With the untimely death of actor Heath Ledger, the issue of what to call ourselves in the massage profession comes up again. The news media continues to prefer the term masseuse, as evidenced by the many uses of the term in referring to the woman who discovered Mr. Ledger’s body. A few news reports did use the term massage therapist.
In my experience, many people still use the word masseuse, even when referring to a male massage therapist. Masseur and masseuse are French words, and French nouns are gender-specific. Here in the USA, we?ve gone more and more to gender-neutral terms, like massage therapist, wait-person, administrative assistant, etc.
Although most of us prefer the term massage therapist, not all in our profession like that title. What do you call yourself? Do you correct clients, or potential clients, when they use the ?wrong? title for you?
Greetings, colleagues! I’m excited today to announce that I have put “Massage Collage,” my old blog, to rest. From now on, I’ll be writing on this website as The Massage Pundit.
Several weeks ago, I put a request out to my mailing list asking for suggestions for a new name for the blog, one that would reflect the fact that this blog is about the politics of the massage and bodywork profession. The winning suggestion came from Erica Bliss Winston, a massage therapist from Cary, NC.
According to dictionary.com, a “pundit” is someone who offers to mass-media his or her opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically political analysis) on which they are knowledgeable. I received dozens of great suggestions, so thank you to my readers, but this was the one that jumped out at me.
In the 2 years I’ve been writing this blog, I’ve written about a variety of subjects, but as time went on I started to realize I really just want to focus on the politics of massage. I received a negative comment on the old blog about writing about the NCBTMB, so let this serve as an announcement: I will be writing about the NCBTMB, AMTA, ABMP, FSMTB, AFMTE, state boards, and any government, professional association, or other body who stands to affect this profession on the whole in any way. This blog is directed at the massage therapists out there who want to be informed about the associations and the legislation that affects us.
I welcome all comments, and print them all whether they agree with me or not. I particularly welcome comments from representatives of any of the entities I write about, and any of the concerned individuals I mention by name. I’ll be glad to present your side of the story.
I also couldn’t do this without the help of my network of MTs across the country and around the world who help me stay informed. If something important is happening in the profession in your neck of the woods that you’d like attention called to, feel free to let me know. Thank you all.
Massage Therapy Institutions are frequently faced with the challenge of first finding and then often having to prepare new faculty to teach a variety of different course subjects, including specialty massage techniques and modalities. And that?s usually not too easy. Given the rapid rate of expansion of more than thirteen hundred schools and growing, finding qualified instructors to satisfy the needs of these specialty programs across the country is arguably one of the most important issues facing institutions running massage therapy programs, as well as the profession itself. Teachers that provide students with their entry level training shape this profession by the quality and outcome of the product they put out, their students.
Attracting and holding on to qualified faculty has become difficult for educational institutions especially because as we all know qualified practitioners can make a lot more in private professional practice than what they receive for instructing in massage therapy classes. Add in the required or necessary hours of preparation faculty must do for each course assigned (most school?s faculties are comprised primarily of part-timers who usually do not get paid for this) and it?s not difficult to see why massage therapy schools and programs are having a hard time building a qualified team of instructors.
As a result of this paucity of quality instructors and almost by default, many schools fill teaching positions with recent graduates who need and want work and want to maintain a good relationship with their Alma Mata. The problem is they usually are not qualified to teach. Sometimes schools may be truly lucky to find among their recent graduates the winning combination and when that?s the case it?s certainly worth the effort on the part of the administration to put in the time and money to cultivate and hold onto those individuals.
To make things even more complicated the growth in massage programs in career and community colleges have thrown a new difficulty into the mix. Faculty teaching in these programs must have an academic degree (not necessarily in massage therapy) and the requisite qualifications in massage. So then the search begins — finding massage therapists who are willing to and can teach and who also hold an academic degree to meet the requirements when teaching in a college degree program. Therefore a degree granting institution that actually does find a qualified instructor without the requisite traditional academic degree must pass.
Relying on academic degrees as a good indicator of teaching ability is about as equal to relying on a license in massage therapy as a good indicator of a massage practitioner?s ability to teach. So if academic degrees aren?t an indication of what qualifies someone to teach in a massage therapy program and being a licensed massage therapist isn?t either, then what is it that academic deans and directors who hire faculty should be looking for before they plop someone down in the front of a classroom?
