Massage Therapy Training can be found in many massage schools and now some massage therapy colleges. One of the controversies in the massage profession is over the number of hours of education that is required to be a successful massage therapist. I am sure I have written about this before but can’t find where so here I go again.
Most states have some kind of licensing requirements in place or if you are in CA each city has various requirements making it a nightmare to work as a massage therapist in that state. I think the states that do require licensing have a minimum of 500 hours of massage school training. Some go to 1000 hours of training. How much is really needed to be able to give a great massage and also be successful as a massage therapist are really two different issues. To be a successful massage therapist you could be giving people the worst massage of their life but if you are educating them or just being present with them, they may become regular clients no matter how good or bad your massage is. A good massage is also very subjective. What is good for some is a nightmare for others.
To run a successful massage business all you need to do is be a good business person. Massage schools really teach you very little about that.
Is 500 hours of massage training really necessary? I personally don’t think it is required to start giving massage. Can 500 hours of training and more enhance your skills as a massage therapist? Yes definitely. I think what happens when people hear me saying that you only need 100 hours of massage training is that they feel threatened that I am saying that their many hours of education isn’t worth anything or isn’t helping them to be a more successful massage therapist.
I for one started out in massage in 1987 after 250 of massage school. Many of my friends have even less than that and are still in business too. Many of the newer massage therapists can’t seem to make it even after all of that training. I have talked with many who are afraid to do massage for fear of doing something wrong or fear of getting physically injured doing massage.
Keith Grant in his white paper on “Issues in Massage Governance”(pdf) also talks about this controversy stating that 100 hours of massage school is enough to start in the massage profession and that people also learn better in smaller chunks of training. People often get into overload mode after more than 100 hours of training. The other thing is that the number of hours of training needed has never really been researched. After I became a massage therapist with 250 hours of training the next year it was increased to 500 hours with no reasons why or no formal inquiry into how much was needed. The number was just arbitrarily picked out of a hat ( or should I say massage school.) Keith also points out that the increase in the number of hours of training is related to the fact that massage schools could get more grant and loan funding for their students if there were a higher number of hours of training.
I think people who have more hours of training feel threatened or feel concerned about how much they have struggled to start a business even with the 500+ hours of training. I wonder if it it more training and training overload that is actually causing them to have such issues.
So how much education is needed to be successful in the massage profession? Today after reading about the success of “Massage Envy” I would say none. Go get a degree in business and open up a massage franchise and hire all those poor students who have just paid all of their money to go to school just to get a job paying $12 an hour.
But seriously, the number needed is really more about what you need personally to be successful. Do you need more training and time to integrate the material and practice? How much time do you have to put into it? How much time do you have before you need to be working? What are your learning styles?
If you are not a massage therapist yet and are thinking about becoming one you can find out more in my Ebook “The Massage Therapy Career Guide – The truth about becoming a massage therapist available at www.massage-career-guides.com
If you are already a massage therapist – how many hours of education do you have? How successful is your business currently? What more do you need to know or wish you had known?
Learn more about becoming a massage therapist by reading my Guide.
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I just want to say that Massage Envy must be doing something right or they wouldn’t still be in business. There is a Massage Envy is every city around here and that they wouldn’t be there and still have employees if it wasn’t working. I wouldn’t want anyone to work for less than what they are worth or work somewhere they are not happy. So if you are a massage therapist and don’t like Massage Envy don’t work there. I
I myself have attended and graduated from a 750 hour course ( I believe it has since gone up to 1000 hours.). I hold a State Board License as well and it is reqiured for the state I practice in. I have worked for Massage Envy. That being said they are not paying there Therapists what they are worth…. only $12-16 per 50 min. For the most part they run the clients through like Cattle. I also wonder what the massage clients think these therapists are making? Because the tips were realy bad!!! Some times no tip at all. For 8 months I worked for them only earning $600 every two weeks doing 5-6 massages a day! Nearly burning myself out! Massage Envy gets so many people that come through there doors just wanting that $39 Massage and turning away the membership. Which brings the question. Why should their therapists try hard to bring back clientelle when they know they will be busy regardless? They are hiring Therapists straight out of school. These same therapists who have just paid nearly $12,000 for Tuition. I think its really sad.
