Question for Certified Massage Therapists?!
Question:
Question for Certified Massage Therapists?
I am considering massage therapy as a second career and have a few questions. 1) I'm 46, most therapsits I have gone to are "younger", is age an issue in getting a job? 2) Is it a decent paying career? 3) Do you enjoy it? 4) Is it physically difficult on you? 5) I've read that if you are not careful, you can "take on" other people's issues that you are massaging. Does that happen to you?
Thanks so much for taking your time to answer! Peace, k.
Answers:
One of the best massage therapist i know is 55 years old and he started massage at 50! It will not be an issue if you are physically fit person.Honestly it can be a decent paying career but you have to be willing to work hard. Really hard. When i worked for a chiropractor i got $24 for every hour of masssage i did.The problem with the chiropractors office was that some days i had to do 6-8 hours of straight massage back to back(it really takes a toll on your hands and back even if you do practice good posture)and some days i only did 1 massage.So my paycheck was very up and down.and untill you build up a pretty solid clientelle it will be a very speratic paying job. my boyfriend is a massage therapist too. he works for an accident rehab clinic and makes 17.50 an hour whether he massages or not and he does about 2 massages a day and also gets health insurance --that is another thing to consider--health insurance in a massage job is hard to find.
about the taking on of peoples issue's--you will learn about it in school. it is a transferring of energy if you are in a bad mood and you take it in to a session you can transferr it to that person or vice versa. you learn in shcool how to avoid that.
The main thing is that you really do have to really care for people. people think because you heal there phisical pain that you can heal there mental and emotional pain too so you will hear alot of stories and deal with alot of emotions. being a caring person is a must or you will go crazy.
good luck!!