Posted by Jennifer Shaw on Fri, Sep 03, 2010 @ 06:30
By Rainbough Phillips, LMT, Owner of Breath & Balance Bodyworks
When you first get out of massage school the concept of “burnout” is almost unfathomable. How could anyone get “burnt out” of making other people feel better?! You have this miraculous and exciting new skill at your fingertips, not to mention an overflowing excitement and enthusiasm for your new profession. How could anything go wrong?
Quantity Versus Quality
The cause of burnout is actually an age old problem that can be described with three words: "quantity versus quality." If you get employed in massage therapy you will encounter this issue sooner or later. Unfortunately, there are employers out there that would happily turn your new-found massage skills into a one-size-fits-all routine that can be done for six to eight hours straight.
However, this problem does not arise from an abundance of bad employers. Few employers want low quality massage nor unhappy massage therapists. Rather, the push for quantity over quality in massage employment occurs because there are so many therapists that simply do not insist that their quality needs be met. “Quality needs” are the requirements that each therapist has in order to be able to do the optimal quality of work they want to practice.
In many different industries increasing the quantity of a product or service past a certain point means decreasing the quality of that product or service. This is very much the case in massage. That means that to maintain the quality of your work you need to know how much is too much, both in frequency and number of sessions.
Personally, I discovered that the quality of my massage decreased after about three hours of work if I did not have a break. Later, as my skills and experience progressed, I realized I needed breaks between every session in order to have enough interview and followup time with the client. I found that a thorough interview and a thoughtful follow up dramatically increased the quality of my work, and so that extra time became one of my job requirements. I also limited my sessions by number per day and per week.
Be Your Own Advocate
Unfortunately, it is not always easy to find an employer who will respect the quality needs of massage therapists. Some employers will promise to limit the number of consecutive sessions for a therapist, but will start trying to expand these limits as soon as they become inconvenient.
That is why you have to be your own advocate. Sometimes "standing your ground" will mean turning down a client in person who was scheduled past your limit for the day. It may mean saying “no thank you” when you interview for a job that is looking for therapists who will do eight sessions a day.
It will also mean being inflexible when it comes to your maximum quantity of sessions. Seriously, if you are working for someone else then you should always be inflexible when it comes to your maximum quantity of sessions (even if someone called in sick, double booked, or threw their back out).
You will find yourself on a very slippery slope the moment your scheduler realizes your limits can be moved when convenient.
Subverting the quality of your work to the quantity demanded by others will lead inevitably to burnout no matter how much you love the profession. Learn what your quality needs are in massage and insist upon them. Do this and you will not only be pushing back the tide of burnout, but you will also be preserving the quality of your own work. Your clients will thank you for it.
Rainbough Phillips is a semester II graduate of Lauterstein-Conway Massage School and has been practicing massage therapy for five years. She has worked in an amazing variety of environments including several physical therapy and chiropractic offices. She now runs Breath & Balance Bodyworks, a small yoga and massage business in Cedar Park, Texas. As the mother of a very active toddler, Rainbough passionately believes that everyone should know how to give a good massage.
Posted by Jennifer Shaw on Thu, Sep 02, 2010 @ 06:00
By Rima Star MA, LMT, Employment Consultant. (This article is part of the series Got a Massage Job: Key Points for Creating Successful Employment.)
What are employers looking for? What are you looking for? How to navigate the world of employment more successfully is the focus of this class. This series of articles addresses the key points that will be addressed in Rima Star and David Lauterstein's upcoming employment success workshop.
KEY POINT #4: High Quality Touch Techniques
This gets right down to the basics of your job! As a professional you will continue to learn and grow, adding different ways to address common client needs and knowing what techniques to select for a given client. If you ever find yourself thinking, “I already know it all. It’s the “same ol, same ol”—beware. That can indicate it’s a good time to jump into a class, trade sessions with a colleague, take a fresh perspective and get re-inspired. One of the ways to continually maintain high quality as a massage therapist is to continually be open to learning something new from any therapist. I have learned new things from first year massage therapists. Why? Because we each bring to our techniques our unique ways of interpreting and applying those techniques with the energy, concern, compassion and care that goes along with our work.
