47 Years

It is surreal to think of our time here at  4026 Pacific Avenue and how much things have changed over the past 47 years. When we opened our school, life looked bleak in Tacoma and Washinton State. We were in the middle of a recession, it looked like Boeing might close, downtown Tacoma was rundown, littered with superfund cleanup sites, massage was not a respected profession, and the Tacoma Aroma was at its peak. I started this school with the support of my friends to inject positivity, healing, and enlightenment into our own lives, our community, and, hopefully, our city. We never imagined seeing all of those negative things in Tacoma and Washington State improve/change for the better. In our wildest dreams, we never thought massage would be a licensed, respected healthcare profession or that we would still be here 47 years later.

We are looking forward to the next 47 years and all of the exciting, positive changes that lie ahead!

Infectious Disease Policy Update

We recently updated our Infectious Disease Policy to a more global view. As healthcare providers, we are subject to the rules and regulations issued by the Washington State Department of Health. Covid-19 caught us off guard, and we and everyone else were not prepared with a policy to address the situation. We have decided to institute a policy based on all infectious diseases so the following policy is not limited to one disease or another. It is geared toward protecting our patients, staff, students, and providers in the event of an infectious disease outbreak and enables us to raplidy adjust to any situation. Feel free to copy our policy for your own clinic use if needed.

Alexandar School of Natural Therapeutics
Alexandar Massage Clinic and Day Spa

Policy on Infectious Illnesses and Disease Transmission

Our current policy comprehensively addresses all infectious illnesses and diseases with high transmission rates Please take note of the following guidelines:

1. Symptoms of Illness:

• If you experience any symptoms of illness, we strongly recommend that you stay home from school

• Contact your doctor promptly and consider getting tested if testing is available

• Prescreening will continue more as a record of who has visited our campus, similar to signing in at the doctor’s office However, a person exhibiting symptoms of illness may be refused entry or sent home

2. Class Limitations and Vaccination Requirements:

• ASNT will not impose class limitations or mandate vaccinations

• We will not collect vaccination records

• There is no global masking policy in place

3. Exceptions and Special Circumstances:

• However, there may be specific situations where additional measures are necessary:

• Masking: Masking requirements may be enforced based on factors such as community spread rates, community hospitalization rates, or individual requests

• Class Pauses: Classes may be temporarily paused due to illness/disease outbreaks within the program

• Vaccination Proof: In certain circumstances (eg, for immunocompromised individuals), vaccination proof may be required

4. Scope of Policy:

• This policy applies to all infectious diseases with high transmission rates, not limited to any specific pathogen

5. Ongoing Updates:

• As the situation evolves, we will continue to provide updates and relevant information

6. We Recommend:

• Discussing with your doctor and receiving appropriate vaccines for healthcare workers

• Being prepared to mask at any given time

• Practicing good preventative measures while on and off campus

Thank you for your attention, and please stay informed as we adapt to changing circumstances.

Interstate Massage Compact

For many years, the massage profession has been working towards a system that permits Licensed Massage Therapists to transfer between states without significant work, expense, time, and sometimes, extra education. The Interstate Massage Compact is the first significantly organized attempt to organize this benefit. The Washington State Massage Therapy Association has a thorough review of this on their website at the following link. We believe that this is the most comprehensive overview of the proposal and it is worthwhile to review this even if you have no plans to ever move. The WSMTA also has a section on their position regarding Washington State participating in the compact.

While the current proposed compact is not perfect, it is a good starting place for something that is long overdue. You can review all of the information on the compact at the following link: 1. https://www.mywsmta.org/page-1075510

Please consider supporting the WSMTA with membership. They are our state's most active massage organization and provide a valuable service to Washington State Massage Therapists.

Our next blog will review the Massage Therapy Body of Knowledge. What is it, and why it is time for an update to this document.

Free Research CEU From The AMTA

Greetings!

The AMTA website hosts a plethora of videos from the International Massage Therapy Research Conference (IMRTC). Each video is approximately an hour long and covers research on various subjects. These videos come with a final exam at the end, which grants you one hour of CE credit at no cost. The videos are free for both AMTA members and non-members. However, we are not sure how the non-member section works, or if it exists.

Based on my experience, research presentations generally follow a specific format that includes an introduction, declaration, and description of the research study, the mechanics of how the study was conducted, and the results of the study. If you have not attended a research presentation before, it may seem a little tedious and boring at first. However, like anything unfamiliar, this takes a bit of practice. Once you watch a couple of these videos, you will get into the rhythm and begin to gain important, practical insights from the studies.

