a community of practitioners

Mentoring Questions

I'm thinking of becoming a mentor for one of my clients who has gone to massage school but hasn't gotten licensed yet (after 4+ years since finishing school). I'm also the go-to therapist for one of the high schools in my area to host job shadow students, and can see being a mentor a useful addition.

My questions:

--I've never worked with a mentor myself, how is mentoring usually done? Meeting in person, having the other person practice massage/muscle palpations on me, me watch them give massage and provide feedback on body mechanics/etc, by phone/email, etc...?

--Do people customarily charge their time during mentoring, or is it just a complimentary service offered? If charging, how do you determine rates?

I'm sure more questions will arise, hopefully some answers and more thought-provoking ideas will pop out through this thread.

Thank you!

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ariana Vincent, LMT, MTI, BCTMB on November 30, 2010 at 11:39pm

Hi Rachel -

To learn more about mentoring, you could look at the MicroMentor website: http://www.micromentor.org. They are a well-established mentoring service. You can offer to be a mentor or you can be mentored. There is no fee involved with MicroMentor. It is all voluntary. I have been both a mentor and a mentee through MicroMentor and I found the experience to be extremely valuable.

I offer mentoring as part of the services that I share through Ariana Institute. If you like, you can visit my website, http://www.arianainstitute.com/conted.htm. This is how I describe my mentoring services:

MENTORING SESSIONS OFFERED BY ARIANA VINCENT
One–on–one mentoring sessions are available in person at Ariana Institute, over for the phone, or via e-mail for an hourly fee. Mentoring can facilitate your job search, assist you in building your massage therapy practice, enhance your marketing skills, review massage therapy techniques and obtain more in–depth knowledge regarding techniques covered in continuing education classes.

I've also served as a mentor for high school students. It was a very rewarding experience on many levels. One of the students I mentored when he was in high school ended up attending massage school at the Kripalu Center and establishing a very successful practice in Nantucket.

Wishing you the very best in your mentoring service, Rachel.

Warmly, Ariana Vincent, Ariana Institute, http://www.arianainstiute.com

Permalink Reply by Darcy Neibaur on December 4, 2010 at 3:35am

I was one of the lucky ones to be mentored by Mike Hinkle while I was in school. How he did it with me was he would give me a massage and I would then in turn give him one back. He would give me tips and pointers along the way during the massage session I was giving him. As a student he gave me two massages in a week and I usually gave him one back. I was also a client of his before I went to school so I just continued to pay a reduced rate, my choice. I found the experience to be so valuable, one I am truly grateful for, as not many students have the opportunity to receive this gift. I still to this day consider him to be a mentor to me and run a lot of questions and situations by him as they happen. It would be so nice if all students could have this opportunity to receive a mentor.

Permalink Reply by Marilyn St.John on January 27, 2011 at 11:12am

When I was a new graduate, I was lucky enough to have had my mentor appear on my table one day. When I was finished with her massage, she simply said, "Now I want to massage YOU." I hadn't known she was a massage therapist herself! After that, I had a standing weekly appointment at her place and she mentored me by giving me 30-minute massages and receiving the same from me. I learned different ways of using the techniques I had learned in school and received lots of validation, which in turn bolstered my confidence level. That continued for almost a year until she had some health issues and no longer does massage. Now that I am six years and hundreds of massages wiser, I still feel I owe much of my success to that early experience. Even now, I learn something useful every time I receive a massage...we can never have too many teachers, right?