I think punch cards are a great option for you and your clients. As a general rule, people tend to come in more often when they know they have a punch card with you. It does seem to help you fill up your appointment book a little easier. However, punch cards can have a downside to them and it has to do with how you view them as the business owner. Many (many) of the therapists that I have talked to about punch cards learned this lesson pretty early on when offering punch cards. The great thing about punch cards is it is a guaranteed number of appointments for you.…
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What Is Touch Interpretation?
At the heart of it, Touch Interpretation is a form of art that is really about you: Your filters Your experiences Your ability to sense; intuition Your ability to read into what your client tells you about their needs and body Your latest training and understanding Your hands leading the experience, with your mind close behind (not the other way around) As many new therapists discover, there is a natural gap that exists between learning massage techniques and how your touch becomes 2nd nature to you and your clients. The gap closes the longer you practice massage and understand your new skills. However, I believe that there are ways that…
- Autoimmune, Business Concepts, Defining Expectations, Pain Patterns and Treatment, Reverse Triggerpointing
Massage Therapy: Bridging the Gap Between Cause and Effect
For my entire career, this is something I have been constantly trying to find. The illusive bridge; the real answers to healing that “bridge the gap” between hands-on techniques and real pain management. This searching has turned into something like mission for me now. Throughout my time at the massage table, working with a variety of bodies, I can tell you that the techniques and concepts that I have discovered that work the greatest with trying to bridge the gap between cause and effect for pain management are not techniques. They are governing principles about how the body heals itself, regardless of the technique applied. I call these healing applications…
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Saving Your Hands: Amy’s Massage Therapy Do’s and Dont’s
I have been wanting to write this article for some time. I have a story to tell you and it doesn’t necessarily have a happy ending BUT the outcome is looking brighter all the time. In January of this year, after 25 years of working at a massage table, I was forced to retire. I had surgery on my left thumb (ouch) because I wore the bone off doing massage. I tease people and tell them I literally worked my fingers to the bone – because that is exactly what I did. Occupational hazard? Yes, mostly, with a little auto-immune stuff thrown in for “fun”. But overall this is one…
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The Autoimmune Client: Can Massage Really Help?
The 3 Things to Know When You Give a Massage to a Client with an Autoimmune Disease This is a topic that I understand too well and could write an entire book on! But not today. Today I am going to give you some things to think about that might answer some questions for you and possibly change how you massage someone with an autoimmune disease for the better. Having a history of an autoimmune disease myself, I can tell you from personal experience what massage can do and cannot do for someone like me. I can also tell you what really helps and what sets me back so quickly…
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The 3 Causes of Being “Mentally Stuck” in Your Massage Therapy Business
Working for yourself, no matter the career choice, can be mentally challenging. You will go through periods of time where you love your career and business; you are excited for the possibilities every day! Other times you don’t want to get out of bed in the morning and face your “must-do” list. It becomes a HUGE mental chore to just motivate yourself to do things that help you be successful. Having been a massage therapist for 25 years, I understand both of those mental places very well. I have had to learn how to keep myself feeling motivate about my career and at the same time, stop the mental exhaustion…
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Why Massage Therapists Feel They Can’t Raise Their Rates
How Do I Raise My Rates? Let’s say you have been a therapist for 5 years and have worked very hard to create your clientele. Your schedule is full most of the time and feel that you have created a good business for yourself. However, your fees and rates are still the same as they were when you started practicing and you feel like it is now time to start making more money without working more hours. BUT then the “fear” starts to creep in and you are not sure HOW or IF you should raise your rates. Some of the questions that are probably going through your mind right…
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K.I.S.S. for Pain Managment Massage Therapy
This week I was reminded to “keep it simple sweetheart”. I teach and teach about only doing enough massage work to change pain 4 points (on a 10 point scale) and then leave the body alone to heal on its own. I also teach that when someone’s pain level is 5 and under that you can start shifting from doing Scar Tissue work into more regular style of bodywork and massage. Scar Tissue massage really works best on clients whose pain level is 5 or higher. That is because working with Scar Tissue changes inflammation – almost immediately – through changing pain levels. The less pain you have the less inflammation…
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Migraine: The End Result of a “Perfect Storm”
I like to call migraines a perfect storm of circumstances. The reason I relate them to a perfect storm is that in order to have the “storm of a century” the wind, water, temperature, lunar pull, season of water levels, and other things all have to be just right in order for the perfect storm to happen. The same thing, in my opinion, happens with migraines. I look at migraines as a build-up of layers of actions, thoughts, behaviors, and consumption that you knowingly or unknowingly repeat at a regular interval in your life. The end result of that layering is a migraine. These are factors within your life that…
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NEW 2 CE Hour Sciatica & Piriformis Pain Class Available!
Click here to view the 2 CE Hour Piriformis Pain Course inside the PPS Seminars.