I am now on my own with a chiropractor, I rent my room and I charge $40 for 60 minutes and $90 for 90 min. “Hot stone”. I have only been trying this out since June ’09 and my Massage practice has been soo busy! I love my job and my repeat clientelle!
So many people have lost there jobs to this economy and cannot afford $65 -80 an hour for Massage. I can afford to work for $40 an hour but no less. You can go out on your own and make it!
@Rebecca:
Hi Rebecca!!! — I’ll send you an e-mail.
@Everyone:
I think the main issue for me — a hyper-radical libertarian, a Founding Father-style American — is about how much approved training is Required By Law; whether it is voluntary, or forced. The truly valid issue is not how much training OTHER people think I, or anyone else, should have. The question is how much training or education do I discover that I need to do MY job at the level I want to do it. That revolves quite a bit, if not fully, around what my particular Clients or Employer need and want from ME, not The Profession. No one gets a massage from The Profession. They get a job from one, unique individual practitioner. Whether that practitioner feels as if they are a member of that profession should be up to the practitioner, and no one else. Guidance and recommendations from so-called authorities are one thing, monopolistic control of who gets to be a member of The Profession is an entirely different matter.
I personally believe that the more education, the better, but some people are very well and more than adequately educated without attending a single day of formal schooling or training. How much formal training should be a matter of choice, not a matter of coercion or threat of penalties if you do not want to join someone else’s particular club.
In my case, BOTH my primary teacher in bodywork AND my primary teacher in yoga, suggested that I was not cut out for being either a bodyworker OR a yoga teacher. Yet more than a few have more than suggested that I have done more with what I learned from them than most. Kyle Wrights program is, in fact, based in great part in what he learned from me in a four day workshop.
One principle of libertarian or classical liberal thought is that modern civilization only TRULY advances by learning and persuasion, not force. If coercion or threats (or acts) of force are necessary to implement and/or maintain a so-called advancement, then it will lead to devolution in other ways. There is EXTENSIVE documentation (including federal court decision) demonstrating that it is the regulation and licensing of the medical profession that has contributed dramatically to depriving human beings in America of truly alternative and wholistic forms of health care, and contributed to degeneration of agriculture and our food supply, and therefore our nutrition. Regulation and licensing masquerade as a Protect The Public system, but that is almost completely without justification.
I personally don’t believe any individual should have the right to tell another individual what they have to do, nor whether they should be allowed, to practice their chosen professional activities. Threatening them with fines or jail or whatever if they do not comply is an act of violence toward that human being, and should be against the principles of any forward moving civilization.
Anyway, that’s it for now. — Thanks for Reading.
Great topic and postings. I agree with a lot of what has been said, but I must disagree with Julie that more education isn’t better…it may not be “necessary” but it isn’t worse to have more education. I graduated from a program of 850 hours, and I wish I could have learned more. Even with those hours, the business aspects were sorely lacking. Luckily I came from a 15-year career in sales and marketing, so the business side of things was easy for me. Not so for many of my classmates. But the expanded program allowed me to get a much better knowledge base of a/p and kinesiology, which is critical for passing our state’s (Oregon) board exam. I also felt that the longer program helped many people develop much more confidence in their skills. That doesn’t help their business ability, but it translates into a better therapist. I believe having confidence in your skills is very important in providing a quality massage. I doubt that someone in a 250-hour program would gain the knowledge needed to pass Oregon’s difficult state test. I’m sure some could, but most wouldn’t. That being said, more hours don’t necessarily make a better therapist, but it will make more quality therapists.
Great posting and comments! I think this is a fascinating issue and am glad to see the discussion around it.
I am an owner of a massage school where our basic massage therapy program is 825 hours. When I first started the school, our basic program was 675, but I found we had no time to teach everything we wanted. Our graduates were leaving good, but not great, and now they are exceptional massage therapists when they leave. I always knew that the skills could and would develop with motivated therapists who were practicing consciously after graduation, but it to me it’s better to send them out with more confidence, better quality of touch, and more advanced clinical skills from the start.
