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Massage Professionals and Career Length - Getting to the root of the problem

This next month I will celebrate another year as a massage therapist. I have made it well past the 3-6 year average career length. Looking back at my class photo, I tend to question why there are so few still practicing - Less than 25%. How many of your classmates are still practicing? Why do you think you, and so few of your classmates are still practicing massage professionals?

So, my question this week is, Why do so many move on from the profession?

Is it-
Burn out - Hand and wrist problems?
An over-saturated field?
Poor work environments?
Lack of desire to serve others?
Lack of personal research before starting school?
Short programs attract a large number of prospective students?
high rate of young graduates?
Unrealistic promises from massage schools?
Or something else?

I would like to hear your input and suggestions on how we can help new massage therapists succeed. Also what can we do to help those see that the field of massage therapy may not be for them- before starting school?

Ivy Hultquist

Advanced Massage Techniques

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Comment by Ivy Hultquist on January 12, 2010 at 3:01pm: Love the responses. The high physical demands and promises of $60+ an hour are two large problems. Now, what can we do as practitioners to educate and prepare potential students? Do we let them go through training for a career they are not suited for or is their a way to reach them prior to school?

Ivy

Advanced Massage Techniques

Comment by Robin Wiggs on January 11, 2010 at 11:20pm: I graduated in 2005 and am still practicing. In fact, in September of 2008 I took the big leap and opened my own office (solo). It was the best move I have made besides enrolling in Massage Therapy school. I have thought often about why so many enroll in school and either never practice or have a very short career. Here are my observations... 1. it's just hard work, anyway you look at it. And I believe many are not prepared for that. 2. youth...not to include all, however, my life experience (and past work experience) is a big part of my work and my success as well as my ability to care for my clients (as well as pass the state test). 3. they don't love it...and if you don't love it you will get bored with it and you will burn out quickly. 4. they either don't want to market themselves, are too lazy or just don't know how. 5. they are just looking for a job...clock in, clock out and expect someone else to do the leg work for them. 6. Private schools (not all please)...they offer easy financing (for an often outrageous tuition), easy entrance into the program and misleading information about the profession and it's possibilities. 7..lack of interest in expanding their knowledge...again, boredom. There are several from my class still in practice and pretty successful at it too. The majority of us are older..have had other careers or a healthy work life as well as families. Those are all common experiences that seem to have made a difference.

Comment by Marilyn St.John on January 11, 2010 at 6:38pm: Of my class of fourteen I think I'm the only one still practicing five years out. Only five of us actually got certified at the end of the program, two of those never practiced massage after realizing they actually had to touch strangers, and the other two went after different degree programs after a year or two.

More specifically, in this demographic area, massage therapy as a career is misrepresented by various
media outlets as a giant money-maker, and the field is pretty saturated. There seems to be a large number of people just out of high school entering the field thinking they can make a lot of money, then they lose interest when they realize that it's real work plus lots more independent study in order to get there. So sad!