Where Did All the Massage Therapists Go?

According to the 2022 AMTA Massage Research Report the number of massage therapists decreased in 2021. This, I believe, is partially due to COVID-19, but also a consequence of decreasing enrollment at massage schools nationwide and the shuttering of many massage programs. Many massage therapists walked away from our industry as the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic overtook the world. Forced to close businesses or laid off with no other way to support their families, many of them haven’t returned.

Massage school enrollments were down and schools had been closing at an alarming rate before the pandemic. And even though studies show our numbers have increased by 14% over the last decade, without adequate enrollment or places to obtain the necessary education, the number of qualified massage therapists must fall. Many schools closed and did not re-open after government mandated shutdowns reducing the potential for massage therapy graduates even further.

We were already experiencing a shortage of therapists before COVID-19. The massage therapy industry is now entering a crisis period. And it couldn’t happen at a worse time. As we are potentially emerging from a pandemic that forced people into their homes and social isolation, where touch became so dangerous many of us still won’t hug friends or family for fear of passing them a death sentence, people are in critical need of touch therapy and stress relief.

Why Don’t MTs Just Take More Clients?

It seems like the most obvious solution for those of us still working. Just take more clients per day and there will be less people in need of touch therapies. Unfortunately, it’s not a sustainable option. Most of us have already been taking more than our physical limit and are reaching the wall. It’s sort of like when someone leaves your job and your manager brings all their work to you. And then someone else leaves and your manager is standing in your office with another pile of work.

Massage therapists must first protect their own bodies before we can continue serving others. A hurt massage therapist is not a massage therapist that can help anyone with pain or stress. A sick massage therapist is definitely not going to be able to help anyone and they may make you sick to boot.

And Then There’s Burnout

Burnout is a real thing. We’ve seen the news stories, read the articles, and talked to our friends in the healthcare industry and everyone seems to understand that they are fried. Massage therapists aren’t experiencing the same level of awareness or care as the healthcare industry workers, but oftentimes we are laying on hands as many hours a day as these healthcare workers with even more waiting in the wings that aren’t being seen. The mental health arena is experiencing a similar phenomenon currently. Read here about listening to your body so you can hopefully prevent burnout.

As we continue to service more and more individuals at the cost of our body, family time, creative time, and rest time, we burn out. Giving becomes extremely difficult when we have pushed ourselves beyond the limit in service of others.

Many of us are regularly doing phone consultations for how to manage pain until we can get clients into the office. Which is pushing the limits of our scope, but what does one do when the one person in their circle of trust can’t get them in and they’re hurting?

How Do We Fix the Shortage?

The short answer is make more massage therapists. The long answer is make more massage therapists. If a student started right now it would take 6-8 months (minimum depending on the school) to be qualified to take the national exam and apply for a license in the state of Alabama.

That doesn’t seem like a long time, but it is a long time to work hoping that someone is coming to help relieve an already overstressed system. So now the question is, how do we get those students into an entry-level massage therapy program?

I see this question asked a lot on social media, industry publications, and industry conference panels. And no one seems to have an answer to this question. Is it awareness? Yes! Is it advertising? Yes! Is it getting in front of kids while they’re young to let them know how important touch is to their health? Yes! What do we do about it? Nothing or very little, apparently, and what is being done is not effective as illustrated by falling enrollment, fewer training programs, and “exhausted, on the verge of quitting” massage therapists.

What Happens If We Do Nothing?

If we do nothing, qualified massage therapist numbers will continue to decline. Safe and accessible massage therapy will become very expensive then disappears altogether as therapists age out of the system, burn out, or simply leave the industry.

If we do nothing, massage therapy chains will either disappear altogether or find funding to become industry monopolies. Quality of massage therapists and therapies will go way down while prices go way up as happens when an industry is controlled by just a few entities.

If we do nothing, more unqualified, untrained people will perform touch therapies that may or may not lead to public health issues, unsafe practices, consumer injuries and/or infections, a rise in human trafficking, and declining consumer confidence in the massage therapy profession.

None of that seems good.

What Can We Do?

Consumers

• Use your platform to talk about your massage therapy experiences and how it has helped you. Challenge yourself to talk to one person a week about massage therapy.
• Write reviews for your massage therapist(s). Thank you in advance!
• Talk to your family, friends and anyone else who will listen about how massage therapy might be a viable career option. Talk to your massage therapist about where to steer prospective students. Many of us are glad to talk about massage therapy to the curious public.
• Suggest your massage therapist or massage therapy school for career days, job fairs, or health fairs.

Massage Therapists / Students

• Use your platform to talk about your positive career experiences as a massage therapist, get specific about why it’s so satisfying and talk about it often. Challenge yourself to post on social media once a month about your satisfying career choice.
• Talk to your clients, friends, family, and anyone else who will listen about how massage therapy might be a viable career option.
• Educate yourself on the massage school options in your area and be prepared to steer people toward these schools if they show an interest.
• Contact your local school system and make yourself available to talk with school kids (and high schoolers) about how massage therapy might be a viable career option.
• Provide your clients and cohorts with the words to speak respectfully and positively about the massage therapy profession.

Massage Therapy Schools

• Use your platform to create awareness campaigns about the massage therapy profession and run them continuously.
• Show up at career days, career fairs, and health fairs to promote the massage therapy profession.
• Educate the public as to the continuing need for massage and touch therapies.
• Teach students how to be ambassadors for our profession and challenge them to continue recruiting new students into our profession.

Let’s Do Something!

I know I’ve pointed out some not so optimistic points in this article, but I think it’s important we know what can happen if we continue to ignore the problem. I hope this gives you some ideas about how you can help the massage therapy profession in your day-to-day. If you’re interested in learning more about becoming a massage therapist your first order of business is to find a school and do some research. Feel free to reach out directly to me if you want to talk or you can go here to find state approved schools in your area.