Massage Associations

So, you're in business as a massage therapist, (or are planning to,) and you have been advised to join a professional association of people with similar views to yours. If you are reading this is Australia or New Zealand, then you may have been convinced that such a membership is virtually compulsory.

Firstly, membership is just another form of advertising, which you can adopt as a part of your marketing strategy, or you can reject - there is still no law that says "thou must have membership of an approved society".

So, should I join, or should I not ?

As when faced with any cross-road, in life, or in business, I suggest you weigh up the advantages against the disadvantages.

Association membership costs money; not a lot for many therapists, but it's still an expense.

Membership gives you access to Health Benefits Funds, that you would find difficult to obtain as a non-member - it would also assist you with your insurance contract.

On the all-important issue of business revenue, or your reputation in the manual therapy business, I have some serious doubts; membership of an association does not guarantee you success, nor will it be very helpful in day-to-day running of your clinic - this is all up to you and your team, if you have one.

In order for an association to have influence, whether over the therapists, the government, the administrators of the various health insurance funds, the public liability insurers, or even the advertisers in their own magazines, they need high membership numbers.

I am quite familiar with this situation - I have a society of hand-picked therapists, numbering in the low hundreds - so small to be easily overlooked, but so special, that you could easily select any one of them from the directory, and know you would consult a true carer, with high capability.

So; in order to fill the ranks, I'm talking massage therapy here, or better still manual therapy, or massage science, any other association needs to expand their criteria for admission.

Other forms of massage, other treatment systems, other beliefs, even the most fanciful, have to be considered by the association managers - and, as long as there is evidence of training, this application is generally accepted, and, membership granted.

Think about this, possums - you could be a member of a group that numbers in the thousands!! Attend the seminars, and you could be quite impressed by the huge crowds - but, when you advertise to the world that you have these glossy credentials, don't be surprised if the client says - isn't the guy in the next street that uses chanting, and who beats a drum, and who uses hot rocks, in the same association as you - doesn't that make you the same ?