Discussion:
MT Student in Colorado
(too old to reply)
Dan Vallejo
2006-05-02 17:57:10 UTC
Permalink
Greetings fellow students, MTs, and all of the assorted goofs that seem to
hang out in this NG. I have been a student of massage therapy since January
of this year and used this group (and other resources) as a source of
information in making my decision to attend MT school. I'm a 45 year old
male that is making the transition from the world of high-tech (I'm
currently a web developer) to the "hands-on" world of massage therapy and
couldn't be happier about it. This NG provided a pretty good "snapshot" of
the benefits and barriers to becoming an MT and I hate to say it but some of
ts the idiots that post here actually do a pretty good job of representing
all of the distorted thinking that exists around the MT profession. Now that
I've been in school for 4 months I feel like sharing some of my experiences
and learnings so far. Maybe it will help others thinking about MT.

Choose a good school. I attend a privately owned school; the Colorado
Institute of Massage Therapy and I feel like I made a good choice. There are
several other MT schools here in Colorado Springs but this one seems to have
a wonderful reputation here in the community. They have a very solid
curriculum and go out of their way to promote professionalism and high
ethical standards both in the classroom and in the community. Prior to
enrolling, one of my biggest concerns was how I, as a 45 year old man, would
fit into a class made up primarily of women. WOuld they want to work with
me? I read some real horror stories in this forum about that but I have to
say that in my case I have experienced very little in the way of prejudice
from the women in my class. My class consists of 18 women and 5 guys and in
general everyone gets along fine. I haven't seen any hesistation from anyone
about our weekly partners and I'm sure this stems from the professionalism
instilled in group from the onset.

Make a committment to succeed. I get the impression that many of my fellow
students are/were pursuing MT because it is perceived as a quick, easy field
to get into. This isn't the case with CIMT. Out of the 23 that started the
program in January, only about 12-14 are still in the program. You really
only get out of it what you put in. I find that I am putting in 20-30 hours
per week into my training. This includes class time, study time, marketing
events, community service, study groups, workshops, and of course, massages
given. It's quite a committment if you pile that onto a 40-50 hour work
week.

Men DO belong in the MT field. One of the requirements of CIMT is that each
student must received 2 "professional" massages per month to get an idea of
other professionals techniques and methods. Of the 10 or so massages that I
have received, the best ones have come from male therapists. That's not to
say that the women aren't good but in my case I really prefer "deep" work
and the women therapists that I have worked with have had a problem going
deep enough for my liking. I realize that's a very general statement and by
no means is it true across the board. There is a PT in our class and she can
easily bring tears to my eyes when working on me.

Straight men aren't as "homophobic" as some would lead us to believe. As a
"straight" man I was nervous about working on men and also worried about
whether or not I would be able to get men on the table for practice. Well, I
am pleased to say that working on men hasn't been an issue at all and that
some friends of mine that I thought would run away when I asked if I could
practice on them have been very willing and most are bugging me to work on
them on a regualar basis. I've only run into one situation so far where this
was an issue. A 19 year old guy wouldn't let me give him a chair massage at
a marketing event. He decided to get vocal about it "No offense man but I
don't let guys touch me" so I handed it right back to him; "No offense
taken, homophobia is a tough thing to overcome". I really embarrassed him in
front of his co-workers and it felt really good.

Anyway, I wanted to take some time to add my $.02 to the group. I encourage
questions or comments. Have a great day!