I haven’t read the article on the link between more hours of training and decreased performance as an MT (haven’t done it YET, but will after this comment), but that doesn’t correlate with my personal experience. From my perspective, I see that the students who are more passionate about bodywork and personal growth are drawn to our school (825 or 1025-hr programs), while the students who are more interested in a quick in-and-out experience just to start making money as soon as possible do not want to attend our school because it’s more work and takes longer to complete.
After I graduated from a 500 hour school in NC (Kyle Wright’s as a matter of fact), I moved to TX and practiced there for a while. I recall thinking TX was a terrible place to get a massage; it was hard for me to find a therapist I thought had real presence with their touch and strong kinesiology knowledge. TX required 300 hours of education at the time and my experience there formed a basis for thinking 300 hours was not enough education.
Even as I write this I’d like to give a huge HATS OFF to the early massage therapists who made the type of education I like to provide possible. To the people who apprenticed when there were no schools, who went to smaller hour programs because that’s all there was and who put in the devotion and love to massage therapy that has gotten us to the point where we can be here blogging about these concerns. MUCH GRATITUDE! I agree with Julie, I’ve known amazing MTs who have diplomas from shorter courses who are great at what they do and I think it’s being motivated by love of massage, not money that does it. (Just guessing here…That plus small class sizes and individual attention!)
The whole issue of the corporatization of massage education and state licensure is huge to me. I absolutely see that some massage school owners play a political role in getting licensure enacted for self serving purposes. There are lots of people who disagree with me on this and I understand why. I’m not strident on this, but have seen it happen in NC and don’t doubt David’s story about the AMTA meeting at all. (By the way, Hi David if you’re reading this. Long time no see!) The larger schools have big classes and less one-on-one interaction with the students.
To me, the act of giving a professional massage is one that potentially has tremendous effect on the client in emotional and spiritual ways as well as the obvious physical ones. Collectively, massage therapists have the potential for making a big difference in the world and the question of how we educate these therapists to be the best they possibly can be is an important discussion to be having. Let’s keep it up!
Starting a massage business has very little to do with having massage skills. It is more about business skills.
More education is very questionable and there is no proof that more education will help – quite the contrary actually. Please read Keith Grant’s Issues in Massage Governance for more information and the only concrete evidence that less training is actually more.
http://www.ramblemuse.com/articles/masg_governance_rev.pdf
The flaky reputation has nothing to do with education or research. It has to do with a lack of defining the massage profession and also clarifying what the outcomes should be for a massage that massage schools should be teaching.
No I don’t think that it is unfair to compare the $80-$110 for someone just starting out. You need to charge what you need to make to be successful and to stay in business. While it may be beneficial to charge less when you are just starting out because you may think it will get you more clients that isn’t necessarily true until you can get your schedule full enough but that is for people who have beliefs that they aren’t good enough. I did it for a long time and I wish someone would have told me something different way back when.
Massage Marketing by Monica Roseberry is also a good resource for what it really takes to be successful as a massage therapist. It has nothing to do with skill but more to do with your beliefs about yourself.
Julie
It’s a bit ironic that in the same article you advocate lower hour requirements and disdain Massage Envy paying someone $12-16 an hour (especially when most massages there are only around $40-50. FWIW, I heard just today from an employee they pay minimum wage for hours you’re not massaging.) One of the reasons people work for such “low” wages is because they do not have the skills to start their own business. The trade off is for someone else to do the marketing, scheduling, the sheets, buying supplies, handling billing and payment, etc.
More educated is vital to the massage industry. Business prep helps more people be able to work for themselves when starting out. Personal and professional development help students work out issues in class before they show up on the table. Expanded anatomy and physiology as well as classes on research help give massage therapy more of a science-based background. The massage community is tired of the “flaky” rep and have been making efforts to change it, and you should be thankful for it. Increased education has made massage a more stable industry due to consumer confidence and you have benefited from that, rather you acknowledge it or not.
