Burnout was a word once used for the condition of a strung out street addict.  It is now used to describe the condition of the stress filled final decades of this century.

Psychologist Herbert Freudenberger , who claims credit for this term, has described burnout as a condition of fatigue and being overwhelmed by others problems. This is an experience, which includes lack of motivation, frustration and even boredom when you find your self in a situation you would normally enjoy.  Burnout is not simply being tired or over-stressed, it is possible to be over-stressed and still feel motivated. Burnout is that feeling of dread when facing another day of work.

This is a topic that goes a little beyond the general self care techniques.  The symptoms of burnout can mask something more serious as well.

Each person has a certain level of compassion and empathy that they rely on every day.  As massage therapists we use more of our reserves than the average person based on the requirements of our field.  When our reserves are low we can become fatigued, irritable, unable to fight illness and each corresponding task becomes more and more difficult.

Taking care of ourselves involves learning all we can about our own inner workings.  This involves a little self therapy on our part.  We can start by examining our beliefs in areas like spirituality, physical health, political views, and emotional well being in order to determine how these beliefs play a role in our every day life.

Do your beliefs create defense mechanisms?  Do your beliefs cause you to make judgments in areas you really don’t wish to?  Do they create stress and conflict in your life?

When we know why we respond to life the way we do, we can then set out on a path that will ultimately allow us to choose how we respond to any given situation rather than allowing our defense mechanisms to act on our behalf. Accomplishing this goal is not easy, it requires each individual to stop and look at their own response from an objective point of view. Then we can adjust our responses in a way that brings balance and harmony.

Once we have determined how our beliefs play a role in our lives we can then create a structured plan for ourselves and our care.  Having a long term and a short term goal will help on this slow path of discovery.  Our long term goal being the way our beliefs impact our lives and how we can balance those beliefs.  The short term goal can be the step by step journey in ultimate self care.

Ultimate self care is simple and extremely difficult at the same time.  We are empathetic creatures who thrive on the ability to help others.  For most of us it is difficult to turn that care toward ourselves.  We all know the importance of the common self care practices like,

• Healthy Diet
• Plenty of Water
• Regular Exercise
• Yoga
• Meditation

These are very important habits to have as a massage therapist.  It is also important to continually search for and implement tools that will help us maintain balance for emotional, physical and spiritual health.  The best tool I can recommend to you is You.  You will need to set aside therapeutic time for yourself.   You can use this time for anything except massage and all topics relating to massage.  You can receive a massage but you must remain the client for the entire session.  Take a walk in nature, go out with friends or loved ones, play in the yard, build a sand castle.  It is your time to spend rejuvenating yourself.  This time away from performing or learning about massage can last hours, days or maybe even months.  This is a time table you must determine for yourself.   As I mentioned at the beginning of the article,  the symptoms of burnout can mask something more serious.

Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is now being seen in massage therapists and other related fields that require empathetic care.  The symptoms are similar to that of burnout but most certainly more severe.  If you feel that you may be experiencing symptoms more severe than common burnout you can visit The National Center for PTSD where you  will find a list of symptoms and resources for help in the treatment of PTSD.

Author
Punkie Spelts is a Massage Therapist living in Southern California. She is also a Web Publisher and writes extensively for multiple web sites like HealthPositive!, cureyourbody.com and many other research sites including her own massage therapy site at www.punkiespelts.com.

In my research on this topic, I found more information than I realized was available. As Massage Therapist’s we know the wonderful power of touch. This is even more important when shared between a child and a parent. Mother’s and Father’s alike should be willing to give the gift of touch to their child.

From the time they are born children crave their parents touch. We know from studies on the subject and articles written about it that we can witness the effects of good touch in a child’s life and demeanor.

When my daughter was an infant she had to spend a few days in the NICU for a minor problem. While we spent time with her their we learned about the babies around her. We witnessed as a baby born 3 months pre-mature began to flourish when she was given warm touch from a volunteer. She could not be held for long periods because it burned off too many of her calories.

Why is that? Because when she was touched her heart rate and metabolism increased. Increasing her ability to flourish. Good touch is not limited to physical growth alone. It has great benefits in mental and spiritual growth as well.

I have found a site that is dedicated to this modality and all of its wonderful aspects.
http://www.infantmassageusa.org

The benefits for the child are :

Relaxation and stress relief

Relieves abdominal discomfort

Improves muscle tone and circulation

Better deeper sleep

Stimulates brain development

Improves sensory awareness

Baby cries less

Promotes bonding between Parent and child

The benefits for the Parent are:

More confidence in child care

Respond to baby’s cues more easily

Learn new techniques for comforting

New tool for increasing parent/child bond

So where does Infant Massage come from?  It dates back to ancient times. Most prominently in Asian and Pacific Island cultures where it has been used for centuries. In these cultures along with many others, the practice of touch was something shared in the family and handed down generation after generation.