In spite of the fact that there exists an enormous amount of literature and research on how to teach effectively, there is no complete list of “do’s and don’ts” that, if followed, result in quality teaching. Generally speaking effective teaching cannot be separated from the teacher him or herself. A faculty member?s personality, preferences, prejudices and overall self awareness will have an enormous influence on student success.
Hippocrates, the Father of Modern Medicine is credited with saying ?The physician must be experienced in many things, but most assuredly in rubbing.? Well suffice it to say that an instructor of massage therapy most assuredly needs to be well versed in the knowledge, skills and abilities of rubbing ? or massage. But being an expert in the subject does not automatically make someone a good teacher.
Discussion: Let?s hear from you, from your experiences either as a faculty member/instructor in a massage therapy school or as a graduate or student who has had the experience of learning from many different types of instructors — both good and bad. Indicate, comment, complain but also try to provide some good examples of your favorite teachers ? (names not necessary) and what attributes they had that to this day make them stand out in your mind as high quality teachers.
A colleague and I were discussing the importance of documenting massage sessions this morning, so I decided to throw the question out there: How important is documentation?
I can tell you that in my practice, it is extremely important; I have more than a dozen practitioners, and clients may be seen by more than one person. We also file insurance and get a lot of doctor and dentist referrals, and you simply cannot conduct that type of business unless you are willing to keep careful documentation.
On the other hand, I know a lot of lone practitioners who don’t think it’s a big deal at all. I think I’ve mentioned before that I was the administrator at a massage school when licensure came into our state, and there was a grandfather period for people who had documented at least 4 years of practice and 400 documented massages. I couldn’t believe the number of students who called the school to ask, “What do you mean, documented?” My reply was massage that SOAP notes and other pertinenet documents, such as doctor’s prescriptions or other medical information was in the client’s file. I was appalled at the number of people who said, “Oh, that’s all in my head.”
That is totally unprofessional, and in many places, illegal. Most states with a practice act require documentation of sessions, including a statement of informed consent, proof of a privacy notice having been provided, and SOAP notes.
An important thing to remember is that the client file, in many states, belongs to the client. They may walk in the door and request their file, and you are obligated to give it to them. Wouldn’t you feel silly if a client came in, announced that they were moving away and would like to have their file to give to their new therapist, and you had to say you didn’t do any record-keeping? I believe you would.
Keeping good documentation is one of the hallmarks of a professional. What would you think of your physician if he didn’t keep any notes? If you want to be thought of as a health care professional, you have to conduct your practice as one.
Now is an excellent time to look ahead for marketing and networking opportunities related to National Stress Awareness Month. The Health Resource Network recently disseminated this press release:
For the 17th consecutive year, April 2009 has been designated “Stress Awareness Month.” During this thirty day period, health care professionals and health promotion experts across the country will join forces to increase public awareness about both the causes and cures for our modern stress epidemic.
Sponsored by The Health Resource Network (HRN), a non-profit health education organization, Stress Awareness Month is a national, cooperative effort to inform people about the dangers of stress, successful coping strategies, and harmful misconceptions about stress that are prevalent in our society.
“Even though we’ve learned a lot about stress in the past twenty years,”says Dr. Morton C. Orman, M.D., Founder and Director of HRN, “we’ve got a long way to go. New information is now available that could help millions of Americans eliminate their suffering.”
Dr. Orman has invited leading health care organizations across the country to develop and disseminate helpful educational materials and other information about stress during the month of April. He is also promoting public forums, discussion groups,and other informative community events.
The Health Resource Network is a non-profit health education organization established in 1982. It consists of health professionals, health promotion experts, and educators committed to developing more effective programs for improving health and preventing disease. In addition to sponsoring Stress Awareness Month, the organization also sponsors National Stress Awareness Day, held every April 16–or the day after income taxes are due!
Denticulate Ligaments (DLs) are strands of connective tissue that suspend the spinal cord within its membrane sac, which is called the dual tube.
