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Industry leaders meet to discuss future of the profession

Laura Allen recently wrote a great blog post about a meeting happening today and tomorrow (9/13-14) among some of the biggest leaders in the massage profession. They plan to discuss the progress that has been made in recent years, as well as some of the challenges the profession might face now and in the future. What do you think some of the biggest challenges are to the massage & bodywork profession?

--Abram, Social Media Coordinator at ABMP

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Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on September 13, 2011 at 6:05pm

They need to get away from teaching people how to pass ever more tests, and start teaching how to be massage therapists.

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Permalink Reply by Abram Herman on September 13, 2011 at 7:51pm

So would you say the tests need to be changed to better test the skills a massage therapist needs? What kind of changes would you make?

Gordon J. Wallis said:

They need to get away from teaching people how to pass ever more tests, and start teaching how to be massage therapists.

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Permalink Reply by Daniel Cohen on September 13, 2011 at 8:10pm

I'd stop trying to make things better for a while until we have a chance to see where we are. The rapid changes need to spread across the country and settle in. Continual change may have been desired for Mao's revolution but we don't have to eradicate the old culture to move forward. Unless the purpose is to create a testable education that produces cookie cutter Therapists to work with Physical Therapists. Or perhaps the goal is to provide national support of branded modalities and promotional coaches.

Abram Herman said:

So would you say the tests need to be changed to better test the skills a massage therapist needs? What kind of changes would you make?

Gordon J. Wallis said:

They need to get away from teaching people how to pass ever more tests, and start teaching how to be massage therapists.

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Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on September 14, 2011 at 12:54am

When I review those tests, I'm hard pressed to find a question that actually has anything to do with the work Ive been doing for the last 27 years? So what are they teaching? Certainly not how to be a career professional massage therapist....They've gotten the career span down so low now its ridicules... Only six years ! A fair number of therapists have to quit because of repetitive stress injuries and such. And when you consider the fact that massage therapy is the best modality to address repetitive stress injures..You have to ask.. What are they teaching? Few have an understanding of what deep tissue massage really means .They just think you press harder..Gosh the number one complaint about massage now is that it hurt too much. Massage is the touch. What are they teaching? Few really understand what a knot in a muscle is...And when you consider the fact that knots in muscles are directly responsible for 85% of peoples pain syndromes, and that knots are involved in 95% of all pain syndromes...You have to ask.. What are they teaching? I could go on and on and on...Id revamp the whole proses. Text books and everything. How about Travels two Big Red Books as primary texts? Most new therapists never even heard of them. I could go on in detail forever. Its a huge subject. But the tests have nothing to do with the work I do.. I know. Ive taken them. The current educational system for massage sounds good, but its not based on the actual,or the real... Its based on whatever certification exam you have to pass before you take your state exam..

Abram Herman said:

So would you say the tests need to be changed to better test the skills a massage therapist needs? What kind of changes would you make?

Gordon J. Wallis said:

They need to get away from teaching people how to pass ever more tests, and start teaching how to be massage therapists.

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Permalink Reply by Alexei Levine on September 14, 2011 at 5:14pm

Standards creep, over-regulation, Groupon, and franchising.

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Permalink Reply by Cecelia "Cece" Rex on September 15, 2011 at 7:06am

Taking a profession that has obvious place in medical society and trying to keep the bureaucracy at a minimum so that it can stay as close to the calm practice of body awareness and consciousness that most practitioners got into the profession for. Massage is an individual, creative process as well as a healing one. Different people she different therapist because they mesh with that person and their energy well so to keep that aspect is very important.

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Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on September 15, 2011 at 2:05pm

Yes body awareness and consciousness. (secret info here folks) Not the accumulation of information, is what makes a good massage therapist. I know many a therapist that has run to the doctor or chiropractor for the very same problems that people come to see them for? Massage is so effective that therapists can accidentally help a lot of people... But if you understand that You Are a Muscle..They are not separate from you....You gain much more incite on your work and capabilities then what you learn out of a book , class room, or what some guru tells you...lol WAY WAY MORE.

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Permalink Reply by Therese Schwartz on September 15, 2011 at 7:48pm

Some of the biggest challenges...A culture that believes that massage is a luxury, something rich people do to spoil themselves. An increasingly Puritanical approach to draping. Corporations who are now dictating to massage schools. A culture that is afraid to say that massage is intuitive, combined/contrasted with a culture that is irritated by the exploration of the science behind massage. We need a balance of each. Massage (and other modalities) is a science and an art.

I think this is a bit of a repeat of some of the other topics but I think they are worth repeating.

I'm not familiar enough with the tests to make any suggestions of how they need to be changed. I do think that MT's should have a working knowledge of how the human body functions, and that can be tested.

And I agree with Gordon - book knowledge isn't enough. It's imperative to get your hands on people and feel. That can't be tested.

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Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on September 16, 2011 at 11:31am

What I meant was massage yourself(body awareness). Because we are a muscle.. Then apply that real knowledge, instead of the second hand intellectual information you're taught in school.

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Permalink Reply by Therese Schwartz on September 16, 2011 at 5:05pm

Ah! Yes, it's so important to know first-hand how it feels. I find that it's important to work on myself too because I keep tabs on how much pressure I'm applying. As my hands get stronger that's really important!