Infant massage was introduced formally to the west in 1978 when Vimala  McClure developed an infant massage training program while she was serving in an orphanage in Northern India.

She is a true pioneer in helping bring this modality to the west.  As Therapist’s we can be more proactive about our approach to infant massage by sharing the benefits it offers and increasing our education in this modality.  We can also encourage our pregnant clients in this modality and even help them become more comfortable with this area of care and nurturing.

This is an incredible modality that could prove to be very rewarding to each and every Therapist who chooses to practice the fine art of Infant Massage.

Author
Punkie Spelts is a Massage Therapist living in Southern California. She is also a Web Publisher and writes extensively for multiple web sites like HealthPositive!, cureyourbody.com and many other research sites including her own massage therapy site at www.punkiespelts.com.

Marketing such a business requires a different approach from the usual marketing techniques.

Marketing your practice means marketing yourself.

Know your strengths and weaknesses, building on you strengths and improving upon your weaknesses fosters self improvement which is a bonus for the Massage Therapist.
Learn to describe yourself in a brief, firm knowledgeable way. Time can be a prized commodity in marketing.
Let others market you as well.  Word of mouth is heard better with a business card.  Anything you can do to set yourself apart will only benefit you.

Your business name can make a big difference in the success of your practice.  It is the first impression most of your potential clients will have of you. Your business name should convey as much information as possible.  This should include information service type, which could be anything from  Massage Therapy Practice to Deep Tissue/ Sports Therapy Massage Center. In both cases the message of massage therapy is prominent.  Once you have conveyed what service you offer, you can then focus on the target market of this practice.

The Massage Therapy Practice will have a wider range of marketable clients whereas the Deep Tissue/Sports Therapy Massage Center is more specific but gives the Therapist a more defined target market.

Creating your own web site is more important than ever before.  There are choices ranging from applications for the DIYers of the group to Web developers who will design, create and manage your site for you.  What ever you choose, be sure you have your presence online.  How we, as consumers,  look for services has come a long way.  Ten years ago we would let our fingers do the walking through the yellow pages, which can aide in building clients, but now our fingers walk across the keyboard as we search for both goods and services online.

Marketing your practice with other businesses can be a benefit to you both, working with gym owners, Athletic Organizations, Chiropractors,  or nursing homes can open doors to your practice that would other wise be closed.  Offering your services to larger groups at  moderate discounts benefits everyone.

The larger groups benefit from the discounts and pass that benefit onto the group, members, team and patients.  Your practice benefits from the new volume of clients with the great potential for more. This applies to the individual out call therapist as well, only on a smaller scale. Maintaining a wide selection of massage modalities through continuing education and staying informed on the latest research in our field will also help set you apart as a Therapist who goes the extra mile for his/her clients.

Out of all of the marketing tips I could give you I believe this is the best tip of them all, always remember this is a business.  This is important for the Massage Therapist to remember because we are in a sympathetic field in a world full of people who need the healing power of touch.  You can volunteer your services to a worthy cause but it should remain there. What ever the cost of your services, you are worth it because you are a well trained, licensed individual with a gift of service to others. Maintain a thought process that allows you to remember to take care of yourself.  You are your most valuable tool and that deserves great care.

Author
Punkie Spelts is a Massage Therapist living in Southern California. She is also a Web Publisher and writes extensively for multiple web sites like HealthPositive!, cureyourbody.com and many other research sites including her own massage therapy site at www.punkiespelts.com.

The Alliance for Massage Therapy Education has just been launched.  This organization has been established “to serve as an independent voice and advocate for the entire education sector”.  This alliance will be structured as a non-profit organization governed by a board of directors elected from within the membership.

The organization will include 3 components to govern the education process:

• School Network - For Institutions
• Teachers Network - For Teachers within the institutions
• Continuing Education Network - For Providers of Post Graduate Training. HealthPositive! is a good example.

The Alliance will offer a range of services for its members,  including alliance advocacy when navigating the issues of state and federal regulatory requirements, accreditation, and teacher education requirements.

Before this alliance was established, all matters associated with massage therapy education were governed by an independent Council Of Schools created 25 years ago by a group of massage school owners.

