Would you like a massage? That sounds like an innocent question, and, quite possibly, a dream come true. Who wouldn’t want a massage at certain points of the day, or even all the time?
Massage therapy has grown into a very large industry, one that produces billions of dollars each year. And most of it starts with some variation of those words (I would like a massage, I need a massage, please give me a massage, etc.). While we’ve discussed the many therapeutic and economic benefits of massage therapy in this blog, one (of many) thing that we’ve missed – and that gets glossed over often – is the ethics of massage therapy.
While there is not a powerful, well-known code of ethics among massage therapists (think Hippocratic oath), most serious, professional massage therapists generally are aware of the ethics of massage therapy, and the importance of enforcing them in order to maintain a successful practice. All the major, national organizations, and even companies, have a code of ethic that member therapists must adhere to. Below is a list of sites where you can find a few:
AMTA: http://www.amtamassage.org/about/codeofethics.html
NCBTMB: http://www.ncbtmb.org/about_code_of_ethics.php
ABMP: http://www.abmp.com/about/code_of_ethics.php
Also, most certified schools of massage therapy – which therapists need to attend and pass in order to become legal therapists – have a section of their curriculum dedicated to ethics %2