7 Ways to Respect Your Massage Therapist
After the comedian, Jim Gaffigan's schtick, people all over the massage community are ranting that "massage therapists deserve respect!" If you're not sure what Jim said, you can read what I wrote about it here.In a nutshell: Did he say something I love? Not really. Did he say what a lot of potential clients can relate to? Probably.The American Massage Therapy Association even came out with a statement demanding respect.My issue with all of this is that no one is really saying what respect looks like. How do you respect your massage therapist? I came up with a few ideas that I'm going to share.
Show up. Pretty simple. When you make an appointment show up for it. If you can't make the appointment, life happens - we get it, call/email/text to reschedule your appointment. We don't get paid unless there is a body on our tables. It's also pretty likely there was someone else that would have happily taken your place that day.
Be on time. Not too early, we may be taking our break and grabbing our lunch, but not late. We try our bests to keep everyone on time out of respect for our client's time.
Pay our fee. Talking about money always feels awkward. We have a rate, it's posted on the website, on our scheduling system, we even have a rack card in the office. When someone pushes for a deal, it just feels icky. It can make us feel like you don't value the service we provide or the time and energy we've put into growing our knowledge and skills.
Don't ask for a sexual services. We are not sex workers. Sexual jokes, comments, and innuendos also fall into this category.
If we need to say "no", please accept it. We may say no to a technique we are not trained in, a massage that may not benefit you for your health condition, or a time we are not available. "No" is always an acceptable answer.
Keep your bits covered. We recognize not everyone is modest and that's ok, but we are. We will step out of the room for you to undress and there is a sheet and blanket (if you want it) to keep you covered during your massage.
Refer your friends, family, and colleagues to us when massage could help them. When you do this your show that you understand massage helps and we are qualified massage therapists that you trust sending people you know to.
The list isn't long because it's pretty easy to show respect to your therapist.