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I once had a client who was experiencing domestic violence. I would have loved a plan for how to handle that. I did my best, but I would have loved to know what is most appropriate or most helpful there. Since she didn’t ask for help and lied about where her bruises were from, there was nothing I could do, and I hated that feeling. That was several years ago, and I still think about her and if I could have done anything differently.

More business education. More interaction between pharmaceuticals in massage, a certain amount of chemistry to understand the products we apply to people’s skin, and updated information, since so much that is taught in massage school is 10–20 years outdated.

Medical anatomy to understand whole-body functions. Kinesiology of whole-body movement with cause and effect of each movement.

Communicating with clients. It’s something we barely glossed over yet is vital for treatment success.

How to successfully create, run, and market a private practice.

Good assessment skills and treatment planning based on assessment.

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How important it is to pace yourself, take care of yourself, and not allow yourself to be overworked and underpaid by franchises and other businesses.

Kinesiology for sure. Also, I think having some kind of class where we role-play uncomfortable situations with clients would have been nice.

That school is just the start. You need to have a niche specialty or two.

There’s really not much my instructors didn’t cover. They were extremely thorough. That being said, I’m still learning in this profession daily (even in my hands-off interactions). Massage in relation to the medical field and politics, a comprehensive understanding of regulatory agencies within our country/specific state, and how to handle uncomfortable situations with clients—these [skills] all come with time, continued research/involvement, or experience. My education didn’t stop when I passed the MBLEx. I’ll be a forever student of massage and I couldn’t be happier!

Definitely the business side of it all, and kinesiology.

Even the best school doesn’t teach you everything, but hopefully they help you find resources to continue to educate yourself. Outside A&P, which we all could spend years studying, business operations, including general tax information and what goes into running a business. 

There’s a big shift for MTs to be on their own, but that doesn’t mean they have business operations in place for longevity, balanced books, and realistic expectations for building a client base or setting prices within their market.

How to talk to and be with clients when they are in pain. Better communication about assessment so we don’t sound judgmental.

A clear layout of massage therapy governance! How the regulatory agency works/meets, how to find information about the board/members, meetings, agendas . . . and a clear lay of the land about our national organizations, what each of them does, and how to find resources from all of them! Paying attention to the changes going on in the profession and being able to comprehend and communicate it to others is the mark of a committed practitioner.

It would be nice to have your basic training, then advanced training within those hourly requirements. Advanced training would be in areas of massage you might want to specialize, such as sports, medical, spa, business, education, etc. Everyone would get the same “pass the MBLEx” training, then a sort of “intro to your area of interest.”

I wish more MT schools were unbiased as far as influencing where therapists should practice upon licensure . . . I think educating MTs about all possibilities, green flags, red flags, and the true cost of solo practice is important.

Employee rights and protections under the EEOC, NLRA, OSHA, and Department of Labor. My school’s career development only focused on being self-employed, which left us very vulnerable to employee misclassification scams. Even independent MTs will frequently spend a day or two a week as an employee at a spa or studio.

How to connect with clients and make the rebooking process more seamless and comfortable. How technique is only one piece of the puzzle when it comes to creating a thriving practice.

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More hospitality profession standards. I am lucky I worked in hospitality previous to getting my education in massage therapy, but I see so many MTs enter the field being trained as complementary medicine practitioners, when in reality, the majority of jobs available to us are in the hospitality industry, and (those MTs) are not prepared to be “customer service” types.

The reality of doing business. Can massage therapists truly make a good living and thrive as MTs? I see so many MTs struggling, sparse bookings, and can’t make ends meet—even if they are niched. And there seems to be no solid reason for the feast or famine. Some months are excellent and others very tough. The only ones who aren’t stressed about how little income they are making are MTs who are married to someone who is making the main income and their massage therapy practice is the extra income. Then, there is the toll this work takes on the body.

Lymphatic anatomy! It was not even included in [my] A&P!

I attended massage school in the early ’90s, before most states began regulating the practice (at the time only 17 states were regulated). Then, I wish more time had been spent on starting and running a business—being an entrepreneur. Now, I wish schools would teach how to be an employee.