Careers

A new year with a new calendar makes for a new chance to grow in your practice. As 2015 winds down, it offers all of us an opportunity to look back over the year and take stock of what we have accomplished, where our challenges lie, and how we can improve over the coming year.
Sure, we all know that we want to be good at ...

With that introspective time of year right around the corner, your clients likely have their New Year’s Resolutions on their minds. Those resolutions can include everything from flossing more to working harder to seeing more of the world. New resolve to eat a healthier diet or to exercise regularly is somehow easier to summon as the calendar flips. As massage therapists, we’re in a unique position to ...

Holiday fuss can so easily intrude on your practice. In all the hustle and bustle of places to be and errands to run, it can be easy to skip your simple self-care. After all, you had to use your lunch break to run to that one shop for that special gift, right? It’s important to know, that when you do self-skimp, it shows. Clients can not only tell, ...

While you can’t change or fix the fact that holidays can bring on extra stress for your clients, you can choose to give them the greatest gift of all this time of year—peace. You can choose to consciously make your practice a place apart from such. That doesn’t mean you skip hanging up some twinkly lights. With these dark days, we all need a few extra photons, wherever we can get ...

Communication is key between massage therapists and their client, both before the session and while the client is on the table. Despite great technique delivered with care, it’s not unheard of for a client to feel like the therapist almost addressed their primary complaint, but they would have liked a little more work on the problem area. Or the client would have liked the therapist ...

One of my pet peeves, as someone who receives massage regularly, is getting what I call “the wrong massage.” That’s when you’re there on the table, being worked on, but you don’t get the work you need. You know what I mean, like when you want full body, but instead get work on just your back and legs. Or, your shoulders really hurt, but you end ...

All massage therapists know that we prefer our clients to speak up during a massage if anything feels uncomfortable. Unfortunately, the necessity of this message leads us to repeat ourselves so often on this score that, if we’re not careful, the discussion about feedback becomes rote, almost robotic, as in: “by-the-way-if-anythhing-doesn’t-feel-right-please-let-me-know.”

The trouble is that when we sound insincere or automatic about this, the client hears ...

Before a massage session begins, it’s not uncommon for a massage therapist to palpate their client to get a feel for the quality of their muscle tissue and where to focus their treatment. This allows the therapist to understand what techniques to use and perhaps get an indication of the underlying problem. However, palpating without also engaging the client is a missed opportunity.  If the client says the pain ...

Every field has its own language or lingo, and massage is no different.  We all know about the importance of genuinely inviting feedback during massage.  You can further connect with and engage your clients by empowering them with the appropriate vocabulary to comfortably and confidently give you actionable feedback.  Shared vocabulary is what makes communication work.  Rather than leave them stumbling for phrasing like,

“uh, the place that hurts ...

Many massage therapists worry about providing pleasant service, but clients can be more nervous than we are.  After all, it can feel very vulnerable, lying there disrobed on a table for an hour, having a therapist working hard on them.  Some clients even worry that they’re somehow inconveniencing or overworking their therapist.  This concern comes out in questions such as, “how many people have you seen today?” or ...