What do you guys know about PTA?

[Escape_Reality]

I am a massage therapist and have been working for a year now doing about 15 massages a week. I am enjoying it and am very grateful for the opportunity to do something I am passionate about and enjoy, as well as make enough money (for being single and 23) without long hours. I work at a Massage Envy and am treated well and enjoy my job. I would say I make 30-40 dollars per massage (hr).

As much as a enjoy it, there are a few considerations that have arisen:

1. I make enough for my minimalist lifestyle...but not nearly as much as I would want to make when I am ready to move forward with travel, a family...who knows what else.

2. I can see the potential for eventual burnout...moreso physically.

3. Unexpectedly, I developed a strong passion for "clinical" work and love the problem-solving. With massage at this point I feel somewhat limited in my methods - and perhaps moreso in the functional influence in my client's lives outside of the hour.

I know that a possiblity is to simply gain more CEU's in different modalities, and also to branch out from ME's "adequate" pay and work somewhere else. The problem is that I do not feel a strong confidence in being an IC and really am not driven to do so. I like the idea of being an employee, or at least part of a team. Seeking gigher pay as an employee MT is a possiblity...I used to have fantasies of working at some sort of a "holistic clinic"...and they certainly exist in Baltimore. The problem is that I don't feel I can comptete in the "CEU heirarchy". I'm sorry, but in some ways I feel CEUs and Certs are a racket. It is so astronimically expensive to obtain a "Certification" in something. Even though I may do just as great Trigger Point work (as rudimentary to massage as that is) I cannot compete with someone who is "[Insert some Mt celebrity] method certified". You could say the same of the traditional college system...but that's a hard battle to win.

The idea of physical therapy appeals to me, but I also don't know much about it. I can read information on the Internet...but I am lacking a feel for what it is like to be a real PTA. HOw much "artistic freedom" are you allowed? More often than not my client's don't have anything good to say about their PT treatments...I gather that they did not feel that they were effective, and oftentimes that the PT or PTA didnt seem to engage them in tehiro own issues or educate them, or come off as cold and clinical. I have a fantasy of being the "warm PTA" who brings new ideas to the table and engages and encourages clients to be active and interested in their conditions, and BLENDS the best of the techology and structure of PT with the intuition and holistics of massage (and I am not assuming that I can do massage with PT clients). How possible is this? I am a big skeptic of the medical system and do not want to be in a cookie cutter, solidified and stubborn system that treats patients like they are passing through a system.

Anyway, does any of this jive with being a PTA? Any suggestions for other routes to take? ANY info or advice would be SO APPRECIATED!!!!

 

[Luann]

What do you guys know about PTA?

The thing about PT is that if you do accept insurance, you will not have the freedoms you want in your treatments. If you go the PT route and work with other healthcare professionals, it is highly likely that they will accept insurance which will limit the type of work you can do. If you want the freedom as a PT you will probably have to work on your own and not accept insurance, which may limit your patient load.

About CE certification, there really aren't many actual certifications given out for courses. Usually the certifications a massage therapist has from CEU classes is actually just a pretty piece of paper stating that they attended the course, but has no bearing on whether or not the practitioner actually has any skill or is proficient in the work. Only other therapists are aware of what those certifications mean. Your clients aren't going to choose you b/c you have ten certifications from people like Barnes, Myers or Dalton. The clients have NO IDEA who those people are. Clients are going to choose you for other reasons and stay with you if they feel they are getting what they are paying for; the amount of certifications and where they come from does NOT matter. How do I know this? I have many CEU hours with most of the "big" names and no client has ever told me they called b/c I have that training.

You're not really going to make a lot of money doing massage anyway. I make enough for travel and to pay the bills...that's it. I'd probably make more if I sold products and did other things on the side. You will also generally bring in more $$ if you work as an IC and not an employee doing massage. And, if you keep your business expenses on the low side, you can even make more $$ if you are a business owner. But any way you do it, massage itself will not make you very wealthy.

Anyway, it sounds as though you are unhappy and that's a good time for some in depth soul-searching to find out what you want and how you're going to get it.

 

[Pompal 09.]

What do you guys know about PTA?

Thanks for your input. I wouldn't say I'm unhappy - I love doing massage...but I am thinking down the road and I don't want the pressure of being an IC, and from what I can tell if you work at a place that pays more...usually they can't compete with places like ME and you don't get as many clients. I think the market will change as more and more people seek massage, but I want options for myself.

A

 

[flozrockz]

What do you guys know about PTA?

So you would work more at M.E. for less pay, rather than bringing in more pay and have less clients. I'm not sure what the M.E. where you work is paying, but from other therapists who work at other M.E.'s they've mentioned making $15- $20 per session. As an employee OR I.C. at another locale you would probably be making $35- $65 per session although you may have fewer clients.

This is why you are seeing burn-out in the far future as mentioned in your first post. If you work somewhere that pays more per session, you can actually work fewer sessions than you work at M.E. to bring in the same amount of pay. You need not be an I.C. to bring in more, it can be possible to find employment that would pay more than M.E. And it's a smart thing to think about other things to do besides just massage, that will make you a more valuable employee in the future, especially if you find somewhere that provides true growth in the workplace, such as a higher pay scale for complimentary knowledge.

You mentioned that you enjoy problem solving, how about sports massage? That could lead to learning more about sports medicine or personal training. Just wanted to add, that only wanting to work as an employee wherever it is, is limiting in itself since employees rarely have all the "freedoms" that an I.C. or business owner will have.

 

[jasneskis]

What do you guys know about PTA?

I'm not sure what was meant buy your choices being limited if you are a PT. As a PTA, your choices might be limited, as you must work under the supervision of a PT. But as a PT, I have very few limitations in my scope of practice. I do 100% myofascial release in my private practice. I am an out of network PT, which means that I do not have to play by the insurance rules. Some of them, as if a patient has out of network coverage, I send in documentation, etc. But my payment is not contingent upon an insurance company approving my services. Patients pay me at time of service. Clean, just like the most of you here.

If I would say anything, I would say that my options are broader, as my licensure allows me to do things that few if any MT's can perform (manipulation, internal work, etc). The original post referenced PT assistants, which is more restrictive).