There are not any clear statistics of how long a massage therapist lasts in this profession and there aren’t any studies on the reasons why people leave the massage profession, but burnout is definitely one of them.
Burnout can show up in many different ways. You may feel drained after working with clients. You may feel stressed when you don’t have enough clients to make ends meet. You feel fatigued and may develop physical injuries or other conditions that prohibit you from practicing massage. You think that your work is not valuable and you don’t charge enough so you end up feeling resentful. You never seem to get enough clients to make ends meet. You never quite get the hang of marketing your practice and asking for what you want – clients.
No matter what the cause or the issues around burnout – isn’t it ironic that massage therapists whose role is usually to assist in helping others to avoid burnout in their own profession are plagued by it themselves?
So many massage therapists come into the massage profession thinking that it will make them happier to be ‘helping’ others. They think that in doing so they will feel better about themselves and have more meaningful work. While massage can do that in some ways, it is more about the massage therapists perspective on their work and how the massage therapist takes care of themselves so that they can work with others.
The thing is why don’t massage therapists do what they need to do for themselves? Most massage therapists are taught to get massage themselves and to eat right and to exercise. They are taught to tell clients that and to support clients on their path to being healthy. The problem really lies in the basic core beliefs of the person. ( It is really not just about massage therapists but anyone who is not getting what they want in their lives.)
Your actions (or lack of actions in this case) reflect your basic beliefs about yourself that were created in your early childhood and infancy in your family of origins. When you know you should be taking care of yourself but are not there is usually something more going on there. Most massage therapists know what they need to be doing – eating right, exercising, getting regular massage, getting your needs met outside your practice, taking vacations, etc.
Are you rebelling and trying to control at least one thing in your life? Are you wanting someone else to do it for you (on a conscious or unconscious level)? Are you eating the wrong foods and not exercising because you are seeking comfort and not wanting to do things that are difficult?
Whatever the reason for not taking care of yourself, you can begin to become aware of the way you take care of yourself by participating in peer supervision groups and sharing your stories and histories to learn more about the shadow side of helping.
