MT FEES AND COURTESY RATES:
Do You Get What You Pay For?

Few lay people realize that there is a huge difference, a difference in kind, between massage offered--even if legitimately--as a frivolous luxury in the beauty/rubbing salons and boutiques and professional-quality massage therapy offered as a valid and reliable health service. It shouldn't surprise as smart an internaut as you, however, to hear that, consistent with its general purpose and style, the Beauty & Fitness industry uses massage as a packaging sales tool for other products, and that to maximize profits, they depend on relatively cheap, inexperienced labor to assemble as many bodies on their massage-lines as fast as possible.

You already know that our site is the central voice of all massage therapists who are committed to a professional-quality, client-centered way of practicing their healing art. Our purpose is to work in a way which is focused on the health needs of the client/patient and gain as much experience and insight in the process. To keep up with what is highly demanding work, physically and mentally, professional-quality MTs will do well to limit their clinical workload to about four hourly sessions per day. A few techniques have recently been invented as if to allow unlimited massage work without the typical tiring, burn out, or repetitive strain injuries--but don't count on them for quality . . . With experience, continuing educational training, and a professional setting, half an hour of a professional-quality MT session delivers more than an hour and a half with a newbie or with an old-hack "assembly-liner"--not to mention that it saves your valuable time. Depending on office location, experience, related education, and reputation, you can expect a range from $50.00 to $250.00 (including professional house-calls) per hourly session. Not to be confused with the commercial massage variety (which sounds inexpensive but actually is), professional-quality MT, by contrast, is one of the least expensive labor-intensive, expert health services.

While it is not customary to argue or haggle over their professional fee, many massage therapists offer courtesy rates for a pre-paid series or for membership in a particular organization. They may from time to time offer free intake consultations or other fee incentives. To accommodate a client/patient in financial hardship , a sliding scale may also be offered.

Feel free to clarify all financial matters before your first MT session. Unless otherwise arranged in advance, payment accompanies each session. Due to the typical work schedule of massage therapists, a cancelled session policy will require at least 24-hour notice, or the full fee will be due. And please do not offer a tip. Like other licensed professionals, professional-quality massage therapists do not accept tips.

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