What I learned as a massage therapist during and after 10 years of practice (therapy, emotion)
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I'm no longer a therapist, and yes a lot of women do get massages but not in my experience (lots of variables there).
You are reminding me that when I first became a thearpist back in 1993 I desperately wanted to create a 501(c)(3) that would recruit massage volunteers to go into nursing homes, assisted living facilities, womens' shelters, etc. to give massages, especially to battered children. I contacted an attorney who told me that there are so many liability issues it would be difficult to set up such an organiation. Since then, there have been some organizations set up like that, but not in my area.
In addition, when I contacted some massage therapist friends about my idea, I was dismayed to discover that they had no interest. None at all. Not being able to set that up is one of the big regrets of my life. I have volunteered, but not to the extent I would have liked.
Yes, I have always thought massage should be a part of nursing home care. It is a part of hospital stays in some countries. We here (the West in general) don't really recognize how powerful it's effect on health can be. We still want meds over alternatives, when for many ailments we could eliminate a lot of meds people take.
I’ve had some good massages but many, many disappointing ones. Now I only get massages when I’m on a cruise or at a resort if they have a spa and have time on my hands. At home, I have a massage chair. Certainly not as good as a personal massage. I have sun damaged skin on my back and I’m a bit sensitive about it. Sometimes I avoid massages for that reason.
I was practicing in the sex work capital of the country, Marin County. That's probably why I experienced more of what I described. When I moved away thankfully I did not encounter that issue.
I knew someone who "stole" clients from an upscale health club, who still worked at the club while seeing private clients. Like you, I wasn't willing to do that. When I worked in spas I never had anyone approach me for sex work. It was at my private office it happened. I know that one such client was undercover law enforcement. It was kind of comical. Gruff question: (think Hank on Breaking Bad) "You will be wearing clothes?" Yes, I will be wearing clothes."
One time, funny story, when I first gradted from school I worked at an expensive retirement home. I had three 90 yr old clients. One of them was a crusty old man. His daughter had hired me to help improve his mood. During approximately the third session he said "you can take your clothes off if you want to." I can't remember exactly what I said, but I declined lol.
I don't know why Marin would be the sex work capital of the country. I do know, that because California requires massage therapists to register with the police, IOW--massage isn't considered a health treatment, but is classified as "adult entertainment", massage therapists in private practice there do tend to get a lot of calls that are obviously men looking for sex. A friend of mine who practiced in CA said, she'd get calls late at night, with requests to come right over to wherever the "client" was. She ignored those calls, and let them go to voice mail. You'd think, that LA would be the sex work capital of the US, and in CA, Sacramento might run a close second--all those legislators and government staffers ...
I'm surprised law enforcement even cares, frankly. In Marin, they were actually trying to run sting operations on massage therapists? I tried to report a massage business in Santa Cruz County, that looked and quacked like a human trafficking operation, using Chinese women who hardly knew any English. The local sheriff was not interested. All the signs of a business operating illegitimately and off-radar: no licensure, insurance certificate, no appointment book of client names, etc. that I catalogued for him, he shrugged off, and told me to come back when I had an actual crime to report.
Years ago, when I was working as an administrative assistant in Chicago, a coworker told me she did sex work on the weekends at conventions.
Men would sign up and pay for in room "massages." She said she would be given a list of rooms, then go to have sex with whoever as in these rooms. Said all the men were clean, business types, and most just wanted blow jobs. No big deal.
But she also said a good many just wanted to talk. Some were drunk, of course. But she said maybe a fourth of the men she met just wanted to talk about matters that were troubling them.
Which was awkward, as time was money, and she had a whole list she had to get to. She couldn't spend all night listening to one guy blubber on endlessly about how life had done him wrong.
She said I could sign up. Work was easy and the money was good. But I decided against it. It wasn't the sex work, it was listening to all the whining and bawling. Not the career for me.
Yes, I have always thought massage should be a part of nursing home care. It is a part of hospital stays in some countries. We here (the West in general) don't really recognize how powerful it's effect on health can be. We still want meds over alternatives, when for many ailments we could eliminate a lot of meds people take.
I don't know why Marin would be the sex work capital of the country. I do know, that because California requires massage therapists to register with the police, IOW--massage isn't considered a health treatment, but is classified as "adult entertainment", massage therapists in private practice there do tend to get a lot of calls that are obviously men looking for sex. A friend of mine who practiced in CA said, she'd get calls late at night, with requests to come right over to wherever the "client" was. She ignored those calls, and let them go to voice mail. You'd think, that LA would be the sex work capital of the US, and in CA, Sacramento might run a close second--all those legislators and government staffers ...
I'm surprised law enforcement even cares, frankly. In Marin, they were actually trying to run sting operations on massage therapists? I tried to report a massage business in Santa Cruz County, that looked and quacked like a human trafficking operation, using Chinese women who hardly knew any English. The local sheriff was not interested. All the signs of a business operating illegitimately and off-radar: no licensure, insurance certificate, no appointment book of client names, etc. that I catalogued for him, he shrugged off, and told me to come back when I had an actual crime to report.
