Scope of Practice

Additionally, massage therapists need to know their scope of practice and be aware of their professional limitations. This includes knowing when to terminate treatment and refer out. “When progress has stopped, but pain persists, it might be time to refer them to a different health care provider,” Middleswarth notes.

Recognizing and admitting when you are no longer able to help your client may be one of your toughest challenges professionally, but in order to practice ethically, you need to know when your clients need something other than massage therapy.

Written Policies

Finally, things like contracts and office policies can lead to tricky situations and ethical dilemmas when the terms and conditions are not clearly spelled out.

For example, your policies regarding late clients and cancellation fees need to be clearly communicated to your clients at the time of booking. There are many options regarding cancellation policies, but no matter what policy you institute, make sure your clients are fully aware of the consequences of a missed session. Quoted from the page royalspacolumbia

Effectively communicating your policies can help you avoid losing time, money and potential clients.

Additionally, if you are an employer, having written policies that outline the expectations you have of your employees is very helpful. Things like mandatory staff meetings and professional expectations should be covered in your employee agreement in order to prevent any misunderstandings between you and your staff. It is also best practice to discuss ethics with your employees to protect the reputation of your practice.

Practicing Self-Awareness
According to Middleswarth, massage therapists can better navigate the muddied waters of ethical dilemmas by practicing self-awareness.

Ask yourself some basic questions: Am I stressed? Am I tired? Am I emotionally running empty? Do I have a supportive social network? “If we are needy in any way,” Middleswarth warns, “we are particularly susceptible to stepping over boundaries.”

Although you’ve heard this advice before countless times: You need to take care of yourself in order to properly take care of your clients. Sometimes that means firing a difficult client who is taking up more of your energy than you can afford to spend.

Or, making sure that at the end of your work day, you are leaving your professional life at the office. When you are feeling overstretched and depleted, keeping your boundaries firm and in place can be much harder than when you are well-rested and practicing self-care.

Self-assessment allows us to be better with our self-care. If you know the areas where you might be particularly vulnerable you can better find ways to manage what you find challenging. Massage therapists should be self-assessing continually, asking yourself some of the following important questions on a regular basis:

What are my strengths?
What do I need to work on?
Is there a type of client that I am not comfortable working with (children,
for example)?
Am I holding to my boundaries with all my clients?