A Massage Therapy Career

One of the best things about having a massage therapy career is when clients tell you after a massage how great they feel. With a career in massage therapy, you can directly help people one-on-one to meet various goals: relaxation, stress reduction, health promotion, pain management, injury recovery, and relief for specific medical conditions.

Massage is generally defined as the manual manipulation of soft tissue. That means as a massage therapist you use your hands, forearms, elbows, and, in some massage styles, even your feet and knees, to work on muscles, tendons, ligaments, and fascia (soft connective tissue) of the human body.

If you have a keen interest in the human body and helping people, massage therapy as a career might be for you. Here are seven steps to get you started on your massage therapy career:

1. Become familiar with massage and other bodywork, both through reading about them and receiving as many sessions from as many different practitioners as you can.

   Read the massage trade publications: Massage Magazine, Massage Therapy Journal (publication of the American Massage Therapy Association), Massage and Bodywork (publication of Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals), and Massage Today. Massage therapy as a profession requires a commitment to continual learning.

2. Take inventory of yourself and your motivations for wanting a massage therapy career:

   Do you care about people’s well being? Do you enjoy working with people? Are you comfortable with a wide range of people? You need to be able to work non-judgmentally with people of all shapes and sizes, who may have a wide range of physical situations or medical conditions.

   Can you set appropriate boundaries? While most people are a pleasure to work with, a few will make inappropriate requests or display inappropriate behavior. You need to deal with these situations effectively.

   Can you handle the physical demands of a massage therapy career? Massage is strenuous physical work. If you think of and treat yourself as a massage athlete in training, you will be ahead of the game.

3. Find out about licensing or other legal requirements in the city/county/state/country where you want to practice. Many U.S. states and some Canadian provinces have massage licensing laws. Check with your state/province. In states without licensing laws (and sometimes in states with laws), cities or counties may have their own requirements. Check with the business licensing division of the local government.
4. Decide what type of massage or bodywork training you want. Do you solely want to do relaxation massage or do you want to work in a hospital or other medical setting? Some massage training programs are specific to one or two types of massage while other programs are more general.
5. Choose a massage training program. Make sure it meets the requirements of the location where you want to practice and offers training in the areas that interest you. Talk to graduates of the program. Take advantage of introductory classes that massage schools offer to check out the school and instructors. For a listing of massage schools, go to NaturalHealers.com.
6. Understand the different settings where you can do massage therapy: private practice, massage clinics, spas, resorts, cruise ships, health clubs and fitness centers, medical settings (chiropractor's or other doctor's office, holistic health or sports medicine clinic, nursing homes, hospitals), sports teams, housecalls, and onsite chair massage.
7. Develop a massage therapy career or business plan. You have a number of options for starting your massage therapy career, including:
   • You can take a job in a setting, perhaps a spa, health club, or medical office, where the clients are supplied. You get experience without the challenge of marketing to develop clientele. Pay can range from low to OK.
   • You can jump right into your own practice, which requires dealing with marketing, business, and financial considerations. Be honest in accessing both your financial and personal ability to start your own business. It will probably take two to four years to build a private practice that financially supports you.
   • You can combine the two above approaches, perhaps working two or three days at a health club while building a private practice on the other days.
   • You can keep a full- or part-time non-massage job while you start building a massage practice.

For more information about becoming a massage therapist, see The Massage Therapy Career Guide.

Good luck!

Massage Therapist Occupational Outlook from the U.S. Department of Labor.