The dural tube is comprised of three layers of membrane surrounding the spinal cord. The membrane layer attached to the surface of the spinal cord is called the pia mater. The layer surrounding the pia mater is called the arachnoid membrane, and the layer surrounding the arachnoid membrane is called the dura mater.
DLs extend from the inner surface of the pia mater, travel through the pia mater, through the arachnoid membrane and then attach to the inner surface of the dura mater.
There are 21 pairs of DLs on the lateral aspects of the spinal cord. The first is attached to the foramen magnum. The last is attached to the conus medullaris, which is the end of the spinal cord at L1, and a small portion of the Filum Terminale (FT) beginning at the conus medullaris. The FT is a band of tissue extending from the conus medullaris to the coccyx that is made of spinal cord glial cells surrounded by pia mater.
DLs and FT shortening, twisting, bending or immobility can place adverse stress upon the spinal cord leading to neurological strain and dysfunction. Conversely, balancing the DLs and FT can decrease spinal cord stress which in turn can enhance neurological function.
DLs are fascinating components of the dural tube that seem, to me, to create a ligamentous suspension system cradling the spinal cord. Very little DL research is available.
These questions arise when I ponder and work the DLs and FT:
1) Since the spinal cord needs to move in its bony container more than the brain tissue does in its container, do the DLs provide protection and flexibility while allowing motion?
2) The dura mater of the dural tube is only one layer thick rather than the two layers within the cranium, so do the DLs create additional tube strength without compromising movement?
3) As the spinal cord moves within the spinal canal do the DLs, like thousands of tiny interlinked bungee cords, help dissipate stress and allow the spinal cord to find its most favorable position?
4) Structures that can affect the spinal cord, such as the occiput, spinal column, sacrum and coccyx, dural tube, adipose tissue within the spinal canal and nerve roots can each have restrictive patterns that in turn can distress the spinal cord. Do the DLs help to protect the spinal cord by balancing, dissipating and fine-tuning tension that is transmitted to the spinal cord?
5) Some theories suggest that there is a down and up flow of cerebrospinal fluid within the dural tube. Since the DLs separate the dural tube into anterior and posterior compartments, could that then organize the flow of cerebrospinal fluid?
I hope you?ll join me next month to explore this suspension system further. I’ll share some ideas on how to feel and work with DLs and the FT.
References:
Cramer, Gregory D., D.C., Ph.D., and Darby, Susan A., Ph.D., Basic and Clinical Anatomy of the Spine, Spinal Cord, and ANS, Second Edition, Elsevier Mosby, St. Louis, Missouri, 2005.
Tubbs, Shane R., M.S., PA-C; Salter, George, Ph.D.; Grabb, M.D.; and Oakes, Jerry W., M.D. ; ?The denticulate ligament: anatomy and functional significance?, J. Neurosurg: Spine / Volume 94 / April 2001.
Many therapists ask me about diffusing essential oils in their practice space. The first thing you have to decide is what do you want to offer to your clients. There are different grades of essential oils and which grade you use will determine the result you will get.
If I just diffuse an essential oil does it matter what grade I use? The answer is yes, if you want to receive the benefit of the essential oil. Can something that smells good but is not pure make you feel good? Sure. Think of cookies baking. They smell mighty good and can induce an emotional response but don’t you want more for yourself and your clients than a temporary response?
Most often, the essential oils found in spas and at essential oil retailers are Grade A (even if they say therapeutic grade on the bottle) which means they are manipulated to a standard. Any oil that is produced to smell the same from one bottle to the next is manipulated to meet the standard of smell. Nature does not adhere to this standard. A true therapeutic grade oil will have a different smell each time it is produced due to variations in soil conditions, weather, and other natural factors. What will remain the same is the therapeutic indicators which must be tested to insure purity and quality.
By diffusing a true therapeutic grade oil you will bring the whole property of the oil in the olfactory (the seat of emotions), and into the lungs where they can circulate through the body and continue their work at a deeper cellular level.
I began using essential oils by diffusing them at night for my son’s chronic sinus infections. He would breathe in the oils for hours, and due to the anti-inflammatory action of the oils, his tissues began to heal. I also diffused oils that were able to clean receptor sites, allowing cellular communication to become optimized. Through the process of diffusing the therapeutic grade oils as well as topical application, he was able to not only sleep through the night, but eventually be free of the infections. This is the power of choosing the right grade of oil to work with!