Finding, and keeping a fulfilling job as a massage therapist includes ingredients for success in each phase of the process. Being successful in an employment environment includes building quality relationships with yourself, your clients, your colleagues, clinic staff, managers and owners. In all of these points communication is the key—whether it’s through the quality of your touch, the first impression of how you greet and meet a client, your verbal communications to the business reception staff, your manager/owner and your communications to/with your colleagues on a daily basis.
Never before have massage therapists had so many choices about where and how to work in their career. Let’s work together for successful careers!
Rima Star, formerly of Massage Envy, has interviewed, hired and trained over 400 massage therapists. This is the last of her four point series about Successful Employment but her massage continuing education workshop is open for registration now.
Posted by Jennifer Shaw on Wed, Aug 25, 2010 @ 09:00 PM
By Rima Star MA, LMT, Employment Consultant. (This article is part of the series Got a Massage Job: Key Points for Creating Successful Employment.)
What are employers looking for? What are you looking for? How to navigate the world of employment more successfully is the focus of this class. This series of articles addresses the key points that will be addressed in Rima Star and David Lauterstein's upcoming employment success workshop.
KEY POINT #3: Letting the Business Support You in Successful Client Relationships
A massage therapy business is there for a reason—to BE SUCCESSFUL in making massage therapy services available to a large clientele at a competitive price. Be sure you understand what they are doing to help you be successful and work together for what you both want—happy returning, long-term clients. For example, what does the reception staff communicate to first time clients calling to schedule? How does that relate to what you would communicate when you meet that first time client? Are both of those communications compatible and supportive of one another? What about when you return that first time client to the reception desk? What kind of treatment strategy have you recommended and how does the reception staff support you in that recommendation? One of the benefits of employment is that other people are focusing full time on the business side of the therapeutic relationship so you can focus on the therapeutic service side of the relationship. Working in partnership is essential. Also as you see recommendations for what you think will improve the environment for clients be sure to offer your solutions, usually in written form.
Rima Star, formerly of Massage Envy, has interviewed, hired and trained over 400 massage therapists. This is part three of her four point series about successful massage employment, so subscribe to the blog to receive the final installment of this article. Rima's massage CEU, Successful Employment, is open for registration online now.
Posted by Jennifer Shaw on Mon, Aug 23, 2010 @ 06:00
By Rainbough Phillips, LMT, Owner of Breath & Balance Bodyworks
I am one of those people who likes to “talk muscles.” I regularly find myself describing to clients how to locate and self-massage pec minor, or explaining how piriformis contributes to sciatic pain. I am always looking for muscle animations on YouTube, reading up on how to stretch specific muscles, and double checking my own knowledge on origins and insertions. That is why I often call myself an “anatomy geek.”
A few months back I was working with a client who had pain and limited range of motion in his shoulder. He had spent thousands via insurance having the problem imaged, x-rayed, and diagnosed and had spent several months in physical therapy.
He actually came to my office in hopes of getting relief from the soreness brought on by his physical therapy exercises. At the end of the massage we were both surprised to discover that there was noticeable improvement in the shoulder. The massage, which had mainly been focused on relaxation, had decreased the pain and stiffness of his shoulder.
That led to us scheduling regular sessions focused on the problem shoulder. After a few weeks the benefits from massage seemed to have plateaued. The massages were still helpful for pain relief, but we were not getting any improvements in range of motion.
I had tried various modalities including myofascial release and sports massage. I had also explored every muscle that crossed the shoulder joint from origin to insertion for trigger points, and even thoroughly worked some of the muscles surrounding those.
Since I had worked to what appeared to be the extent of my own knowledge, I assumed that the problem was beyond my capacity. Perhaps there was some adhesion or bursitis that all the diagnostic imaging had missed.
A few weeks later my client contacted me again asking my opinion on some other treatments he had heard of. That was when I decided I would take another look at the “anatomy” of the situation.
I gave myself a rotator-cuff review. Everything was right where I had thought it was, so I went on to looking at upper arm musculature, neck muscles, and so on. It was when I got to the pecs that I had my “A-ha” moment.
Actually it was more of a “What is that?!” I found myself staring at a little tiny muscle that I was convinced I had never seen before.
When I read the name of the muscle, bits and pieces of an old memory started streaming back to me. The memory was of a palpation class over five years ago. The muscle was coracobrachialis, a little bitty muscle stretching from the coracoid process to midway down the humerus. Had I really palpated that muscle way back in massage school?