I would be very surprised if massage is classified under entertainment in California. You need training and certification just like anywhere else. There are two different categories, massage therapist and massage practitioner. One has more training required than the other. No if you’re talking about the places that claim to do massages but don’t really do massages, that may be different because they are not actual massage therapists.
I knew a 60something male in South Florida who needed a job and went to massage school (took out a loan to do that) but after graduation and getting licensed discovered that both men and women clients wanted a female masseuse not a male.
He thinks it was a great waste of his time (almost 2 years) and money and no one told him before he started.
My opinion is that a male masseuse would be successful as a sports masseur and should be physically big to impress the men wanting that. The guy I knew was not tall or muscular and was retirement age.
As a female I definitely want a female masseuse and always appreciate those with different massage training. There is a Japanese method (can't remember name) I loved that works fantastically to release muscles.
I think I would prefer a male massage therapist. I've only ever had massages by males (boyfriends/husband). Some woman at chiropractic did some kind of release thing by pressing really hard on "knots" and I didn't like that. I didn't like chiropractic at all.
My male physical therapist squeezed and rubbed some part of my upper back near the spine and that felt therapeutic. He had strong hands and fingers. That is the only part of my body I want manipulated or massaged so if I ever went to a massage therapist I would have to tell them just do that part and already that might be a problem. I would not want a full body massage by a practitioner, ever. I'm not sure if you can dictate what a massage therapist does however, maybe they have their own way, like hairdressers do. Massage is pretty personal and intimate and would make me nervous if they didn't listen or didn't understand.
I would be very surprised if massage is classified under entertainment in California. You need training and certification just like anywhere else. There are two different categories, massage therapist and massage practitioner. One has more training required than the other. No if you’re talking about the places that claim to do massages but don’t really do massages, that may be different because they are not actual massage therapists.
The requirements for massage education in California go by county, and in some cases, municipalities may have their own requirements (LA requires state certification, for example). Most only require 500 hours of schooling and there is no state law requiring certification in order to practice. There no longer is a "massage practitioner" category in CA. Some counties require massage therapists to register with the police as part of their local licensure process. In this regard, California seems to be stuck back in the 60's, when "massage parlors" were popular, and didn't operate legitimately.
There's a state-level certification, that is not mandatory, but some therapists choose to get that, in order to differentiate themselves from those meeting the minimum requirements, to have a license that's accepted in all jurisdictions, and to be protected by state law from having county requirements imposed on them, that categorize their work as adult entertainment, or otherwise require therapists to register with police.
The city of San Rafael in Marin County, for example, says, they monitor massage businesses to prevent prostitution, but still require non-certified MT's to register with the county sheriff's office in order to get licensed.
Quote:
Are you a business owner applying as a Non-Certified Massage Establishment? You will also need to be digitally fingerprinted through the 'Live Scan' process at the Marin County Sheriff's Office. [...]
Once the Live Scan is process is completed the application will be sent to the Department of Justice and the FBI for review. After the results are returned to the City of San Rafael Police Department, the Massage Inspection staff will follow up with the applicant to complete the certification process.
California is an exception nationally, in having a patchwork of jurisdictions regulating the massage profession, each with their own requirements, and no state requirement to be certified. Licensing is done locally when applying for a business license.
Last edited by Ruth4Truth; 07-01-2022 at 10:10 AM..
The requirements for massage education in California go by county, and in some cases, municipalities may have their own requirements (LA requires state certification, for example). Most only require 500 hours of schooling and there is no state law requiring certification in order to practice. There no longer is a "massage practitioner" category in CA. Some counties require licensed massage therapists to register with the police as part of their local licensure process. In this regard, California seems to be stuck back in the 60's, when "massage parlors" were popular, and didn't operate legitimately.
There's a state-level certification, that is not mandatory, but some therapists choose to get that, in order to differentiate themselves from those meeting the minimum requirements, to have a license that's accepted in all jurisdictions, and to be protected by state law from having county requirements imposed on them, that categorize their work as adult entertainment, or otherwise require therapists to register with police (without actually saying massage is adult entertainment).
The city of San Rafael in Marin County, for example, says, they monitor massage businesses to prevent prostitution, but still require non-certified MT's to register with the county sheriff's office in order to get licensed.
California is an exception nationally, in having a patchwork of jurisdictions regulating the massage profession, each with their own requirements, and no state requirement to be certified. Licensing is done locally when applying for a business license.
Where do you see that it’s classified under entertainment though, and not under healthcare or beauty services or something like that? That’s the statement I had the most surprise about. Are you really telling me that a certified massage therapist who works in a healthcare setting works under the department that regulates strippers and birthday party clowns?
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