher priced school.
  • Who are the teachers?  Are they actually certified teachers?  Have they been teaching more than 10 years?  One of the things about teachers is that there was such an increase in massage schools over the last 10 years or so, that massage schools started hiring their last year graduates as massage school teachers.
  • What licensing will you need to practice massage?  How many hours of training will it take in your state and what tests will you have to take to get your state massage license (if there is even a state license.)
  • What is it really like to start your own massage business or find a job in massage?  Basically this is the time to really know yourself what it is like so you can compare it to what the schools are telling you.  Schools will try to make it sound more appealing just to get you into the classes.

Remember, Massage Schools are in the business of filling their massage schools with students.  You can read more in my Book - A Career in Massage -Is it for you?  available in paperback, Kindle and PDF and also find a list of Massage Schools.

 

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National Certification for Massage Therapy

February 18, 2012 Julie Onofrio Licensing and Legislation

National Certification for Massage Therapy is offered by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork.  (NCBTMB).  The problem though is that this does not really mean that you can practice anywhere in the US with just taking one exam.  There is no “National Certification” in massage that will allow you to practice in any state.

Each state has different laws regarding the practice of massage and each has a different number of hours of education requirements.  The number of hours of training needed varies between 500-1000 hours of training and even within that requirement are variations in the number of hours of each specific area of training making it even more confusing.  For example: in WA state the required number of hours of training is 500 hours to take the test and become a licensed massage practitioner in WA. (From the WA State Board of Massage)

  • 130 hours of anatomy, physiology, and kinesiology including palpation, range of motion, and physics of joint function. There must be a minimum of 40 hours of kinesiology.
  • 50 hours of pathology, including indications and contraindications.
  • 265 hours of theory and practice of massage, to include techniques, remedial movements, body mechanics of the practitioner, and the impact of techniques on pathologies. A maximum of 50 of these hours may include time spent in a student clinic. Hydrotherapy is to be included when consistent with the particular area of practice.
  • 55 hours of clinical/business practices, minimally to include hygiene, record keeping, medical terminology, professional ethics, business management, human behavior, client interaction and state and local laws.
  • Certification in American Red Cross first aid and American Heart Association Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
  • Four contact hours of training in HIV-AIDS in the following six topics: Etiology and epidemiology; Transmission and infection control; Testing and counseling; Clinical manifestations and treatment; Legal and technical issues; and Psychosocial issues. Training can be obtained from local community hospitals and colleges.

The NCBTMB requirements are:

  • A minimum of 500 hours of instruction as follows:
    125 hours of body systems (anatomy, physiology and kinesiology)
    200 hours of massage and bodywork assessment, theory and application, in-class and supervised
    40 hours of pathology
    10 hours of business and ethics (minimum of 6 hours in ethics)
    125 hours of additional instruction in an area or related field that theoretically completes the massage program of study
  • Graduate of a NCBTMB Assigned School Code with a current valid transcript submitted to NCBTMB

So more hours of pathology and anatomy are required by the WA State Board of Massage than for the so called National Certification in Massage meaning that if you want to be licensed in WA State you will need more hours than what the NCBTMB requires.

In New Mexico, the basic number of hours required is 650 with a specific number of hours in each of the following (from the New Mexico Board of Massage):

(650) hour program in massage therapy training.  The massage therapy training must meet the following minimum curriculum requirements:

  1. 165 hours minimum of anatomy and physiology, to include:
    1. physiology;
    2. anatomy;
    3. kinesiology; and
    4. forty (40) hours minimum of pathology.
  2. 150 hours minimum of training in massage therapy as defined in 16.7.1.7 NMAC.
    1. The massage therapy training shall include contraindications of massage therapy.
    2. A minimum of 100 hours of hands on training must be completed before the student is allowed to begin a clinical practicum as defined in 16.7.1.7 NMAC.
  3. 75 hours minimum of general instruction to include.
    1. business;
    2. hydrotherapy;
    3. thirty (30) hours minimum of professional ethics;
    4. four hours of first aid; and
    5. four hours of cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
  4. Electives may include:
    1. additional massage therapy;
    2. related hands-on modalities;
    3. additional anatomy and physiology;
    4. clinical practicum (not to exceed 150 hours);
    5. counseling;
    6. herbology;
    7. homeopathy;
    8. nutrition;
    9. breathing and stretching techniques;
    10. theory; and
    11. other courses with prior board approval.  See 16.7.4.14 NMAC for instructions.

