Through massage school you may become aware of some of your past issues with touch.  It is one of the most important parts of massage school.  Touch is the only two way sense – when you touch someone you are touched back.  What you feel when you touch others as a massage therapist will affect how your touch is perceived.  People don’t really care what technique you are doing.  All they know is how it feels to them.  It may remind them (consciously and more often unconsciously) of how they were held and attented to as a child.  It may remind them of what they were lacking as an infant.  It may remind them of people in their past.  If there was physical, sexual or even mental/emotional abuse it is most likely a part of their physical body.

Knowing your own past touch issues is important when working with all types of clients.  It can help you to be more present with people no matter what their level of touch receptivity is.  How touch was used or withheld in your family, what the rules were around touch all influence your image of yourself and your self esteem.  Infants who are not touched enough will respond by becoming avoidant to touch and will often grow up with defense mechanisms to protect themselves from the pain of not having their early needs met.

Take the time to look into your history of touch -being touched and giving touch.

Touch can be used to punish or hurt.  Touch can be used to nurture, reassure and support.  It can be used to stimulate and excite as in shaking someone to wake them up or tickling.  And of course there is sexual touching which is not a part of massage but is an important part of your touch history.

Your clear intention is really the most important thing you can bring to the massage profession.  It can only come when you have personally worked through your own touch issues first before working with others.  It actually will be a constant learning process as your massage practice develops and matures.

Learning to touch and use touch as a framework for communicating with clients in the healing process you will encounter various elements of touch.

Trust is necessary for clients to be able to get on your massage table and is the foundation for the therapeutic relationship that occurs with the massage therapist/client.  Your awarness of yourself and your personal and professional boundaries are what create the framework of trust for clients.

You may also be using all of your senses to work with clients sensing your own feelings first and becoming aware of your own body as you work on others.  You will be learning to touch various body parts and various levels of tissue of the body which requires you to be aware of your own body.  The depth, quality of touch, type of pressure and applications of massage requires this.

Getting feedback from clients is often a challenge because many  will not know what pressure or technique is best for them at first.  They also will think that you will know best but encouraging them to find out for themselves can create an even more powerful massage session.

Presence is the ability to stay present and aware of your own feelings while you are working on someone else and not let those feelings affect your work or get in the way of what the client needs or letting those feelings take your attention off of your clients needs.  It also requires that you trust more in the healing process and have a deep understanding that you are just a guide on the journey with the client.

Think about what will work best for you and what you can afford without going into debt. Do you need a school close to home and that has night classes or day classes or a specific time? Do you want a massage school that offers more training in business and marketing so that you can start your massage business faster? Do you need additional support in finding a high paying massage job or are you able to do what you need to do to wait for a massage job that will pay you what you need?

These are just some of the things you will need to figure out before looking at massage schools. Then you will have some framework for creating your questions but you will also need to know more about what you will be getting. My ebook – The Massage Therapy Career Guide - The truth about becoming a massage therapist comes with a list of questions to ask potential massage schools.

See what you will be learning in massage school with more massage school notes on www.thebodyworker.com

Most massage therapists start their own business so you will have to be willing to learn how to do that and it helps to have experience in working with customers and doing business.

Massage jobs are really low paying for the most part. Many massage franchises are hiring massage therapists but the starting salary is $15 an hour. The thing is that you can only really work 25 hours max because of the physical demands of the job. As an employee you also usually don’t get paid when you don’t have a client or you only get paid minimum wage and then are given other duties like cleaning and filing.

Many people are looking at massage therapy careers mainly because they think it will be a more relaxing environment. I also have had many high school students asking me about whether or not they have to take math classes.

In choosing any career it is best to choose a career that you love and are passionate about. Do you love getting a massage every week yourself? Do you love learning about health and business? Do you love working with one person at a time in a dark room with soft music and no or little talking? That is just a little about what it will be like when you become a massage therapist.

You can read more about how to become a massage therapist and what you need to know about schools and starting your own business on my other two websites – www.thebodyworker.com and www.massage-career-guides.com

When people search for ‘massage, your city’ your website should be on the top of the first page of Google results and every other search engine. Once it gets to the top, then it needs to have a search engine listing that people will click on and go to your site. After they are there on your website it will have to have enough content to build a relationship with your client right from the start. You want potential readers to trust you enough to make the call for the appointment and become a regular weekly client.

Think about what people are looking for when they are looking for a massage therapist. They usually have some disease, injury or condition or just stress and pain that they want to get rid of. What you need to tell them on your website is that you can handle whatever it is that they have and that you have experience working with that kind of problem even if you are right out of massage school. Basically you create a content rich website and just write about all of the things that you tell people anyways on a daily basis.

