Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/1515580
A B M P m e m b e r s ea r n F R E E C E h o u r s by rea d i n g t h i s i s s u e ! 11 SPEAK YOUR MIND FACEBOOK/ABMPPAGE In marketing materials for massage, I would like the photos used to be more representative of all customers. DON ANDERSON The disrespect given to light-touch massage. Not every client wants deep tissue, but therapists calling it "fl uff" massage makes those clients feel unheard. CARROLL GARRIT Y MONSON The ability—through ABMP or otherwise—to negotiate reduced health insurance rates for those of us who are self- employed. We are a big enough pool that we should be able to negotiate as a group. If we're not taking care of ourselves, we can't help anyone else, and this is a huge fi nancial burden for those of us who don't get insurance through a partner. ANDREINA TORMA I think the whole industry needs to be restructured. I would like to see it as a degree program, with various levels of education, not just a licensure as it is in most states. Just like it is with physical therapists. Only then can it become the legitimate medical profession it should be. SARAH VERNEUILLE When other professional fi elds don't see us as equals in the health-care industry, it's upsetting. They look down on what we know and how we learned our fi eld, and they try to tell us how to do our trade. We don't use drugs or other Western modes of medicine, and that supposedly makes us not worthy of being in the medical community. We do so much good, and it's just us. So, what would I change? Perhaps getting people to understand that a big degree is not always needed when it comes to helping them take care of themselves and that the holistic way of the massage therapist is just as good. JERI JO FIFER Graded licensing. I don't think all MTs need to be held to an MD-level understanding of anatomy/physiology/ pathology, and clients deserve to know more about their MT's knowledge and expertise. Lumping us all together as if our knowledge, expertise, and experience are the same doesn't help any of us. IAN ZIGTERMAN Creating a sense of community within our communities, instead of competition. JENN SORRELL-WIKOFF Stop making it a legal requirement to not be allowed to say when doctors, physical therapists, and chiropractors are wrong when they tell you not to combine massage with what they are doing. They don't know the massage contraindications and precautions. We do! Doctors OK things for massage all the time that are not OK. Every doctor, physician's assistant, and nurse practitioner I have spoken to about this admitted they are not qualifi ed to advise their patients about massage. We should be allowed to tell clients when they are wrong about our fi eld. CHRISTINE BAKER Offer a six-month to a year mentoring program for new graduates. MASSAGE BY CAROLINE INSTAGRAM/ @ABMPMASSAGE National certifi cation, so we can work wherever we want without paying for and resubmitting transcripts and past state licenses. CABANA _WELLNESS _ SPA We need to change how we are represented in the media. I wish there were more holistic and medical massage therapies being shown on TV and social media [instead of content] being pushed more toward the sex industry. MASSAGEBYAMETHYST What is one thing you would like to improve about the massage therapy profession?