Males in Massage Therapy

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Males in Massage Therapy

by Adrian
(Spokane, WA, USA)

I recently have been thinking about entering this profession and attending The Northwest Noetic School of Massage Therapy. I have concerns about being a male in the profession and its relation to a successful career in massage therapy, as this profession seems to be dominated by females. I have heard that on a comfort level females might try a female massage therapist first (if it's there first massage) but then switch to a male therapist afterwards? I also know that naturally, males are stronger than females and that this might be an advantage for a male massage therapist (i.e. i realize that proper body mechanics and placement can compete with natural strength). On the other hand, I have heard that males have a harder time working at a spa setting versus a medical setting ? And also, if I were to open up my own practice somewhere down the road, that it's a good idea to have both a male and female therapist (versus on my own)? If anyone could help with these thoughts that would be great! Thanks!

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Men
by: Anonymous

Males in the massage therapy field do nicely. The only thing I can tell you is that you must present a much more professional/clinical appearance and demenor than your female counterparts. Men in the field, Whitney Lowe, Paul St. John, Michael McGillicuddy, Arron Mattes, John Barnes, Benny Vaughn. These men are all well recognized in the massage field. There are many more.

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Male Massage Therapist
by: Rozz of Terapi Sutra

Male massage therapist do have the disadvantage vis-a-vis his opposite gender. In many parts of Asia especially, the culture is that, females would prefer female therapist and it is very common to also see male would also prefer female therapist.

Business wise, male therapist market segment do shrunk quite a bit unless you specialize on something unique. Again, in some parts of Asia, men would queue for a male therapist service if he specializes in helping to remedy sexual problems like ED and many female therapist prefer male massage therapist not because they are stronger, but they knew how to handle female clients better.

Therefore, in my honest opinion, and depending of the cultural acceptance of male therapist, it is best to mix both female and male therapist if you were to set up a massage center. Let us all male therapist see ourselves like male nurses in hospitals. We are there to serve people who needs relaxation or comfort or healing.Irrespective of gender, a good therapist will be a good therapist. And more often than not, a good one will obviously be able to attract customers of both males and females.

Just my 2 cents

Cheers!

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As a Male Massage Therapist...
by: Joseph A. Pullman, NCTMB

Hi Adrian,

Unfortunately, male Massage Therapists do face some discrimination when it comes to getting new clients, and even employment at some establishments. I personally applied for a position on a cruise ship once. After six months passed with no response, no phone calls answered, and no returned calls after leaving messages, I finally got an email. In the email they asked me to come for an interview, but when I got to the bottom of the page it said "We are not currently hiring male Massage Therapists." Makes me wonder why they even bothered sending it in the first place, they knew I was male.

However, if you live in an area with a high enough population, this shouldn't have much effect your business. As far as the clients that can be expected goes, most clients who seek out a male therapist (in my experience) do so in the hopes of receiving a deeper massage.

While the general consensus is that men are stronger, so they must do a deeper massage, that is not always the case. In fact, the some of the deepest (and best) massages that I've personally received were given by some of the smallest women that I've known in the field.

Although I did recently stop practicing Massage Therapy, most people came to see me for an integrated Deep Tissue massage. Meaning that, although I incorporated multiple modalities, they primarily wanted deep work. I also got a lot of requests for reflexology. Unfortunately, I only have basic training in reflexology and am not fully certified to practice pure reflexology.

- Joseph A. Pullman

Males in Massage Therapy

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