To make a website that works like this you will need to use Site Build it! to create your website. You can do it on your own if you have time to spend learning as it comes with a complete action guide that is in written and video format. If you want help doing the site there are many ways to get more help. You can hire Site Build it! Services to do the whole site for you, you can hire a them to coach you on a one on one basis, or you can take a 12 week online class.

Either way you won’t have to do much more to get a steady flow of new clients. It can also make you money while you do massage. You can write articles or find affiliate products (other people’s or companies products) to promote. You will need another stream of income to support you and to always have other sources of income. Everyone does too actually – not just massage therapists.

The basic massage school class outline is a follows:

• Anatomy and Physiology- basic college level anatomy and physiology learning the different structures of the body and how the body works.
• Kinesiology – how the muscles work
• Massage Theory – usually starts with basic Swedish massage and learning about how massage works and the basic strokes and when to use them for various situations.
• Pathology – including contraindications (when not to do massage) and various diseases and conditions that you might see as a massage therapist.
• Ethics – how to work with clients in a professional manner requires that you take an indepth look at yourself, why you want to help others and your role as a massage therapist.
• Business Skills and Marketing – Massage school will just touch lightly on the topic. It really requires a degree in marketing and business or previous experience in starting and running a business.
• Self care for the massage therapist including peer supervision groups to help you deal with the feelings that come up for you in your role as a massage therapist.

With my 250 hours of training I started my own business in a health club with a friend where there had previously been a massage therapist working. He was charging $25 an hour or something really low. We came in and started charging like $45 an hour which was unheard of back then, but we needed to make a living.

Massage was still fairly unknown in many places. Being in Seattle, I am fortunate to be in a more progressive area. Back in Western NY State where I am from, my parents used to tell me about massage therapists trying to start a business in their homes and were shut down by the authorities. The city wouldn’t have it because it would be too much traffic on the street!

When I first started out in 1987 in massage school in my 250 hour training, nothing was ever mentioned about how difficult it would be to start and build a massage business. The business skills class was a few hours long – hardly enough time to even get an understanding of what business licenses were required.

Today many high school students are finding my websites on massage (www.thebodyworker.com and www.massage-career-guides.com) and wondering if they will have to take math classes for requirements to get into massage school. Most have never had a massage or know anything about it. I guess that isn’t much different from when I decided to become a massage therapist.

No one taught us anything about billing insurance companies. We figured it out as we went and helped each other. No one taught us about how to deal with clients and work with clients. We learned on our own. No one taught us about raising our rates every year. We learned on our own.

Today more states are regulating massage and most states require 500 hours of training or more to become a massage therapist. During the years there has been no research what so ever that more training is needed to become a successful massage therapist. The number of hours of education seems to only coincide with the amount required for massage schools to get Federal Grants and Loans for massage students.

The average age of massage therapists has been 45 according to ABMP. I would guess that is changing because of the low paying jobs that are available for entry level massage therapists is only $15 an hour. 45 year olds with families and planning for retirement can’t live on that. That is what the new massage franchises has brought to the massage profession – a younger crowd of massage therapists.
In doing that massage has become more available to lower income families but at a cost of hiring more professionally based massage therapists.

So where does that leave you if you are looking into a massage therapy career?
Massage therapists who start their own massage business are becoming entrepreneurs and learning how to set clearer boundaries especially around money and they can make $100,000 a year (net) when they value themselves enough to charge what they need to make that or discover other ways in making money – like teaching classes or creating blogs/websites like I do.

It is really just a matter of looking at a massage therapy career as a journey into self discovery and a path to deepened client relationships that allow real healing rather than just as a job that you will have till the day you die.

Touch is the only sense where you are also touched when you touch someone else. Learning to touch others with intention and care you will be also able to tune into what you are feeling when you touch. This is one of the keys to working in a therapeutic relationship with a client.

Learning Palpation Skills

Learning to palpate and feel a clients body is a matter of just practicing and figuring out what it is that you are touching. With supervised practice and guidance your skills can constantly improve as you begin to trust your senses. Only you know what you are feeling. The client only knows what they are feeling.

Palpation is done mainly with the hands but some of your other senses may also come into play when working with clients. Sight, smell and hearing may also be used.

Begin by recognizing how you use your senses. Palpation is a collection of several abilities. The dominant eye is used to focus on the object while the non-dominant eye provides depth perception. You can find your dominant eye by holding your arm out in front of your eyes and holding up your thumb. Aim it at something in the distance and alternately close one eye at a time. The eye that sees the thumb as aiming at the object is your dominant eye.
Peripheral vision is important in sensing movement.

Different areas of the hand are sensitive to different types of stimuli.

