Massage Therapist-Become One The Right Way
If you like working with your hands, then you may want to be in a profession that does precisely that and massage therapy is one such profession that may be ideal for you, in fact, the US Department of Labor has established in their latest report, that their is a high call for in this field and will be for the predictable future. If this type of employment is appealing to you, then you will desire to know how to become a massage therapist.
Those who desire to become massage therapists should enter in a program that is authorized by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork or NCBTMB. To become a licensed professional, you must complete at least 500 hours of training including topics such as ethics, anatomy and physiology among others.
If you happen to study massage therapy in a school that is not recognized by this body, you will not be allowed to take the national certification exam. This may prevent you from practicing in states that call for this prior to employment, which is why you should check first to see if the school you plan to enroll in is in the program.
If you do mange to find work without acquiring a license and are caught, you will be fined and could even be banned from practicing again.
The main gain of enrolling in a program under the NCBTMB scheme, is that you will be able to apply for federal financial assistance, that is if you do not have the funds to pay for your schooling.
But the important question is how much do massage therapists make? One research group has pointed out the median salary is $45,611. The report also states that half of those employed earn between $36,930 and $55,920 as this alters with experience. If you are new, you will in all probability just have one or two customers a day while more experienced individuals will have more than 5. This isn’t bad because massage therapy program can go as high as $12,000.
If you are serious about engaging this as a career, ask yourself some questions. Are you patient? Are you client oriented? Do you actually want to help the patient? If your answer to all three questions is yes then the next thing you have to do is find what specific interests do you have.
Just like medicine, massage therapy has different specialties and these include sports massage, clinical massage and Swedish massage this is but to name a few. While you will hopefully learn all of these in your schooling, you should try to get a clear idea of which one you want to specialize in after your graduation.
It is a great idea to visit massage parlors and speak to those who are already employed there. You could also do some research online as there are articles that have been written and plenty of internet sites about the profession.
Once you get your degree and your license, you then have the choice of working for someone or opening up your own business. To start your own business you will want to have the capital already, since you will need to buy your own massage table, chairs, pillows, sheets and lotions. But if you would prefer to gain experience first, then go find a job and learn the tricks of the trade before you set up shop.
Now that you know how to become a massage therapist, the ball is already in your court. The right attitude will get you through school because with that you will be able to understand the techniques in helping a client.