Massage in hospice care gets deserved recognition!
Hello again,
I have great news to share! The value of massage in hospice care has been endorsed by the AMTA. I offer my thanks to my collegue Lisa Parenteau and others who worked very hard to present a position statement to the 2009 House of Delegates at the 09 convention. Read on…
AMTA House of Delegates approves two position statements (from www.amtamassage.org)
The AMTA House of Delegates debated proposals for association position statements that express the sense of the membership on matters pertaining to massage therapy. This year, the delegates approved two position statements, which are now official positions of the association.Details on the approved position statements will soon be available on the AMTA website and will become part of the association?s efforts to promote the value of massage therapy, supported by research.
The approved statements are:
- It is the position of the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) that massage can aid in pain relief.
- It is the position of the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) that massage therapy can improve the quality of life for those in hospice and palliative care.
This kind of endorsement will help to call attention to the role massage therapists play in end of life care. Those of us who have been serving this special population surely know the value of our work– but the good news is that it’s not just us saying it now!
The issue of resilience is in the air since the publishing of Elizabeth Edward?s new book. It is a timely and valuable subject since so many people are facing such adversity in their lives right now ? emotional, financial, and health-related issues.
How we respond to stress and adversity defines the quality of our lives. Life?s stressors are not going away. The only thing we really have any control over at all is how we respond to what life presents to us. And, our ability to respond well ? defined as making choices that enhance our life experience ? is dependant in large part on our resilience.
In a recent interview about her new book, ?Resilience?, Elizabeth Edwards gives us her definition,
?I talk about my father’s dealing with his life after he had a stroke. I think that resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it’s less good than the one you had, the reality that you liked before. That’s what my dad did. He still grabbed hold of what was left and lived it as fully as he could.? (italics mine)
My own father had a unique and wonderful way of demonstrating this for me when I was growing up. If a difficult situation came up, rather than reacting negatively, he would use it as an opportunity to ?put on his thinking cap? and rise to meet the challenge, especially if someone tried to tell him that the problem was unsolvable.
My earliest memory of this talent was one Christmas vacation when I was about eight years old. We were driving to my grandparent?s cabin in Fort Valley, Virginia when it began to snow, hard. By the time we got to the final leg of our journey -a long dirt road up a steep incline to their cabin – the snow was almost three feet deep and still coming down. There were two other cars stuck at the bottom of the hill with my uncles huddled around them looking worried and defeated. They were about to abandon their cars and carry all their stuff on foot up the long steep hill through the deep snow. We were tired and grumpy as kids usually are after such a long time in the car.
However, when my Dad looked over the whole situation and yelled to my uncles that he was ?going for it?, our tiredness turned to excitement. I remember him backing up the car, getting up speed and charging up the hill, slipping and sliding all the way.
Over and over, we watched as he got part of the way up and had to back down and start again. Each time he would get a little farther up the hill, until, finally we were all at the top ? all three cars ? and everyone was feeling exuberant rather than defeated.
Then, there was the time (obviously before the days of security checkpoints), when we arrived late for a flight. The ticket agent looked at us and said, ? You have exactly nine minutes to make it to your gate.? Dad looked at all of us with that gleam in his eye and said, ?You want to run for it?? Well, run we did, and we made the flight, seconds to spare, breathless and triumphant.
He emanated this wonderful sense of adventure and creativity in times of adversity.
The other day I was working with a young woman in her late twenties who had recently been home visiting her parents. She went to sit down in a chair and it collapsed. She found herself suddenly sitting on the floor, unharmed, but to her surprise, feeling anxious and frozen in place.
As we explored it further, she told me that when she was younger, her Dad would beat her with a belt if anything ever went wrong. It didn?t matter whose fault it was, and it happened so frequently that it became an automatic response to freeze, waiting for the blows she knew were inevitable.
So her recent response was understandable, but outdated and crippling to her as an adult woman – to be frozen with anxiety because of something that was an accident?
In her trauma response, in that moment, she had no resilience, no ability to see the situation as it currently stood, and thus no ability to respond in a creative, life-enhancing way.
