Massage Therapy Careers

Massage Therapy Careers are constantly being promoted as the up and coming profession and 'hot' new jobs.

The massage schools and associations are promoting the profession as a career that will allow you to make $75 per hour and more and also have the freedom to do as you please as your own boss or to work part time for someone else which also allows you to have more freedom.

Massage Therapy is in demand by consumers in the US and around the world. More people are using massage as an alternative to medicine and also as preventative medicine.

While there is a demand for massage therapists, there also is another side to the profession. Massage Therapy Career Statistics will give you more information on what the profession is really like - salaries and job information.

One local massage school is advertising a career with great pay and the freedom to create your own schedule as a reason why you would want to become a massage school.

If you work for yourself, the $75 per hour is the fee you can charge a customer, but there are expenses to pay such as rent and advertising bills. You will have an office to run on $75. If you work for an employer like Massage Envy which is now one of the largest employers of massage therapists they only pay $15 per hour and there are usually no other benefits or maybe minimal benefits. (You could go and work for a store like Whole Foods for about the same.)

Massage School is now costing upwards of $10,000 and I have even heard as much as $31,000.

While insurance is paying more for massage therapy for motor vehicle and job related injuries who are paying massage therapists quite well, the insurance industry is in a mess and the allowable fees are constantly being reduced and there hasn't been any research to help the massage profession decide if we even want to be a part of the health insurance business. While the idea sounds good, many doctors and other health care providers are getting out of the insurance world and moving to a cash business.

There is also much more to just helping people. The issues that go along with being in a helping profession are not mentioned in the catalogs and school information. The reasons why you want to help others will also be the same reasons that can lead to burn out and failure in business. The most important part of a massage practice or business is YOU - not any technique you have learned or what you can do with your hands.

While I don't mean to be discouraging, I just want to give you some honest information here so that you can make a more informed decision. You can still become a massage therapist and be very successful at it. You just have to do it differently than most schools are currently teaching.

You will also be more informed right from the beginning so that you can be more successful and even make an influence on the direction the profession is headed.

So take the time to read all of the information here and go into a massage school being prepared to ask questions and get the truth about becoming a massage therapist and just what is involved in a massage therapy career.

Money Issues  - One of the challenges for massage therapists is how to make a living doing something they love.  Your beliefs about money will affect your success as a massage therapist.  So many massage therapists say they come to the massage profession because it is not about the money and then fail to make the money they need to succeed.  Having a business or working as an employee is about the money Following Your Calling-  Many massage therapists come to the massage profession to follow a calling - a deeper need of wanting to help others or have a more meaningful career.   There is always a hidden unconscious agenda that is also the reason why so many leave the profession after 5 years or less. The Call to Help-  Being a massage therapist is not about helping others contrary to what many may think.  It is about learning to take care of yourself first so that you can be present with others in their healing process The E-myth and Massage- Working as a massage therapist you need to be able to separate yourself from the business.   You are not the business even though it may feel that way because you work so closely with clients. The Search for Freedom - The idea that you may have more freedom to do what you please, work when and where you want is a big draw for many.  While it does work for many who want to just work part time - Freedom is really something that only can come from having peace inside. Finding your Passion and Purpose- When I came into this field 20 years ago, most came because of the many reasons of wanting to find something they could pour their souls into.  While this is a great path to follow, it can also lead you into another side of yourself and be the exact reason why you also could fail as a massage therapist Life Purpose- Your life purpose is to become more aware of yourself and know yourself.  It is about learning to transcend your ego needs for love, appreciation and acceptance which are often an underlying unconscious reason for becoming a massage therapist Professional Myths - There are many myths or inaccuracies that the massage profession itself seems to promote. Changing Careers -Career changes are one of the most stressful times in a persons life. The Wounded Healer - The story of the wounded healer is about how we try to do for others what we really need to do for ourselves.  The wounded healer is never able to heal themselves and is always trying to do the same for others. Healing Touch- Touch can bring up deeper issues and suppressed memories of trauma from the past.  It also can resemble the nurturing we did or more likely didn't get as a child.  The healing benefits of touch are just beginning to be understood.