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 […]
Handwriting and Reading with Hands
Twenty years ago, a thought came to me during a massage therapy session. It floated into my massage studio and would not leave. I wrote it down. Once published, the thought kept moving. It turned up here and there: in a couple of books, in an occasional massage school graduation speech, on a massage therapist’s […]
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 […]
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 […]
Quality of Care in a Thriving Oncology Massage Practice – Meet Our Teacher Erika Slocum
Massage therapists often ask for survival tips for growing a practice in oncology massage therapy. Here, we offer the first of occasional “Featured Teacher” posts about successful OMT practitioners among our instructors and colleagues. Erika Slocum has been teaching oncology massage therapy with us since 2011. She co-owns an expanding practice, BlueFern Massage Therapy, with […]
Little Details Make Big Connections in Oncology Massage
In oncology massage, we know that the little details matter. How you gently tuck the draping so a client’s shoulders stay warm. The way you offer to massage a client’s scalp after hair loss. The way you hit exactly the right spot on your client’s foot, without too much pressure, in the infusion room. The […]
Standing Out in Massage Therapy
On the way to my daughter’s school each morning, we pass a line of dense brown bushes in a neighbor’s front yard. Every morning, the bushes shriek at us. They shake and tremble and scream, making a huge deal out of something. On my return trip, they do it again. One morning, curious about the […]
On Laundry and Getting Help
I remember the moment when I could no longer face my massage linens. It had been a long, tired battle between me and my laundry. The laundry—a menacing pile of flannel and terrycloth—was winning. That was 20+ years ago. I saw 18-20 clients per week, a dozen in my private practice. Although they were all […]