Slowly we worked together to release the old nervous system response and bring her body and its ability to be resilient, into the present moment where she is safe and capable of taking care of herself quite well.
Memories of my Dad coached me all the way – if he had been there when the chair broke, he would have gotten that gleam in his eye and probably headed to the garage for the tools to fix it, all the while engaging her in how to creatively solve the problem of a faulty chair.
When the time was right, I shared the image of my father?s likely response, and she was astonished. Then she laughed and decided that his was the attitude she wanted to hold next time something went wrong. My story helped expand her view about how differently a parent could react in situations like that.
By the time we finished, she no longer felt like a scared little girl. Her power had returned and she had practiced how she could respond in the future.
A colleague and friend,Kathy Burns, gave me another definition the other day as we were discussing this issue.
?Resilience is the ability to accept what is actually happening, with as little judgment as possible, so that you can take clear, wise action about it ? to make the best of it.?
Then she laughed and added,
?This acceptance issue is a huge step for most people, particularly when the situation isn?t what they bargained for, or even faintly wanted.?
Life can really throw some hard stuff at us these days. To be disappointed, angry, frustrated or depressed over a turn of events is normal and even appropriate at times. The problem is when you stay there, stuck in an emotional soup that keeps you paralyzed and unhappy.
The skill of knowing how to expand your lens on what is happening is one worth cultivating, so that you can get the perspective to be able let go of whatever judgment is hounding you. With this acceptance comes an expanded capacity to creatively problem solve, in ways that are not available when you are locked up emotionally, or frozen with anxiety or worry.
My father modeled resilience for me. It guides me all the time these days. And when I share his wisdom, it guides others as well. Although he is no longer walking on the planet with me, part of him lives on in me. I know that would please him to no end. Thanks Dad!
As human beings we are faced with alot of challenges in life. Some of these challenges are tolerable and easy to handle, but sometimes life can surprise us with more personal, intense battles. In a world so demanding of our time and energy, how do we carry on as though everything is fine, when inside we are falling apart? When you work in a field such as massage therapy, where its so intimate and with the exchange of energies, how do we cope and not let our feelings get in the way? Now what if you are the boss as well? How do we do it, how do we face the day when we are dealing with such emotional personal burdens?
I personally just went through what would be the hardest challenge I have had in life so far. It was hard because I was dealing with the emotional trauma as well as trying to maintain a business and my responsabilities as a health food store worker, girlfriend, business owner and friend. I feel when we work as massage therapist its easy to give advice and know what is right for our clients, but when its comes to us we neglect to nurture and comfort ourselves. In a time of suffering I think its ok to be a little selfish and take time for you to heal. Go through the emotions, feel alive from them. If you are are angry, feel angry and let it out, if you are sad, feel sad and let it out!!!!Sometimes its ok to take a day off from the business. I know this is hard for alot of people, but just take a day to sleep in, go for a long walk, take a bath, like I said nurture yourself as if you would a client or a good friend. The sun will rise again and clients will call. We are always taking care of others and we must take care of ourselves!
Massage therapy is also a business, I feel, where people are more understanding, and willing to be flexible when it comes to their therapist’s well being. We take time to build relationships with clients so we can be honest with them. No one has to know details, but explain there has been a death in the family, or a terrible tragedy has struck you, and they will understand, they will most likely feel happy that you told them, rather than act as though nothing happened and go on to give a bad treatment. Massage is such an energy connection practice that you would be doing them a favor by not giving them your negative energy.
For some of us, and maybe all of us at some point can use massage therapy as our art, our creative outlet. When this is the case we may be having the worst day ever, but when the client arrives and is settled into your table waiting for your gentle touch to treat their issues, all of our “baggage” can disappear and we direct our focus on the client. This is the best scenario of course! We can all understand when this is not the case and your focus is on your challenge. I can not express enough to bee patient and take time for yourself, so you will be ready to take care of others. As massage therapist our main goal is for balance with health and happiness. As we go through life things are going to surface that we don’t want to deal with, or that stresses us out, or lessons in life that really take alot out of us, we are human just like everybody else, and need what every other human would need. When in a time of sorrow, we must bee patient for our well-beeing as well as those around us!