In 1999, the COS made the decision to be governed by the AMTA. In January 2009 during the annual AMTA COS meeting, school members adopted a motion that would begin the separation process from the AMTA, re-establishing an independent education program that will represent the interest of its members in all areas of the education process.

A leadership team has been formed consisting of 5 veteran massage therapy educators who will be responsible for the initial start up phase of the Alliance For Massage Therapy Education.

Each leadership team member has multiple years of experience in the massage education field and each member has been involved with the COS.

The leadership team includes:

• Iris Burman, LMT
• Stan Dawson, DC
• Rick Rosen, MA, LMBT
• Demara Stamler, CMT
• Pete Whitridge, LMT

In the upcoming months the leadership team will be preparing the new home of this alliance in Washington, DC.

The first meeting in 2010 will include a membership recruitment campaign informing the massage therapy community about the new alliance that is no longer affiliated with the AMTA and the ABMP, alliance by-laws will be ratified and the very first board of directors will be elected.

Author
Punkie Spelts is a Massage Therapist living in Southern California. She is also a Web Publisher and writes extensively for multiple web sites like HealthPositive!, cureyourbody.com and many other research sites including her own massage therapy site at www.punkiespelts.com.

It can be difficult to find a store front that can supply  the specific things we need.

We also have, right at our finger tips, the ability to stay educated and up to date on multiple issues concerning massage. The best resources I have found on the Internet have been suggested to me by other therapist’s.

My top seven are,

Association Bodywork & Massage Professionals:  This site is best described by the site itself when it says,
“Serving the massage therapy community through practice support, ethical standards, legislative advocacy, and public education”.  They offer all of these things and more.

The second resource is similar but again offers choice.  I like having multiple places to choose any resource from, this gives me the ability to choose exactly what is best for me.

The American Massage Therapy Association offers  the same as the ABMP and they both give you the option of receiving updates on the current issues in massage.

These sites both offer insurance coverage for Massage Therapist’s.

This brings me to our third resource, the Centers for Disease Control.

This is a resource that will prove to be invaluable to you.  We all need to stay up to date on any communicable diseases that can affect us as Therapist’s .  We are seeing a lot of information coming from the CDC just today informing us about the Swine Flu and the precautions we need to take this upcoming Fall.  We can use this resource not only for our benefit but also for our clients.

The more we know the better our care can be for our clients, we can also share that education with each client.

The fourth and fifth resources are less educational and more for your information.  I have found that the more you can save on your equipment and supplies the better you feel about each purchase.

Massage King is an excellent supplier that offers everything from equipment to supplies and all things in between for competitive prices. It  is a one stop shopping resource.  I have ordered from them myself and found there service to be impeccable.

We have touched on education and supplies,  this resource you may already have  bookmarked in your favorites but it is worth mentioning.

half.com is a resource for books, music, movies and even video games, an affiliate of Ebay that offers great prices on the books and music we may need. I have a large collection of music but find that every client has a very specific choice when it comes to their massage music, which requires me to supply a large selection to choose from.

We can use more web resources like this.  In a quest to be  greener and leave a smaller carbon foot print, we can work more toward sustainable living by recycling and half.com offers a way to purchase used items at great prices.

In the hopes of keeping Massage Therapy viewed as legitimate and professional I would like to encourage more sites like this,

Massage and Bodywork Professionals is a site that makes it easy for Massage Therapist to find one another and communicate about the issues and victories seen in Massage Therapy today.

Last, but certainly not least is HealthPositive!.  This is a resource that could become invaluable to you as well.  Continuing Education is always something that we as Massage Therapist are thinking about.  This is a reputable site that is celebrating 11 years as an NCBTMB Approved CE Provider.

HealthPositive! offers great affordable prices for continuing education and you can rest assured that the information you receive is trustworthy.

With the ever changing landscape of Massage, it is nice to have a resource that has stood the test of time. This is a small list of all that is available to you, if you have any suggestions of sites you find and want to share, you can leave a comment and others will have more resources to choose from.

Author
Punkie Spelts is a Massage Therapist living in Southern California. She is also a Web Publisher and writes extensively for multiple web sites like HealthPositive!, cureyourbody.com and many other research sites including her own at www.punkiespelts.com.

The U.S. Department of Education has published a new study that found “online learning has been modestly more effective, on average, than the traditional face-to-face instruction with which it has been compared.” (p.51)
The 93-page meta-analysis examined 99 comparative studies conducted between 1996 and 2008. Some of the studies were done in K-12 settings but most of them were done in colleges and adult continuing education programs, including military and medical training.
The 99 studies were chosen because they compared online and classroom learning performance with strict criteria including:

• All of the studies used controlled designs
• All of the reported effects were based on objective measures

The above criteria make the study a reliable and constructive resource. However, the report cautions readers against interpreting studies of instruction in different media too liberally because results can vary widely depending on the exact learning methods used.

