Zen and the Art of Massage

As I’m sure anyone still reading has noticed, I’ve mostly stopped blogging here.  That’s because I’ve started to concentrate my energy on two other blogs: Mmm, Tasty! and my blog attached to my clinic website.

Mmm, Tasty! is a food blog, as was probably obvious from the title!  Food blogging is a hobby of mine and I really enjoy cooking and baking, so it just made sense to dedicate a blog to it.

The clinic blog may interest some of you: I’m writing about self-care and other things relevant to the general public.  I’m hoping to also provide a resource for my local community to find out about fitness and wellness events in our area.  If you’re in Toronto, you may find that part useful.

I will probably post a little something here from time-to-time, if I have a resource to share with local RMTs (CEU courses, job postings, product reviews).  But for the most part, all my writing is dedicated to those two other blogs.

I feel I must say a little something quickly about the massage therapy client tracking software I use, Customer ProFile.  I discovered this software while working in Ottawa, and decided to use it myself when I started working here in Toronto.  I like it because it is easy to use and inexpensive, yet still has all the features I need.  It allows you to track client information (address, phone numbers, etc) and client payment records, as well as a variety of other things you may want to track, such as business expenses.

However, one thing in particular impressed me: the customer service.  See, back in February when I purchased the software I asked the guy who writes and sells the program if he would be willing to give me a deal on getting the Mac version later.  At the time I had a Windows machine, but knew I’d be moving to a Macbook in the spring or summer.  Not only did he say he’d give me a deal, he offered to move my data over to Mac for free!  And true to his word, he did exactly that for me today.  I now have a fully functional Mac version of the program, and actually must say I prefer this version.  It has a few more little features I never had in the Windows version, and it runs more cleanly.

If you are a Massage Therapist and looking for client tracking software, definitely give this one a look!

I’ve been checking out job ads for Toronto for the past month or so. Frustratingly, I have seen very few ads that make me want to apply to the clinic to work. It isn’t that there aren’t any ads; there are dozens of them! Craigslist, Kijiji, and the OMTA boards have multiple new entries for Toronto every week. Yet, so few of them seem like a good fit for me and my practice.

I’m no longer a new graduate and I feel I have some good skills to bring to the table. I went to a good massage school and finished near the top of my class, graduating with honours. I have taken extra courses in hot stone therapy, reiki, and structural myofascial therapy/structural integration. I have experience with rehabilitation after MVAs, and have handled all aspects of those cases (paperwork, billing, etc). On the administrative side, I helped open the last clinic I worked at in Ottawa. While I admit I did not do much of the ground work myself, I was there through the entire process. I am well aware of what it takes to open your own clinic, physically and financially. I have never had a receptionist and have had to handle that myself. I have a lot of experience with marketing and have good ideas on what works and what does not. I had nearly a full-time practice back in Ottawa, with a great client retention rate.

I think I have some great skills to bring to the table. So why is it that when I look around, I’m underwhelmed by most of the job ads?

Ultimately, here’s the issue: most of you are not hiring an RMT as an employee. An employee would mean you pay them an hourly wage or a salary (which they receive regardless of how many massages they do in a day!), handle tax deductions for them, and provide guaranteed vacation time, maternity leave, and so on. If you are not offering that, then what you are doing is entering into a business transaction with your RMTs. They are going to be providing a service out of your clinic, within certain boundaries as set out by your contract with them. You are not their ‘boss’ in the traditional sense of the word. You are essentially their landlord.

Therefore, when writing up your ads advertising clinic space for rent or on a percentage split basis, please keep in mind that I will be interviewing you as much as you will be interviewing me. I want to make sure what you are offering is a good business opportunity for me. I want to make sure that the clinic is somewhere I will be proud of working, somewhere that I will feel good about treating clients.

I know what I bring to the table. I know that I am a good therapist with good hands. Make your ad stand out by showing me what you bring. There are lots of clinics looking to bring in new RMTs. What makes your clinic different? Posting an ad that simply says ‘clinic looking for RMT, competitive split, please call!’ is not going to interest me. I know you do not have a strict word limit for your ad, so please, take the time and write something so I know a bit about who you are!

And one small pet peeve: most people who are looking for work don’t have access to a fax machine unless they pay for it. Allow people to apply via email. It just makes sense in 2008, you know?

Here’s hoping tomorrow’s job postings are more promising.

I recently gave a Hot Stone massage to a woman who was redeeming a gift certificate. She has received it from a family member for Christmas.

As we were doing her intake, she admitted she was nervous about the treatment, and wasn’t sure she wanted an hour and a half, as it seemed like a long time. After some further discussion, she also admitted she was not fond of massage on the whole and that she wasn’t much of a hot bath, sauna, or other heat treatment person.

I let her know that she didn’t have to have the treatment if she didn’t want to. She said she still wanted to try it, because it was a gift and she couldn’t know if she would enjoy Hot Stone massage unless she tried it. I then let her know that if part way through she decided the stones were just not her thing, we could switch to another sort of massage therapy, and I would not be offended in the least. She was thankful I had said that, and said that had been on her mind. I then explained how the entire treatment would proceed, and that she could let me know if anything is uncomfortable at any time.

One-and-a-half hours later, she came out of the treatment room and sleepily said it was a wonderful treatment and she was so glad she tried it. She was sure to take some clinic pamphlets with her and was curious about the other sorts of treatments available at the clinic.

Why am I posting this? I want to remember that massage, and how the client reacted, and how at the end of the day communication with your client is nearly as important as the treatment itself.

I know local RMTs are often frustrated by the low number of continuing education courses offered in Ottawa. You would think that because we are in Canada’s capital city, we’d have instructors coming to town on a fairly regular basis to teach. Instead, a large percentage of the good courses are run in Toronto or Montreal. However, we do have options! Here are a few.

Structural Myofascial Therapy – Offered through Simply Therapy. Level 1 is coming up in November, Level 2 in December.

Active Isolated Stretching – Also offered through Simply Therapy. Next course in November.

Thai Yoga Certification – offered through Santosha Yoga (scroll down for the details). Next class starts in November. Please note: I am not sure if this course would qualify for CMTO CEUs.

Hot Stone Therapy – Offered through Jacqueline Davis, a local body worker, teacher and counselor. It was just offered this weekend, but she seems to teach it every few months, so keep checking her website. If you’d like other options, there are always home study courses, as I wrote about back in August.

Reiki – Lots of options here. I’ll just mention level 1 classes here, but check the individual websites if you want level 2 or higher. Kathy Glover Scott has a class coming up on October 13th. (I took level 1 with Kathy and can recommend her teaching.) T-line services have a class that same weekend. Wendy Armstrong has classes coming up later this month and next month. For other local Reiki options, see Tone magazine’s reiki section; not all of those listed there are teachers, but a good number are.

And one other option: Massage Therapy Practice is an online magazine that offers CEU articles, videos, and other resources for massage therapists. They don’t offer local hands-on classes, but there are lots of other options for earning CEUs!

I’ll be sure to post again if I hear about more local classes.