So with such variations in the number of hours required by each state, to have a true “National Certification” would mean that each state would need to change the number of hours of training required.

Currently, if you want to practice massage in another state than the one that you were originally licensed in, you need to fulfill the requirements of that state.  Some states do have reciprocity already set up because they know the requirements of other states will meet their requirements.

There are also three different licensing tests being used by the states.  The NCBTMB offers two different tests and the Federation of Massage State Boards offers another. You will have to find out what your state excepts and fulfill those requirements for massage licensing.

Find out more about becoming a massage therapist.

Careers in Massage

National Certification in Massage Therapy

History of National Certification in Massage

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Massage Therapy Licensing Issues

February 14, 2012 Julie Onofrio Licensing and Legislation

There are many massage therapy licensing issues that are challenging a massage therapists right to practice and how they practice in the US right now.

Florida State’s Bill SB 1860 (PDF)is threatening to stop massage therapists from being able to bill Personal Injury Protection insurance for people who are injured in a motor vehicle collision.  The Consumer Advocates Report states that “Average charges by massage therapists saw the greatest increase, increasing from $2,887 in 2005 to $4,350 in 2010.” which is up much more than orthopedic physicians and acupuncturists.  I think the bill is showing a big problem in the massage profession which is overbilling for massage services for car accidents.  While I do believe we need to fight this bill, the next step would be to look into the problem that brought this bill up and see what can be done to find out if there are many massage therapists who are overbilling or is it needed in the care of injuries sustained in car accidents.

The Florida State Massage Therapy Association has a call to action and you can find out more by asking on their Facebook group page.

Tennessee is also faced with HB 2387 that is trying to move massage therapy from the health related boards to that of the commerce and insurance division–the division that regulates “trades.” The biggest thing would be that massage therapy would then be considered a “trade,” not a “profession,” and insurance companies don’t pay tradespeople. They pay professional health care workers. It would also be a step down for the profession of massage overall moving to that of a trade division.

There is a petition for the TN bill “Stop the deregulation of Massage in TN”

Each state needs to keep up to date with the laws and legislative actions that are constantly  happening.  The current economy is challenging the budgets of many states and they are always looking for a way to lower expenses and make more too.

 

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Massage Therapy Schools

February 13, 2012 Julie Onofrio Massage Schools

Massage Therapy Schools are faced with the challenge of filling their schools with massage students.  There are so many massage schools to choose from and it can be very confusing.

You have to really do your research to find the best massage school for you.  It is often difficult to really know which career path is best for you since you are just starting out.  There are many different paths that careers in massage can take.  In general, they are as follows:

  • Relaxation or Spa Massage Therapy – which is doing massage on people in spa settings mainly.  You can start your own spa or work for someone else.
  • Medical Massage which is not a discipline in itself but a way to assess people’s conditions and diseases and apply a massage treatment to them.  It can be most any type of massage that works to show improvement.  Many massage schools may offer you a medical massage training course when there is no one technique that is ‘medical massage’.  Orthopedic massage, deep tissue massage, structural integration bodywork, cranio -sacral massage and many other types of massage are considered to be ‘medical’ in nature as in – they are able to address many medical conditions.
  • Sports Massage is massage that focuses on athletes from every caliber from the weekend athlete playing soccer or tennis or something like that to a masters athlete who are serious amateurs to Olympic athletes and professional athletes.

So you also need a general idea of what area of training that you really want to start with.  You will be able to change at anytime or take one aspect of training and learn more as you go.  In fact, most massage therapists are continually taking continuing education classes partly because it is required to renew your massage license and partly because it is such a fascinating field with many things to learn.

The best way to get an idea of what areas you are interested is to get massage at various places like a spa, health clinic or other environment and talk to the massage therapists there to find out more and to actually experience the different types of massage for your self.

My Book – A Career in Massage – Is It For You?: The truth about becoming a massage therapist…what massage schools and associations don’t tell you about becoming a massage therapist. (Link goes to www.amazon.com)
will tell you more! It covers every thing you need to know about becoming a massage therapist and also covers how to choose the massage school that is best for you.

You can also start looking for massage therapy schools and learn more on my other website at www.massage-career-guides.com

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