I did a little more research. It turns out trigger points in this muscle can cause major range of motion issues for the shoulder. This one tiny muscle made all the difference in my client’s treatment. Massage has now drastically improved my client’s range of motion in his shoulder.
What did I learn from this? I learned that even a self-described anatomy geek needs some anatomical review sometime. Not only does keeping my anatomical knowledge sharp make a huge difference in the quality of my work, but it has now made a big difference in the life of my client.
Rainbough Phillips is a semester II graduate of Lauterstein-Conway Massage School and has been practicing massage therapy for five years. She has worked in an amazing variety of environments including several physical therapy and chiropractic offices. She now runs Breath & Balance Bodyworks, a small yoga and massage business in Cedar Park, Texas. As the mother of a very active toddler, Rainbough passionately believes that everyone should know how to give a good massage.
Need an anatomy review? Lauterstein-Conway Massage School offers regular massage continuing education opportunities designed to refresh your memory. See what we're offering now!
Posted by Jennifer Shaw on Fri, Aug 13, 2010 @ 02:00 PM
By Liz Hoffmaster, LMT, MTI
Learn how to breathe with ease - it can decrease head, neck and TMJ pain and tension, and reduce stress.
We breathe 15,000 to 30,000 times a day. The question is,"how are we doing this"? Many people complain of neck and shoulder tension. ("It's where I carry my stress.") Many of these also clench or grind their teeth and are prone to headaches and upper body tension. This group tends to inhale with tense neck, jaw and shoulder muscles using what is called a "high chest breath", with abdominals sucked up and in. Every breath begins and ends just below the ribs. Upon inhalation the abdominals are sucked up and in by the diaphragm, so it is not efficiently available as the primary breathing muscle it is. In addition, muscles designed to turn the neck, move the shoulders and chew are partially "switched on" while breathing. This in turn stiffens and reduces neck and shoulder motion. I call this Respiratory Microtrauma.
It is a recipe for increased stress, anxiety, shortness of breath and muscles that never seem to feel relaxed and pain free. A tense head and neck tense the whole body. So learning how to breathe with ease can have benefits from the head to toe.
What is correct breathing? Requirements can vary for different sporting activities, singers, Yogis, Martial Arts practitioners, etc, but it is clear there is a basic, efficient breath that is helpful to learn, and one that few people seem to be aware of.
Normal, activity based and relaxed breathing have the following characteristics:
- There is no effort with inhalation or exhalation.
- Air passage is soundless, through the nose & with no throat noises.
- Exhalation is soft and effortless, longer than inhale & with a pause at the end for 1-3 seconds.
- In the pause notice every muscle in the body can relax.
- On inhalation the abdomen rises slightly, there is expansion in the low back, lateral chest wall & front & back of chest. Inhalation is like a wave moving up the whole torso, from South to North & with East/ West circumferential expansion.
- During inhalation the neck, shoulders and jaw are very soft and loose and it is helpful to gently move the head & neck from side to side to assist the looseness.
- At the beginning of exhalation the abdomen falls slightly followed by relaxing ribs & the circumferential torso empties from South to North.
- The jaw, neck, shoulders and ribs continue to be very soft and relaxed.
- This is diaphragmatic, circumferential breathing and, at its best, the jaw, neck and shoulder muscles remain loose and soft throughout the breath cycle.
How does breath impact your bodywork? Share your comments and thoughts with fellow massage therapists in the field below. Want to learn more about breath? Take Breath Awareness: You Breathe, Your Client Breaths with Liz Hoffmaster.
Posted by Jennifer Shaw on Tue, Aug 10, 2010 @ 06:00
By Til Luchau, LMT, MTI
In my practice, I assess hip shift whenever a client complains of hip, lumbar, sciatic or sacroiliac pain, and in the context of working with larger gait or balance issues. To assess hip shift, ask your standing client to lift one knee high. (If balance is difficult, have your client face a wall so that he or she can reach forward for balance. If the wall is to the side, he or she will reach sideways, which will affect shift and change the results.) When your client lifts his or her knee, ask yourself: Does the pelvic girdle shift laterally over the standing leg (a “Marilyn Monroe” response), or does only the shoulder girdle shift, causing the torso to lean (like “John Wayne)?