• Pads of the fingers are most sensitive for fine tactile discriminations. You can use them to sense texture, tension, surface resistance, small areas and pulses. The tips of the fingers are not as sensitive and are not large enough to sense the full shape of most structures.
• The back of the hand and fingers are most sensitive to temperature
• The palm of the hand is most sensitive to vibration and shapes. You can switch between the palmar surface of the fingers and the palm.

Use a light touch to keep your senses open and to prevent distorting the tissue being touched. Too much pressure will override the sensitivity of your touch as well as solicit various responses in the client such as guarding and increased tension.

You can adjust the depth, direction and duration of your touch to assess the tissue.

Knowing your underlying anatomy is important here. Find the prominent landmarks and muscles.

You are the only one who can determine how things feel to you.

Keep in touch with your client at all times. Get as much feedback as you can.

• Use client feedback to educate the student about palpation
• use information to educate clients about touch and their bodies
• Ask questions that are open ended (not yes or no questions) Use where, what, why
• The client is always right. Your role is to just provide feedback and mirror what you find.

Ask questions:
What do you feel when I am touching here?
What physical or non-physical sensations do you feel here?
What in your body needs attention?
Can you feel the tension here?
Can you feel the difference now?

Observation is the act of gathering objective signs. A sign is a measurable or observable indication of less than normal function. A sign is not a feeling. You can observe injuries and how the body compensates for those injuries. Look for signs of heat, swelling, cold areas, redness, paleness, contours and tension.

Prone – lying horizontal, face down
Supine- lying horizontal, face up
Superior- above or in a higher position
Inferior- below or lower position
Anterior – ventral – front
Posterior – dorsal – back
Cranial – near the head
Caudal – near the sacral region of spinal column
Medial – toward midline of the body
Lateral – away from the midline towards the side
Proximal – nearest the origin of a structure
Distal – farthest away from a region
Superficial – towards surface
Deep – Internal

Planes of the body
Midsagittal – Vertical Plane that divides the body or organ into right and left sides. A Midsaggital plane passes through the midline.
Frontal – (coronal) divides the body or organ into anterior and posterior (front and back)
Horizontal or Transverse – divides the body or organ into superiour and inferior
Oblique – divides the body or organ at an angle

Physiology – Study of the function of the body parts

Pathology – Structural and functional changes associated with diseases.

• Etiology – Etio =cause. Study of the cause of disease
• Sign – Objective evidence of disease that can be observed or measured.
• Symptom – Subjective change in body function not apparent to an observer and can’t be measured.
• Treatment – the management and care of a patient or client

Levels of Structural Organization

1. Atoms: ex.Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen
2. Chemicals: ex. – proteins, carbohydrates, fats and vitamins
3. Cellular – basic structural and functional units of an organism

-cell membrane – 2 layers of lipid molecules with proteins and carbohydrates that regulates what can enter and leave the cell
– Cytoplasm – fills the cell and holds the organelles
-Nucleus – control center with specific genetic material
– Nucleolus – little nucleus, manufactures proteins and replicates genetic material.
– Mitochondria – makes ATP energy from glucose
– Gogi Body – carbohydrate and lipid synthesis
– Ribosome – manufactures proteins

4. Tissue – A group of similar cells that together with their intercellular material have similar origin in the embryo and perform a specific function.
   – Epithelial – form glands, covers body, lines cavities, secretes fluids
   – Connective – supports and forms framework of the body, hard is cartilage/bone, soft – adipose, liquid – blood, lymph
   – Muscular – contracts and produces movement
   – Nervous – conducts nerve impulses

5. Organs – structures that are composed of two or more different tissues and have specific functions and usually have a recognizable shape like the heart, liver, spleen
6. System – related organs that have a common function like the digestive system that is comprised of the mouth, esophagus, stomach etc

(Skeletal, Muscular, Nervous, Cardiovascular, Digestive, Respiratory, Endocrine, Integumentary, Urinary, Reproductive)

7. Organism – One whole living being

See also my other site for more information – www.thebodyworker.com

There is also quite a bit of controversy in the massage profession over that status of jobs. Many massage employers opt to hire massage therapists as independent contractors when in fact they are employees. Being an employee means that the employer will pay more in fees, taxes and benefits. Many try to avoid paying these fees and hire independent contractors.

If you are serious about finding a job in massage that you will really love and make a decent living at you will need to start with figuring out what it is that you want to make in a massage therapy job and also what type of situation you desire. You can basically create a game plan and approach almost any company you want if you do enough research to show them how it will improve their business. Many massage therapists would rather just take the first job that they get rather than figuring out what they want although taking jobs is also a good way to find out just that.

When you can clearly see what you want and keep focused on it and not settle for less, you will be able to create your ideal massage job.