How to find a Great Massage Therapist
How do you find a good massage therapist - one that meets your needs for comfort, personality, philosophy and technique?
With so many variables and so many different needs, it can be like looking for a needle in the haystack.
- Get a referral from friends or family members.
- Get a referral from your physician or other health care provider.
- Look online by searching for ‘massage, your city on Google. While this may seem risky you should be able to tell by the quality of their site and by the fact that it is even being found by Google.
- Check with one of the professional associations directories
ABMP, AMTA or IMA. While this is not a guarantee of service or reliablity or professionalism, it does indicate that the massage therapist made the extra effort to get found through their professional association.
But then once you find one how do you know if they are a match for you? How do you know when you are getting a good massage or working with a good massage therapist?
…..You will just feel good. You will also feel comfortable with the therapist.
Some organizations will tell you to ask questions like:
- How long have you been doing massage?
- What are your credentials?
- What is your experience?
- What training have you had?
Most of these things don’t really matter when it comes down to it. Licensing and certification will not guarantee that the massage therapist will be a match for your needs. It may help you to feel better to know this information before going in which can be helpful, but just keep in mind that newly licensed massage therapists can be just as effective as people who have been in the field for awhile.
Part of getting a good massage is also about knowing what you like and being able to ask for it. So many people assume that massage therapists are supposed to know where and how much it hurts or how they feel and they think they should just put up with whatever the massage therapist is doing. While massage therapists can often feel tight areas they can not tell how it feels to you.
A great massage therapist will be able to work with you to get that information and feedback from you so they can adjust their pressure or technique to your comfort level or the level you need. A great massage therapist will explain to you before hand either through their writings on their website or when you call or visit in person, just what their philosophy on healing and massage is. That way you can see if their ideas and what they value match yours. Having a support team of like minded individuals is important on the road to healing. A survey done by the Eldon Taylor author of ‘Choices and Illusions’ found that “The physicians attitude was the most important factor in determining whether the patient lived or died”. (While massage therapists don’t often work with that extreme of an example - the jist of what he is saying I think is that a positive attitude is most important in the healing process and having someone who supports your process is really helpful.)
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