You'll likely observe other movements and compensations such as pelvic rotation and tilt, but for the purposes of this discussion, we’ll focus primarily on lateral shift. Compare what happens on the left and right sides. The shoulders will typically shift more to the side of the more restricted hip abductors; so if there is a marked shoulder girdle shift without hip shift, work the hip abductors and the lateral line on that the same side of the body. For example, if you see shoulders that shift more to the right than the hips do (as John Wayne would do), we’d expect to find tighter abductors on the right, as hip shift involves eccentrically lengthening the same-side adductors.
Pain or guarding elsewhere, such as lumbar disk pain, ankle, or knee pain, can also cause leaning with the upper body instead of shifting the pelvis. Leg-length differences can also be a factor. Barring those issues, if pelvic girdle shift is diminished, one or both of these is possible:
1. The abductors on supporting side almost certainly don't release when weigh shifts;
2. Possibly, the sacrum could be fixed in sidebending away from the supporting side.
Techniques for addressing these imbalances are numerous and varied; we’ll be several of them in our upcoming “Advanced Myofascial Techniques” courses in Austin this September. This discount code for this course is TLC201009.
This is an excerpt from a chapter by Til Luchau that will appear in an upcoming book on gait and walking, edited and published by Erik Dalton, with additional chapters by Judith Aston, Tom Myers, Philip Greenman, Art Riggs, and Robert Schleip. Til Luchau is regular columnist for Massage and Bodywork magazine, a Certified Advanced Rolfer, teaches at the Rolf Institute, and is a lead instructor at Advanced-Trainings.com.
Posted by Jennifer Shaw on Tue, Aug 03, 2010 @ 11:30
By Tara White, LMT, MTI
In preparing for my latest workshop, TLC Massage Therapist Retreat, I've been pondering my own relationship with self care. Something I have observed in myself and other massage therapists is that we are very adept at caring for others but have a tendency to ignore our own needs.
Your Instrument
One perspective that I have used to keep myself mindful of my own needs and on the straight and narrow as far as doing what I know I should is to recall what my stage movement professor at the University of Houston said. "Your body is your instrument and you must care for that instrument so that it will be there for you." This is just as true of massage therapists as it is for performers.
For performers, he meant receiving bodywork. Ironically, that is what led me to my true love, massage therapy. For massage therapists, that does mean receiving bodywork but it also involves the daily habits of caring for our bodies - diet, exercise, etc. - and specifically caring for our hands. So many careers in body work have been shortened by poor biomechanics and hand care. It can be difficult to remember to take the time to do a few simple stretches between clients or to use a different tool (fingers, supported knuckle) when your thumbs are feeling worn out but these are the things that mark the difference between a career in massage that lasts 10 years and a career that lasts a lifetime.
Retreat and Learn
In the Massage Therapist Retreat, I intend to explore simple solutions to the biomechanical problems that plague our profession. One thing I have learned in offering home programs to my clients is that if a program is too complex or takes too long, folks just won't do it. I'm no different. So I hope to send people home with some ideas for a short routine they can do between clients.
One of the benefits of being a massage therapist is that we know all sorts of wonderful tricks to relieve muscle pain like hydrotherapy and massage itself. I frequently laugh at myself when I realize I could be using these things on myself but haven't! This workshop will explore how we can use the tools of our trade for our own benefit. We will play with hydrotherapy, self massage and, of course, a massage routine for arms and hands that can be used with other therapists or on clients.
Throughout my career, each time I've sustained an injury it has been almost like gaining a new specialty. I have shared the methods that assisted my recovery with my clients with great confidence because I know how effective they are. The ergonomics of massage therapy leave us vulnerable to many of the same repetitive use injuries that people who work with computers fall prey to. Our explorations of self care offer us the opportunity to help our clients in their own search for wellness. They look to us not only as facilitators of their own healing but as examples for healthy living. So take care of yourself!
The TLC Retreat for Massage Therapists is a massage continuing education class held annually at Lauterstein-Conway Massage School. Register online now.
Posted by Jennifer Shaw on Thu, Jul 29, 2010 @ 06:30
In August 2010, Lauterstein-Conway Massage School is offering a new massage continuing education opportunity - a three-hour anatomy review workshop paired with a three-hour MTI-guided tour of Our Body: The Universe Within. The exhibit is showing at UT's Stark Center. TLCschool believes this exhibit will be invaluable to any massage therapist who attends.
