From the Background Paper for the Future of Bodywork Seminar
"Where Do We Go From Here?" held November 19, 2009
by Jack Blackburn, MTS-SD, LMP
Financial Situations Now and in the Future
Are most bodyworkers self-supporting or are they being subsidized by others? How many bodyworkers are supporting a family on their earnings? If others (e. g. partners, parents, friends) are subsidizing us, what does that say about our overall financial situation? Does that mean that our prices are also being subsidized? Does that mean that our expenses are too high (especially for our education)?
a. Practitioners Finances
Most bodyworkers who are just giving sessions are making modest incomes. Those who are working for spa outlets are generally making a small amount per session, plus tips. How many bodyworkers have been able to pay back their school loans? How many can afford health insurance, vacations, new equipment, continuing education classes? How many are able to successfully work with 3rd party payers? How many are being supported by a major breadwinner? How many have successful practices? How many are working other jobs... and how many are only able to see a few clients a week? What is their relationship to the current financial crisis? How many are becoming unemployed who worked at spas and clinics? As in other trades, to make more money a practitioner has to employ others, have other skills, teach classes, write articles, or offer supervision and mentoring. How many practitioners are able to support a family, even a single parent family, without outside help?
b. Financial situation - Schools
In general, bodywork schools are charging more money each year, curriculum may also be increasing, students are younger... many freshly out of high school, trainings are longer, teachers are underpaid, dropout rate is increasing, and fewer graduates are able to make it financially. Many of the most successful schools of the past have been closed or sold to corporations. There are many school owners themselves, who are concerned. But many also feel their own financial survival threatened. What is happening to bodywork education? How should current practitioners respond to such a situation? Without an active union-style organization, there is little that practitioners can do about the schools and the corporatization of their profession. Years ago nurses organized themselves for the same reasons. What is producing these changes and should we be concerned about them?
c. Financial situation - Individual proprietary modalities
What does the future hold for the modalities that were developed separately from the bodywork schools? There are many examples: Trager, Rolfing, Feldenkrais, Aston Patterning, Hellerwork, Craniosacral, various schools of energy work and martial arts therapies. Because of high cost, the enrolment of students is down significantly. What will happen to these systems that require credentialing beyond massage licensure? Will they move away from credentialing? What will happen to those systems, like Feldenkrais, Rolfing and Hellerwork, that offer extensive and valuable training in order to qualify for practitionership? Many practitioners who have credentialed in these approaches are creating their own syntheses... some are even creating new forms of proprietary bodywork. Will these proprietary approaches become less proprietary? Will they become synthesized with other forms of bodywork? The average practitioner is aware of the benefits of these approaches, but is also concerned about entering into training tracks with high costs and large time commitments. Should the proprietary modalities change the ways they are taught? Should they contribute their experience and benefits to the overall knowledge pool of bodywork? Should they become less protective and more available?
For more information about this event, or biographies of the panelists, please visit the Future of Bodywork.
