Exploring a Career in Massage Therapy: An Overview

Question
i am doing a project for school on certain job that we would like to do and i was woundering if you could give me some background information on this job

Answer
Greetings Clarence-"Some background information..." this is a major question and a very good question.  Massage as an industry has many good and bad features-like a lot of industries.  For instance, there are good and bad lawyers, judges, accountants, school teachers etc-you get the point.  Massage for therapeutic or sports purposes requires a very cordial or sanguinine person.  Good massage is given by a person with passion.  Knowing the techniques, the muscles, the contraindications etc is vitual but the person is just as important.  Knowing about touch, what it means to the client and what it feels like to the client is just as important as anatomy and physiology.  (Anatomy-what it is) (physiology-what it does).  Because of the public perception of massage it is not an industry suitable for a younger person.  I would not recommend anybody under the age of 25 taking up massage.  Some situations could arise which a younger person may not be able to handle too well and things can get out of hand.  The 25+ aged person usually has some life skills at that age to handle most situations.  Defining in your own mind what area you wish to specialise in also helps avoiding trouble.  We specialise in elite athletes.  Therefore, we can turn down (legitimately) suspect clients.  (We don't always get it right) but we are right more often than we are wrong. Sometimes we are asked to treat elderly people. From bad experiences in the past, we know now not to accept them for treatment.  We are happy to leave those clients to those specialising with elderly people.  I could waffle on about how old the industry is-but that information is available anywhere.  There are many different types of massage from various cultures and ethnic groups.  They all have a place somewhere for us all to learn and benefit from.  But again, that information is available everywhere also.  I hope that I have covered what you asked.  If you would like me to be more specific-just contact me again.  You are most welcome to do so.  Good Luck for 2005.  Cheers