Check out what this Vimeo video from Exploration Place in Wichita says about Our Body:
View or share this video Our Body, The Universe Within from Travis Heying on Vimeo with others! The Austin Massage Blog will be posting more Our Body related content leading up to the workshop, so subscribe to the blog now! Register online for Anatomy Review: Our Body Exhibit massage ce workshop.
Posted by Jennifer Shaw on Thu, Jul 22, 2010 @ 03:00 PM
Tristana "Tana" Rogers is a graduate of the 2007 Advanced Clinical Training/Semester 2 program.
Why were you interested in massage therapy? I was a teacher for over 20 years from elementary to adult education. I was ready for a change that would more closely fit my personality and lifestyle. I knew I wanted to do something with exercise and health and I couldn't imagine myself forcing people to exercise so I thought- why not help them recover and stay healthy? Massage was a perfect fit. As a runner and exercise nut I knew that a good massage would keep me injury free and training hard.
Why did you choose Lauterstein-Conway Massage School? I contacted all of the local schools and none of them impressed me. When I visited Lauterstein-Conway David was conducting a class and invited me in to watch. As a teacher I saw the focus, respect and attention being given to the students. It was a very welcoming atmosphere. The other schools focused on how much money I could make as a therapist and how their program was cheaper and would bring me more bang for my bucks. I phoned some of the spas etc to see who they were hiring and Lauterstein-Conway kept popping up as the answer.
What do you do now? I have my own practice downtown. 1-2 Saturdays a month I work with Austin Fit offering massage to the marathon training groups May through February. I also work two mornings with Dr. Sylvia Deily DC at the Spine Rehab Center doing exercise training and massage. Certification Candidate with Advanced-Trainings in Myo-fascial Release.
What was the impact of massage school on your life? I have always had an active life as far as exercise is concerned. Massage school gave me the chance to balance my overactive lifestyle. I had a lot of time to contemplate what I wanted in my future. i now practice yoga, meditate, and take the time to observe where I am and where I want to be. It's very refreshing.
What was your favorite massage school class? I loved anatomy/physiology class- maybe because on some level I knew how much I would use it in my practice. It was thrilling to learn how the body does what it does and then apply that knowledge to alleviate a painful area through massage. I have to say though - the business class on goals really changed my life.
What was hardest about massage school? I wanted to get every question right. It was hard to have missed a question when I knew the answer.
Tell us about your fondest memory or "ah-ha" moment. I was receiving a massage from Keith after my practical. I had a shoulder issue at the time. He was working on the deltoid when I said "you can go deeper if you need to" and he replied. "No need" and gently the pain and stiffness at the attachment melted a way. THAT is something I use to this day.
Tana Rogers Massage features Deep Tissue, Sports, Myo-Fascial Release,Therapeutic and Reiki services.
Would you like to be a featured graduate? Share your story! We'd love to hear what you, as a licensed massage therapist, are doing these days.
Posted by Jennifer Shaw on Fri, Jul 16, 2010 @ 05:00 PM
By Rima Star MA, LMT, Employment Consultant. (This article is part of the series Got a Massage Job: Key Points for Creating Successful Employment.)
What are employers looking for? What are you looking for? How to navigate the world of employment more successfully is the focus of this class. This series of articles addresses the key points that will be addressed in Rima Star and David Lauterstein's upcoming employment success workshop.
KEY POINT #1: Know what is important to you.
A good place to start is to know what core vision or reason for becoming a professional massage therapist motivated you in the first place. Is it from an experience you had as a client? Is it from a desire to help people? Do you see being a massage therapist as a compatible way for you to earn a living? If you are in touch with your primary motivations for becoming a Licensed Massage Therapist, then you are in a better position to judge whether a given work environment will be supportive for your goals or not.
I can assure you that an employer is looking at those very same questions from their perspective as a business owner. Knowing where you are coming from and then asking an employer what their vision/mission statement is will give you the beginning of understanding your compatibility.
When considering the compatibility of what is important to you and a specific employer, you can look at the type of business model, environment, what client populations they serve, what their menu of services includes etc. Filling in the details for your vision of an employment environment will help you find that job sooner!
Rima Star, formerly of Massage Envy, has interviewed, hired and trained over 400 massage therapists. You can subscribe to the Austin Massage Blog to get more of her employment "key points," which will be published regularly until her massage continuing education workshop, Successful Employment, in September 2010.