[By the way, comparing your $80-110 an hour to someone who's just starting out is a bit unfair, don't you think?]
As far as I know starting therapists at Massage Envy make only $12-15 an hour. That is from people who have interviewed there. If they really do pay more I would be interested in knowing your sources.
Some of the worst massages I ever had was at massage envy and if that is what people are being introduced to that is not good for the profession and as per the article in Massage Today that is finally catching up with the profession.
And yes I can do all of the massages I want whenever I want basically and I charge between $80-$110 with very little overhead – just office rent, phone, 0 in advertising or I guess you could put $25 a month for my website as that is all I really need to keep people continually calling. My utilities are included in rent which is about $450 a month. I see about 12- 15 people a week -never really more than that because I don’t have to.
See other resources on massage envy.
http://www.think-diagonal.com
indeed.com job forums
Massage Magazine Massage envy themselves say it in this article in Massage Magazine – oh they said they start at $15 an hour.
Julie
At least if you’re going to badmouth someone or a company at least tell the truth. Massage Therapists working at Massage Envy clinics nationwide earn from $24-$28 per 50 minute hands on massages not $12 per hour. They also have the following expenses they must pay;
gels 0
creme 0
lotion 0
rent 0
advertising 0
business/property insurance0
gasoline 0
utilities 0
Please tell the truth. Otherwise you’re just making yourself look like sour grapes. Can you do all of the massages you want to whenever you want to? massage Envy therapists can.
More people have been introduced to massage therapy in the last 6 years because of Massage Envy than in the proceeding 200 years! The entire industry is now mainstran because of one company-Massage Envy. Thank you for reading the truth.
Hi Julie,
About 20 years ago, an older gentleman on the AMTA Executive Committee, and owner of a very well respected massage school in southern California, confided me this:
At one AMTA Executive Meeting, in which there were, I think, 12 board members, he asked how many of them had graduated from a massage school? … Only TWO raised their hands! … So here was the board, most of them insisting that approved training was a necessity to become a competent massage therapist. Yet only two of them had been through a massage training program. (PAU – Politics As Usual, run by the people who think they are more qualified to tell other people whether the 2nd group of people are qualified, or not, to do whatever.)
In itself, I do not care how much training people have. I know of many people who give great massage with NO training what-so-ever. And a few with a lot of training who are incompetent. Ralph Stephens, in an issue of Massage Today Magazine, writes about how the quality of massage therapy has really declined over the years.
http://www.massagetoday.com/mpacms/mt/article.php?id=13765
I believe this is in part because licensed professions tend to attract increasing numbers of people who are only looking for a good paying job, rather than doing something they already love or already have a natural ability for. Add government funding into the mix, and it really skews the market toward economics, and then politics, rather than doing what you love and are really good at.
My friend, Kyle Wright, was the owner of five massage schools in the Southeastern U.S. Before selling them, he graduated over 8,000 students over 17 years, with near 100% student satisfaction rate, and awards from the government and recognition from the massage industry. But Kyle predicts a big shakeout in the massage industry, and Ralph’s article is a good indicator it’s already happening.
Yet Kyle believes he delivers an excellent basic, Swedish and other modality based massage training to beginners in about 250 to 300 hours. … And he does. … The good news is this allows him to devote the other 200 to 250 hours to teaching them really advanced clinical massage and structural bodywork, some of which he learned from me. So it is well known in the Southeast in many quarters that his students are among the best.
When bought by by one of the new Corporate Massage Conglomerates, Kyle was offered a VERY lucrative, four plus year employment contract. He lasted about two weeks in that world, and walked. … He is in process of building a new massage school just outside Asheville, North Carolina, that will not be providing government funding, and will make it not because he has big corporate massage money to buy billboard and radio advertising, but because he will provide one of the highest quality trainings you can get — anywhere. And Students will be getting much of their training directly from him, not someone who just graduated from massage school.
His school is at http://www.NCSAB.com
Sorry for the self-serving comments, but I think the world needs to know who’s bucking the trends.
Take Care,
David Scott Lynn