Lately, I have received lots of positive feedback and encouragement reminding me of the aspects of this profession that keep pushing me forward. The sense of community that I feel is astounding. This past week, I was really reminded of the beauty this profession has, regardless of the hardships and deep wounds I have faced. My clients truly fill my cup and this week I was filled with lots of smiles, laughs, and new insights in my treatment room everyday. From friends and family, to clients, and even past teachers who read my posts, thank you so much!
I realized that as an RMT I am in a very unique position because on average I get to spend 1 hour with someone. That gives me more time than many other types of practitioners to learn about all the factors in that persons life that has lead them to my treatment room. I think its important that we treat all of our clients as whole people rather than a bag of bones and muscles. Its important for us to recognize that whatever that person is leaving outside of the treatment room, it will affect how they perceive your treatment.
Anyways, I digress. And before I go into what I really wanted to say in this post. I would just like to add that I have been hit in the face with so much inspiration lately and I have been itching to share it with you. I am wrapping up a course I am in now pertaining to persistent pain and I am so excited to share with you what I learned and how to apply it in the treatment room.
So what I really want this post to be about today is to inspire and guide the new graduating class of RMT's.
I recognize my last posts might have been a bit daunting for some and probably scary if you are just about to enter the massage profession. But I would like to use this post to prepare the next graduating class of massage therapists for what is to come; the good, the bad, and the fun.
Regarding finances:
Save 20-30% of your pay cheques! I am soo not messing around with this one. Income tax is NOT FUN. You will owe about $10k after your first full year. Put that money aside or pay your taxes in installments to prepare.
Set aside the GST you collect and keep track of how much GST you spend. You get to claim all the GST from your business purchases and that can work towards the GST you owe. To file GST, it is done directly on the CRA website.
Accountants are expensive and might not prepare you properly on what you can write off. If you can, do your own taxes through Turbo Tax and use their accountants to ask questions. If you go the accountant route, set an in person meeting with your accountant as you enter the work force. Have them give you a list of things to keep track of and which receipts to keep throughout the year and make sure they understand the massage profession.
Regarding building your practice:
I am just going to tell it to you straight, you won’t be doing half of the things you learned in school because the public, our government, and our current healthcare system view massage simply as a form of pain relief. Additionally, you won’t be doing some of the stuff you learned because you might come to realize it has no clinical significance to someone’s pain experience. You will discover what those are on your own. Let yourself pick and choose the treatments and assessments that make sense to you and your practice. Don't shame yourself for not doing things as you were taught. Massage therapy allows you the opportunity to make your own discoveries and pave your own path, so allow yourself the chance to do that and don’t beat yourself up for it.
Stay in your lane! Don’t do things or say things you aren’t 100% sure on. Get used to saying "I don't know", people appreciate that honesty rather than you making something up on the spot. That said, do research on what you don’t know and do research on the significance of the treatments you learned in school as they apply to your clients. Ask yourself "am I really achieving this goal with this technique?" and if not, maybe you can come up with a better way to do achieve it with the critical thinking skills you possess.
Reality is, our lane is desensitizing the nervous system and every practitioner achieves that in their own unique way. Do your screening tests and assessments so that you can rule out serious conditions that are out of the massage therapy scope and so you can refer out if you come across those conditions. Assess range of motion so that you can demonstrate temporary improvements at the end of the treatment but also use ROM to remind the client what they are still capable of and not how limited they are. Don’t act like a god. Don’t make people rely on you to feel and move better.
Use empathy always. Listen and demonstrate what you have heard. Chances are, whatever pain or condition someone comes in with, it is 99% made worse by their beliefs and fears. Don’t tell someone their pain is in their head but what I mean is showing someone that you heard them rather than pathologizing them will increase your treatment outcomes 10 fold and that client will rebook, and trust you. Always treat the human first and the pain second.
Just because a certain area hurts during a massage, doesn’t necessarily mean there is a major dysfunction there. To the practitioner, it might feel “harder” but again it doesn’t necessarily mean "damage". Reality is, the nervous system is extra sensitive in that area and its responding to someone who is pressing hard and deep. In time, the nervous system will reduce its response and the pain for the client will reduce. Don’t act like you unwound a “knot”. You desensitized that area by bringing blood and heat to that spot. Tight muscles are common from everyday use, stress, and our external environment, again, its not because someone is dysfunctional, its because they are human.
Regarding you as the practitioner:
Burn out is real! Plan vacations ahead of time so that you don't have to cancel on anyone, or worse, lose the ability to provide someone with the quality of care they need. As someone who is sensitive and empathetic, I have learned what I need to keep myself from burning out too hard. For me, every 3 months I need to slow down. I do this by either, taking a full week off for a staycation, working 3-4 days per week for that month, and/or reducing my client load per day. Additionally, I only allow my clients to book 3 months in advance so that I can allow myself the time to reflect on how things are going and what I need to change.
Have fun. Be yourself. Don’t take the job to seriously. Try new things, play around with your body mechanics. Do what makes sense for you. Have hobbies outside of the treatment room. Don't expect success right away, be patient, and kind to yourself as you discover what is working and what is not. It’s common to bounce around different types of work settings to find the right fit...only to maybe realize the right fit is running your own business. Stay true to yourself and listen to your gut.
This profession is a practice, not a perfect. It’s a journey in itself, not a destination. Don’t think learning stops when you graduate. Regardless of how much continued education you do, you will learn the most from your clients alone.
That is all I have for you. I wish you the very best as you enter into the field.
Wishing you well,
~Felicia
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