Looking For a Job In Health Care? A Massage Therapist Is An Often Overlooked Option

Licensed Massage Therapists are one of the service jobs that are actually growing in the new economy. While many jobs are becoming scarce, massage therapy as an occupation is increasing becoming more popular. As our culture shifts gears into a new phase, there is a renewed focus on self-growth, health, and wellness. Being a massage therapist, one can help scores of people. And, it’s not guesswork. After a session,or a series of sessions, the client often clearly communicates that they are experiencing less pain and that their quality of life has improved.

Massage Therapists Work In Hospitals

What about teachers? Helping kids learn their ABC’s can be rewarding. More rewarding is knowing that you’ve imparted values, something more. Many jobs help people. But a Licensed Massage Therapy Job helps so many people in various walks of life to do be more present for their own family, friends, and people they serve in their own lines of work. As an LMT, you may not teach kids, but you may help teachers who teach kids by helping them to be more present, have more energy, and feel less pain. You’re still doing incredible work that trickles down to helping your community and society.

Massage Therapy jobs are also gaining respect with time. A masseuse is not a licensed massage therapist, and now there are National Certifications, as well as state licensure. The MBLEX exam, a challenging test that most nurses would be hard-pressed to pass, ensures that the standards are kept excruciatingly high. And, that translates into a better pool of workers to perform massage, and eventually, more societal recognition, as well as better pay. We’re getting there. It will take some time, but the progress is already visible.

Right now there’s a lot of attention placed on automation, on robots replacing human workers. However, the human connection, compassion, and emotion are all part of being a successful massage therapist. These are not going to be replaced by a massage machine. After all, there are already massage chairs, and no one in their right mind is going to say that it’s equivalent to getting a massage from a skilled therapist. Even robots with AI programmed to act empathic are not truly caring; nothing compares to the human touch, not now, not ever.

Massage jobs in New Jersey, California, New York,and other states with large population centers are growing each year. There are even positions in hospitals at this point, as LMTs become respected members of the health care team. Yes; these jobs are full-time and carry insurance plans, a 401K retirement plan, the works. No longer is massage a shameful trade to ply; the massage parlors with (often) unlicensed, uneducated women offering sundry “other” services are not at all the same, and our society understands this.

So, there’s plenty of room to grow. Licensed Massage Therapists can also teach classes at Massage Schools, as well as help with Continuing Education programs that LMTs’ must attend every year. The best massage jobs are positions that allow the therapist to work full time, as well as have an opportunity for advancement. A day spa is a good place to begin; it’s not the best way to spend the entirety of one’s career. Like most jobs, it’s a succession of stepping stones; the first step after school is never the last. Understanding this can keep new therapists from feeling overly frustrated.

Of course, our future will look nothing like our past. However, that’s largely a good thing. People should be focused more on health and wellness, internal balance and feeling their best. So, Massage Therapy Jobs will work well, even with the changes in society that most anticipate happening in the next ten, and even twenty, years. In closing, it would be fair to say that because massage therapy, as a tested and regulated profession,is relatively new, there are virtually unlimited options, in terms of what the future may hold. Right now, not every hospital or nursing home has an LMT on staff, but perhaps it’s not a stretch to imagine a future where Massage therapy Jobs at such institutions equal the number of positions presently allocated for orderlies, nurses, and other staff.