Comments on: Don’t Wait till it Hurts

By: sierra

sierra — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 07:43:41 +0000

I had a friend I watched go from pre-massage school all the way into working for massage envy.

I was astonished that over the course of 2 to 3 years, my friend went from engaged fully with massage, curious about method and compassionate with those he massaged, to embittered and struggling to survive with little patience for the clients who he fully understood did not care about his art.

He now only gives massage to friends for free.

By: Steven Cole

Steven Cole — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 04:40:54 +0000

I’ve been to a Massage Envy here in the SF Bay Area, and felt the whole experience to be so much less than any other massage practitioner I’ve ever been blessed with. Their price is *very* attractive, because there’s no way I can afford getting worked up as much as I’d really like, but I still won’t go back.

Sierra: thanks for motivating me to get my butt back to my massage therapist.

By: sierra

sierra — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:09:22 +0000

It seems you assume that I would want to work for massage envy and that I am jealous. That would be very wrong. I would not want to work for that company. I have met so many massage practitioners who have very poor opinions of the place. I have never tried to work for them because I would not choose to work for a company who’s business model demonstrates a devaluing the worth of massage, and a conditioning of the general public to expect their massages to be cheep as well as practitioners to expect to get paid less than what their work is worth. Most massage therapists are so kind and generous. In my opinion, Massage Envy is like the Massage Industry’s version of the corporate franchise McDonalds. The franchise business model is always about the bottom line before anything like quality or proper professional compensation. but to be fair, places like massage envy don’t exactly advertise as having experts in the fields of certain injury treatments, specific bodywork methods or modalities that one would seek out for quality and specificity needs. The great thing about Massage Envy is that it gives you exactly what it promises: a cheep massage.

By: sierra

sierra — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 07:55:40 +0000

Thanks for your comment! I appreciate it! so you said: “You will either care about your client’s injuries and pain, or you won’t. It’s an inherent character trait to care, or not to care, and what you get paid doesn’t change that.” to be fair – I think we are both quite right and we are both generalizing. We are looking at the exchange of money and the ability for a practitioner to care about their clients to treat them with the care they really need. I think we are both right and wrong because it differs from practitioner to practitioner. It is, indeed an inherent character trait to care or not to care for one’s clients. I do find that many therapist that no longer do massage, that did care for their clients became burned out because the energy they gave to heal their clients could not sustain their lives or their willingness to continue treating their clients. I find that practitioners tend to make less of an effort in their body work when their compensation does not satisfy their needs. They don’t do REALLY great work when paid 15 bucks an hour. The one’s that do, often I find there is a resentment for giving so much of their energy to their clients when they do not feel they are getting enough money for having given that energy.

By: Kelly G.

Kelly G. — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:08:13 +0000

Sounds like a therapist who could not get a job with Massage Envy and is a little bit jealous. The Massage Envy I go to is great and the therapist I use has 7 years experience. The average experience at the one I go to is 5 years. I have been getting massages for 20 years and these are some of the best. I know the clinics are all individually owned, so others could be different. When you look at the fact their therapist do not have to pay advertising, supply sheets, lotions, etc., plus they get a lot more business I think the pay is probably a lot better than being on your own.

By: KB

KB — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:34:09 +0000

Your comment “employers like Massage Envy don’t pay their employee therapists nearly enough to care about your pain and injuries and be motivated to apply the effort and diligence it takes to truly address and correct their clients’ injuries and pain” is entirely false. You will either care about your client’s injuries and pain, or you won’t. It’s an inherent character trait to care, or not to care, and what you get paid doesn’t change that.