Please note that these studies are not about a particular technique or application of a routine. The insights you gain will speak to the effectiveness of massage for certain conditions and educate you on some particulars of the conditions or situations that were the target of the research.

“Pro Tip: Take the exam first to gain insight into the emphasis of the presentation. You will have to reload the lesson after the exam; however, you will have a better idea of what to listen/watch for during the presentation.”

AMTA CE Link

MTF Home - Massage Therapy Foundation

Graduation Thoughts

Reflecting on graduation of our August 2018 class. It is a great pleasure to see our students come together at the end of our program for one final day together. Once graduation concludes. We meet families, friends and begin to know our students as colleagues, as fellow massage practitioners. It truly is a wonderful occasion.

At all graduations, a popular topic of conversation is, what are former students going to do with their “free-time” now that they are out of school. Another is what are we, the staff and faculty going to do now that we have a ‘month-off’. Most people assume we take a break. Wrong, we and the school staff begin working through a list of priorities to prepare for our next incoming class. We almost never get through our entire wish-list, it is one of our busiest times of the year (The other is when our February Class graduates).

Graduates, I urge you to not take too much time off. Develop a list of priorities to work through while you are waiting for the state to process your paperwork. Take your exams as soon as possible, if you still owe work get it turned-in. Begin developing your online marketing presence, your website, your resume, etc. This way, you are ready to go once you are licensed. So often we see grads take time off or wait to take their test and before they know it, 6-months pass and still, no license. Students that only owe a couple assignments or internship hours linger instead of getting their work in. Time passes too quickly to let these things sit. 

Most of all, welcome to our profession and keep in touch with us!

Being Present

When I started my massage career, I was pleasantly surprised by the schedule flexibility available to me in my new career. For the first time in my life, I was able to have a schedule that complimented my life. To this day, schedule flexibility is an important facet of my healthy lifestyle.

This being said, once I set a schedule, I stuck to it. I showed up to work early, did not cancel appointments, and did not run over on appointment times. If I had no appointments, I went to my office and was available for last-minute appointments. A consistent client complaint about "other therapists" was unreliability, constantly changing schedule, canceled appointment. This only served to strengthen my belief in being at my office during my scheduled hours. 

This is when I learned the real meaning of “Being Present”. Presence is not just giving your attention to the moment you are in or to the person you are with. It is also about building a “Presence” for yourself and in my case, in my practice, and in later years, my school. This can only be done by physically being at your office or in your practice.

I understand "life happens" and you have to take care of “something important”. All too often a chain of “something important” things occur which create a habit, then our practices fall by the wayside. Many practitioners fall into this trap and have a harder time getting clients. If you really dig down, you will find many people who have a hard time getting clients, are not actually practicing “Presence”. 

I strongly urge new practitioners to pick a schedule they can stick to without fail. I urge them to be at their practice location during those hours even if they do not have clients booked. When I had no clients, I would check-in with clients I had not seen in a while, researched CE courses, designed spa treatments, cleaned my office space, etc. I worked to establish my “Presence”. Today, practitioners can market themselves online, email clients, learn how to build their own website and get listed on search engines and in directories in addition to the things I did. 

I feel that now, more than ever, there are endless opportunities for those who are willing to be “Present”. 

Epilogue: Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a beautiful representation of "Being Present"

Why Massage...

Personally, I selected massage as a career over 40 years ago because it fit my lifestyle. I ate health food, practiced yoga & exercised, meditated, etc. It appeared to me, that massage was a natural fit. So, I enrolled in massage school with Heida Brenneke. Back in those days, that made you a "hippy" or a "new ager". Today, this "lifestyle" is a mainstream choice which makes me very happy. 

Shortly after graduating massage school, Heida got me involved in massage politics. We worked hard to bring our profession into the mainstream and gain recognition from the medical community. We passed state legislation, set education standards, suggested regulations, and established ethics rules for our profession. We also worked with the medical community and insurance commissioner to gain a place in health insurance benefit plans. I think this hard work during those years of our profession contributed to a general change in attitudes toward choices like eating healthy, practicing yoga, etc. 

40 years ago, my friends and I dreamed of changing the world. While I am sometimes disheartened by our "world of today", I can see that we did contribute to substantial change in peoples attitudes toward healthy lifestyles and how to achieve them