In historical terms, the modern resurgence of the manual therapy profession is just getting underway, and the opportunities to earn more if you learn more are simply tremendous in the coming years. The principles and knowledge-base of the contemporary LMT / PT will apply to many different clinical and educational settings in the new social environment which will follow the renewal of health care in America.
Three aspects that new and on-going therapists need to learn are:
1) Holistic anatomy: There’s no way around it – to sit at professional tables in this field you need to know the nomenclature. All the same, traditional anatomy (origins, insertions, etc.) is increasingly irrelevant as anatomy is revised in light of the new research on fascial remodeling and kinetic linkages like the Anatomy Trains Myofascial Meridians. So we need to know biomechanics, and we need to be on top of the new developments. This is what we are doing at Kinesis – winnowing the latest research and giving you the results. Being up on developments will raise your status in the eyes of other professionals and clients, and thus raise your income through increased referrals.
2) Client education: This is an ever-increasing requirement for all manual therapists: the ability to give specific, relevant, and informed ‘homework’ to your clients to help them enhance what they get from your good work. The days of just having a relaxing massage without follow-on care are largely gone already. The skill level of Pilates teachers, personal trainers, and movement teachers must be matched by the massage therapist or physio – a great learning and earning opportunity to distinguish yourself from the pack.
3) Self-development: Nothing keeps your income up like excitement; when you are excited, it communicates and people are excited to be with you. Nothing excites you like learning new stuff. Sometimes that new learning can be a concept, like 1) above, or a technique, like 2) above, but honestly the most exciting things are emotional or spiritual. While we hope you buy our DVD’s or read our books, the most exciting things happen in our longer training classes (http:://www,anatomytrains.com/newsletter/12), or in family life or on an adventure where your deep insides get changed.
Fall in love. Go on a challenging trip. Allow yourself to be changed by your life partner (fall in love again). Really go into your own spirituality or pain deeply. Any of these things will probably result in a short-term loss to your practice, but in a long-term gain.
Neal Armstrong said he never exercised because he believed that one ‘only has so many heartbeats’, so he didn’t want to raise the rate unnecessarily. The problem with this argument is that the raised heart rate of an exercise session results in a lowered heart rate for the rest the day – a net lowering. Same deal: sacrifice some income temporarily to take real care of yourself, and you will find your income grows when you’re back on the job.