Good question. We get this question a lot. It comes to us from massage therapists who are curious about oncology massage therapy (OMT). It comes from established MTs considering a new direction, and from new MTs who might want to specialize. Some MTs ask us this because they are deciding whether to invest in an […]
Build a Massage Therapy Practice in 13 Months? Really? (Part 2)
In the Part 1 of this interview, Kate Prouty shared some of her strategies for growing a practice from scratch to a full-time, busy practice. In one year, she implemented a lot of ideas. Some of them landed in the last post, and the rest are featured here. Here in Part 2, we continue the […]
Build a Full MT Practice in 13 Months? Really? (Interview, Part 1)
A year ago she started her private practice from nearly nothing. Now Kate Prouty sees anywhere from 15-30 clients each week. Her practice focuses on oncology massage therapy and massage for people with medically complex conditions. In this interview she shares some excellent marketing tips and other tools she used to build her practice, Patient […]
Ethics (Mine), Massage Therapy, and Cancer Spread
A debate was recently revived around the possibility of massage therapy spreading cancer. I encourage all oncology massage therapists, massage therapy instructors, and interested parties to catch up on that conversation. Links are at the bottom of this post. The conversation recently took a disagreeable turn when my judgment and professional ethics were challenged. It’s […]
On Not “Charging What You’re Worth” in Oncology Massage Therapy
Recently, in a group of oncology massage therapists, I started a discussion about setting fees for massage therapy. In this particular group, we were all in private practice. They were all participants in my oncology massage therapy mentorship program, and we were talking about money and pricing. It is a charged topic, this question of […]
Cold Caps, Frozen Feet, and Massage during Chemotherapy
Two clients come in with interesting stories. The first tells you she received chemotherapy two days ago while wearing an odd-looking cap with a chin strap. It was a special “cold cap” cooled her scalp during the chemotherapy infusion. It made for a chilly session, so the infusion staff took pains to keep the rest […]
Ethics in Oncology Massage and Hospice Care
My client complained about her doctor, the nurses, and the general care she was receiving during cancer treatment. She went on for some time. Now and then, she took a breath, then looked at me as though to ask “Do you agree?” I held her gaze. It seemed like a challenge to choose sides. Agree, […]
On Not Healing Other People
I spent the night in an awful dive of a motel. I had cleared my client schedule and headed out of town, eager to attend the workshop. It was worth the sacrifice. About 20 MTs were gathered in a massage school flanked by woods. It was the early 1990’s, and it might have been the […]
7 Reasons Not to “Give Your Client Whatever They Want” at End of Life
“How was your massage last week?” “It was fine, good, actually. But honestly I would have liked it much harder. Can you go deeper today?” My client was speaking to me from her bed. She had advanced pancreatic cancer. Her pain was deep and constant. She wanted relief, and she wanted heavy massage. I’ve had […]
Notes from the Oncology Massage Healing Summit, 2016
Our teaching staff returned from the 4th Oncology Massage Healing Summit in high spirits last month. Nanci, Erika, Cindy, Joan, Megan, Julie, Michelle, and Kim raved about their 4 days in Minneapolis, where they felt a strong sense of community among oncology massage therapists and a renewed respect for OMT teaching and clinical work. Kim […]