Dan
george
2006-05-03 14:41:16 UTC
Permalink
Post by Dan Vallejo
Greetings fellow students, MTs, and all of the assorted goofs that seem to
hang out in this NG. I have been a student of massage therapy since
January of this year and used this group (and other resources) as a source
of information in making my decision to attend MT school. I'm a 45 year
old male that is making the transition from the world of high-tech (I'm
currently a web developer) to the "hands-on" world of massage therapy and
couldn't be happier about it. This NG provided a pretty good "snapshot"
of the benefits and barriers to becoming an MT and I hate to say it but
some of ts the idiots that post here actually do a pretty good job of
representing all of the distorted thinking that exists around the MT
profession. Now that I've been in school for 4 months I feel like sharing
some of my experiences and learnings so far. Maybe it will help others
thinking about MT.
Choose a good school. I attend a privately owned school; the Colorado
Institute of Massage Therapy and I feel like I made a good choice. There
are several other MT schools here in Colorado Springs but this one seems
to have a wonderful reputation here in the community. They have a very
solid curriculum and go out of their way to promote professionalism and
high ethical standards both in the classroom and in the community. Prior
to enrolling, one of my biggest concerns was how I, as a 45 year old man,
would fit into a class made up primarily of women. WOuld they want to work
with me? I read some real horror stories in this forum about that but I
have to say that in my case I have experienced very little in the way of
prejudice from the women in my class. My class consists of 18 women and 5
guys and in general everyone gets along fine. I haven't seen any
hesistation from anyone about our weekly partners and I'm sure this stems
from the professionalism instilled in group from the onset.
I think open-mindedness is pretty standard west of the Mississippi. I've
toyed with the idea here in the midwest...would probably starve to death,
though.
Post by Dan Vallejo
Make a committment to succeed. I get the impression that many of my fellow
students are/were pursuing MT because it is perceived as a quick, easy
field to get into. This isn't the case with CIMT. Out of the 23 that
started the program in January, only about 12-14 are still in the program.
You really only get out of it what you put in. I find that I am putting in
20-30 hours per week into my training. This includes class time, study
time, marketing events, community service, study groups, workshops, and of
course, massages given. It's quite a committment if you pile that onto a
40-50 hour work week.
Men DO belong in the MT field. One of the requirements of CIMT is that
each student must received 2 "professional" massages per month to get an
idea of other professionals techniques and methods. Of the 10 or so
massages that I have received, the best ones have come from male
therapists. That's not to say that the women aren't good but in my case I
really prefer "deep" work and the women therapists that I have worked with
have had a problem going deep enough for my liking. I realize that's a
very general statement and by no means is it true across the board. There
is a PT in our class and she can easily bring tears to my eyes when
working on me.
I think you're discovering "p.s.i." effect firsthand. A strong female (with
their usually smaller hands) can apply MANY pounds-per-square-inch of
force...after all, that is how some petite women would punch a hole in a
(weakened) floor with high heels. Since I usually have specific,
hard-to-get-to problems (like under scapula) I find that a good female
therapist usually does a better job for me unless I'm just generally achy
(rare).
Post by Dan Vallejo
Straight men aren't as "homophobic" as some would lead us to believe. As
a "straight" man I was nervous about working on men and also worried about
whether or not I would be able to get men on the table for practice. Well,
I am pleased to say that working on men hasn't been an issue at all and
that some friends of mine that I thought would run away when I asked if I
could practice on them have been very willing and most are bugging me to
work on them on a regualar basis. I've only run into one situation so far
where this was an issue. A 19 year old guy wouldn't let me give him a
chair massage at a marketing event. He decided to get vocal about it "No
offense man but I don't let guys touch me" so I handed it right back to
him; "No offense taken, homophobia is a tough thing to overcome". I really
embarrassed him in front of his co-workers and it felt really good.
Probably not the wisest course of action...now, neither he nor his friends
is likely to ever use you in the future. Perhaps better would have been
discussing the type of work he does, the aches and pains he gets from it,
and the muscle groups involved...I know I don't care about the sex of the
doctor I see primarily because I have NO question in my mind on his/her
motivations (i.e., if you just want to see naked bodies, going to med school
and passing the licensing is PROBABLY about the most difficult and costly
way of going about it that there is...at least I can't think of any harder
way).
Post by Dan Vallejo
Anyway, I wanted to take some time to add my $.02 to the group. I
encourage questions or comments. Have a great day!
Dan
Good luck to you!
John Dingle Berry, IV
2006-05-12 21:52:58 UTC
Permalink
Post by Dan Vallejo
This NG provided a pretty good "snapshot" of
the benefits and barriers to becoming an MT and I hate to say it but some of
ts the idiots that post here actually do a pretty good job of representing
all of the distorted thinking that exists around the MT profession.
I can't tell you what a relief it is to hear that! I sometimes worry
that some of our busier trolls like mosrite and cloudburst will scare
people away from the profession. Good luck to you, my friend.

Warmest regards,

Rev. John Dingle Berry, IV
V***@gmail.com
2006-05-23 16:22:45 UTC
Permalink
Well, being 45 is a good time to start a massage career. I am 62 and
have been practicing and developing my technique since 1960. There is
alot to be said for being involved in a career that not only benefits
others but also the therapist. Although I have never been to massage
school myself, I did serve a 780+ hour apprenticeship under the
guidance of a wonderful licensed instructor. Many of my clients and
students at my seminars have been other therapist and CAM
professionals. They learned the basics in the school environment but
got their real education in the field. Homophobia is condition that
isn't always based in the sexual preferences of the man. Most men
simply are more comfortable (or hopeful) when massaged by a woman. 98%
of my client base is women and they prefer to be massaged by men for
the same reasons. The difference is that women are hoping to achieve a
higher level of relaxation by really being cared for emotionally. The
body will follow. Some of the factors that draws them to me is that I
make thier physical safety #1 by not requiring disrobing, I use music
that plays through the furnishing to facilitate a connection to their
emotional stress issues, I don't use the traditional deep tissue
techniques but rather use Vibrational Attunement Massage to vibrate
with the music and I apply my touch with true unconditional intent.
They know instinctively that I want nothing from them other than to
provide the best massage experience that I can. Let me know if you are
located somewhere near Northglen, CO. I have one of my students there
who has an acoustical table and has completed my 3 day seminar. She
loves to massage to the music.

Good Luck with your career......

Dustin Fox, CAMT ***@gmail.com

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