The most significant positive outcomes were noted when the learners were actively interacting with the material or with other learners and additional improved performance was noted when reflective opportunities were included in the learning process.

According to Barbara Means, the study’s lead author and an educational psychologist at SRI International, “The study’s major significance lies in demonstrating that online learning today is not just better than nothing, it actually tends to be better than conventional instruction.” (See this article in The New York Times, August 20, 2009.)

Once considered inferior to traditional education, online education is rapidly becoming highly interactive with the implementation of social media, collaborative tools, web-based video, instant messaging and more. As evidence mounts for the value of online education, experts are predicting a surge of interest and development in online courses.

This will undoubtedly lead to changes in how universities and other higher education facilities offer their courses to students. Today Arizona State University boasts a total of 5,000 students in their continuing education courses. Other large colleges like San Diego State and the University of Southern California offer similar courses online and all are expecting those numbers to double or even triple in the next few years as students use these tools to their advantage.

This is good news for those in fields that can take advantage of online resources to further their education and it gives an element of respect to online education that has been lacking in the past.

References
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies, Washington, D.C., 2009.
Study Finds That Online Education Beats the Classroom, Steve Lohr, The New York Times, August 20, 2009

Author
Punkie Spelts is a Massage Therapist living in Southern California. She is also a Web Publisher and writes extensively for multiple web sites like HealthPositive!, cureyourbody.com and many other research sites including www.punkiespelts.com.

Shortly after being signed into law, the CAMTC was formed.  The California Massage Therapy Council was founded as the non-profit massage therapy organization established to provide California statewide voluntary massage certification.

Massage Therapists have been required to purchase a license from each individual city we work in while maintaining our records to match requirements for that city while other cities requirements vary. This has made working in California more difficult for some.

So what does this mean for continuing education? According to the CAMTC web site ” Massage schools can position themselves with curricula that provide for the requirements for students to become Certified Massage Therapists or Certified Massage Practitioners” .  Also included, SB 731 does not provide for regulation of massage therapy schools, California has not replaced the former Bureau of Private Post-secondary and Vocational Education or ( BPPVE).

If your school or continuing education provider like HealthPositive! has followed the regulations of the BPPVE then your credits are still accepted by the CAMTC for certification requirements.

HealthPositive! has maintained a stellar record for adhering to the regulations of the BPPVE. This makes your work easier. Having a trusted source on the Internet that you can count on for your continuing education can make the certification process  less stressful.

Certification under the new guidelines are easier to understand and maintain. Certified Massage Practitioner requires 250 hours with 100 of those hours accumulated in,

• Anatomy
• Physiology
• Contraindications
• Health and Hygiene
• Business Ethics

The fee for the application process is $150.00 and non-refundable. This is not a worry for you if you think your curricula may not reach all of the requirements. Once you have sent in your forms you will be contacted for any changes needed in your application before final approval or disapproval is given.

The Certified Massage Therapist needs 500 hours with 250 of those hours coming from an approved school.

The CAMTC was given the authority from this legislation to determine if the hours you have meet the curricula standard. This is why it is so important that you acquire all of your education from a BPPVE approved education provider.

You can find all of this information including updates on the CAMTC web site and for detailed information on requirements you can visit the portals section of their site.

Be sure to frequently check the CAMTC web site for any changes or updates.

“Choose each day to be blissful and complete, a whole person well cared for by you”
Punkie Spelts

Proper breathing is a must.  The breathing pattern of the therapist sets the pattern for the client as well.  Setting the tone of the room helps insure that both therapist and client will have a successful and therapeutic massage.

When setting the tone of your room, choose earth tones or subdued pastels.  Calming music or sounds of nature playing softly in the back ground.  Special incense ( if client is not sensitive).  Table at correct height with sheets and possibly a blanket for clients comfort already secured on the table.  Oils chosen for specific body work with appropriate essential oil blend at clients request.  If hot stone therapy has been chosen then stones should be ready when client is in position on the table.

Each extra step a therapist takes to insure the best possible massage is always appreciated by the client.  When the client feels as though they have been given special treatment they become a regular client.  Regular clients love to tell their friends about any new find they have discovered.  Building a reputation as a therapist who will go the extra mile for their client can make any therapist a success.

But to be a success also requires the therapist to give the same level of attention to themselves.

