By Amber Clancy, LMT, CMT

(Exercising Your Mind) People often associate Massage Therapy with Escort Services and/or Prostitution. Prostitution being the oldest profession known to man has another connotation that really doesn’t fit well with a therapist who is focused on staying professional. Massage Therapy has gotten a bad name from several businesses that claim to be “Massage Parlors” when they are practicing prostitution behind the scenes. Also, many escort services say they are providing massage therapy which is false advertisement. Therapists are being judged constantly upon this misconception, instead of being respected for the knowledge of their craft.

 Massage schools do not prepare you for this role. The subject is brought up and immediately pushed to the side. Students really need to be aware of all the possibilities that could arise and at least be given a few tips on how to handle a client who has other intentions than receiving a professional therapeutic massage. There is a time and a place for everything and reality sets into the therapist when they venture into the real world. If the therapist chooses to build their own private practice, this is when they will deal with this the most. Depending on where and how people market themselves is how the client is going to perceive the therapist.

It is a shock that massage therapists are not associated with physical therapists that work directly with medical physicians. Every year massage therapist organizations struggle to push the law through that will allow them to bill under insurance and be ranked with the medical profession. The only objection the medical field opposes is that massage therapists are not equipped to put the body through range of motion. An example would be rotating the wrist, ankle, etc. What a low blow to an art form that is healing so many bodies that are suffering. Without alternative healing methods, some individuals would not have any relief since they are unable to get healthy responses through western medicine. It is a shame that society pushes only one way of healing as if there is only one way to live. Fortunately, the world is heading towards a positive shift to open up more minds in the search of alternative methods.