The latest talk on Facebook is about the recent Al Gore scandal and his latest alleged actions regarding a massage therapist in OR.
This is from a discussion on linkedin that lists some of the reports coming out about this latest scandal:
Here is the latest police report on ex-Vice President Al Gore, allegedly sexually assaulting a Licensed Massage Therapist in the Hotel Lucia, Portland, Oregon, October 24, 2006.
http://www.kgw.com/home/National-Enquirer-says-Gore-sexually-attacked-Portland-Masseuse-96995344.html
News story ‘Gore implicated in sex assault on Portland masseuse’http://www.flashalertnewswire.net/images/news/2010-06/3056/36280/Gore_reports.pdf
Updated Interview and Police Report from January 8, 2009, released June 23, 2010 (73 pages).Police Statement released today, June 23, 2010:
http://www.flashalertnewswire.net/images/news/2010-06/3056/36280/6-23-10_Al_Gore_allegations.pdf
‘PORTLAND POLICE ISSUE STATEMENT REGARDING
ALLEGATIONS AGAINST AL GORE’
There was a good discussion on the event on Megan Holubs Facebook page. Meagan is the author of a book called “The Magic Touch” where she writes about how to make $100,000 a year as a massage therapist doing travel massage to upscale hotels that cater to elite clients. She took the time to read and listen to the interview with the massage therapist. Some of the things the massage therapist was doing just didn’t make sense. She stayed in the room when Gore was making advancements.
Then The View came out with this little blurb on massage and getting a 3 hour massage and the general view of massage.
While I am appalled at what they said I think it is more of a wake up call for massage therapists to start educating people. If the panelist on The View think of massage in this way what does the rest of the world think of massage?
The problems we have in the massage profession are many. We lack a unifying body and are split up into about 3 different professional associations. We don’t clearly have a definition of what massage is and each state defines it differently. A long time ago I started collecting the various definitions from state board websites.
More importantly there is such a difference in the things massage therapists are taught about being a profession and acting like a professional. With only 500 hours of training in most places it isn’t usually enough time to address the ethical challenges that we are faced with.
One of the things that was brought up on one of the FB discussions was the fact that the massage therapist stayed the whole 3 hours even when they were being treated poorly. I personally do know that being able to handle such challenges in real life as compared to just talking about them in massage school requires ongoing attention. That is why I think that the answer is requiring supervision to be a part of every massage therapists ongoing Continuing Education. It also should be started in massage school.
The other thing is how massage therapists present themselves and promote themselves to the public. There are so many websites out there that are less than ideal and are adding to the negative image. That is just one place to start with in educating clients.
That is what I am trying to do with my many websites on massage for the massage profession. www.massagepracticebuilder.com is my membership program to get the help you need in creating a presentation with your website and learning to educate clients through writing and how you talk about what you do. I also have many articles on this website along with a few new websites that I am just starting - www.massagebusinessjournal.com and www.massageschoolnotes.com
See also: Rick Rosen’s White Paper – On Becoming a Profession on Massage Magazine’s website
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Being a professional massage therapist starts since the day one of training I have proved it on my experience. On a different note, these days the social media including FB may blow things out of proportion and at the same time may allow to discuss a problem. Thx for posting.
I agree, we need to continue to educate the public. I make sure to include on my website that I am a licensed and insured massage therapist. I also warn people about the potential hazards of seeing an untrained, unlicensed person that is illegally performing massage.
Great article. Massage therapy has come a long way, yet has a long way to come. We try very hard to set a good example of massage therapist conduct and let our clients know that ANY type of sexual advancement or language won’t tolerated. As more legitimate clinics, like our Wellness WORx clinic in Bozeman, MT, start seeing more clients the public will automatically see what massage therapy is about.