Self-care for the therapist more often than not becomes a low priority.  Ideally the therapist should have set goals for themselves just as they do for their clients.  These goals should include a healthy nutrition plan, regular fitness routine and massage for themselves.

Choosing the modalities which work best for us as Massage Therapist is essential.  If you are a very active practitioner, weekly massage will be best,  with all of the same benefits that apply to our clients.

Other ways to improve and maintain our own health and vitality would be attending a meditation class, joining a Yoga group,experiencing energy sessions or acupuncture.

Joining group activities with other practitioners is also a great way to network with others who have the same self-care goals as you.

We can extend our career, stay healthy, avoid chronic injury and offer our clients the best our field has to offer if we take the time to take care of ourselves.

” Choose each day to be blissful and complete, a whole person well cared for by you” Punkie Spelts

Despite the nearly universal fear of public speaking, it is one of the easiest, most effective and most natural ways of marketing holistic health care. Why?

Making presentations lets you present yourself to the community with the same skills and attitude you use every day with your clients. By giving a presentation, you meet potential clients face-to-face. You make a special effort to offer information that can make an improvement in their lives, and invite them to take a positive step forward.

Making presentations can help you and your business by:

• Adding to your mix of marketing strategies that help you reach new people.
• Increasing your comfort and ability to connect with potential clients.
• Improving your skills in educating people about the work and benefits of treatment.
• Clarifying your own understanding of your approach and philosophy.
• Increasing your visibility and credibility with referring health care practitioners.

When you feel ready to take the next step toward making a presentation, consider these tips.

* Target your audiences to the kind of clients you would like.

Who do you want to work with? Seniors? Athletes? Pregnant women and young mothers? People with injuries? It would be well worth your while to hone a presentation which focuses on the benefits of the work with your chosen target group.

* Giving a hands-on demonstration during a presentation can be your best selling point.

Make sure you make time for it, and have a way to solicit a volunteer. If you build in enough extra time, you could offer free 5-minute massages for any participants who are willing to stay after the main presentation.

* Always be prepared to send participants home with business cards, brochures and other marketing materials.

Even if getting up in front of a group seems intimidating, the connections you’ll gain can be worth the effort.

To help massage therapists give the best presentations possible, we offer what we call a “tool kit for making compelling and stress-free presentations to general and medical audiences.”

Click here to read more about Therapeutic Massage: How it Helps and Why it Works!

Presentation Planning Kit.http://www.naturaltouchmarketing.com/Presentation-Kits.php

We also offer a presentation kit for chair massage and one for stress management.

Natural Touch Marketing offers the most complete and varied set of professional tools to reach out to clients and community—by building relationships and showing that you care.

Visit www.naturaltouchmarketing.com to read other articles and to find many more resources for marketing your massage business.

The Massage Therapy Body of knowledge Stewards have announced the volunteer MTBOK Task Force member selection.

You can read a brief bio for each candidate here: http://www.mtbok.org/who_we_are.html

Congratulations to :

Megan Lavery   Michael Shea      Nancy Schmitt
Kevin Pierce      Steve Schenkman
Susan Salvo       Dawn Schmidt

Including Project Manager Chip Hines a former Senior Federal Government Project Manager and Certified Project Management Professional.

These members were chosen by the members of the MTBOK Stewardship Group.

The Stewardship Group, initially started by the AMTA,  who began hosting a series of four meetings to ‘explore the possibility of the massage therapy profession’s leadership organization’s working together to develop a consensus around definitional and scope issues.’

The Stewards Group includes :

American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA)

AMTA council of schools

Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals (ABMP)

Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (FSMTB)

Massage Therapy Foundation (MTF)

National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB)

In the hopes of giving massage professionals clear and concise definitions and certification requirements,’ the initial emphasis is to articulate the foundational elements  common to a massage therapy body of knowledge shared by all stakeholders in the profession.’ -mtbok.org-

The foundational elements of the MTBOK consist of :

Definition of Massage Therapy :

(scope of practice, terminology, describing the field)

Definition of the competencies of an entry level massage therapist in terms of :

(knowledge, skill and ability)

The work of the MTBOK is expected to be completed by mid-2010, follow-on work can be expected to continue beyond this date.

The resources developed from this project will be shared broadly with the massage community according to the MTBOK website.

Now with the Task Force and Project Manager in place we will see a specific process for review and feedback implemented.

The MTBOK Stewards are committed to the values of transparency, openness and inclusiveness.

” Choose each day to be blissful and complete, a whole person well cared for by you” Punkie Spelts