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I decided to become a MT in 2009. When I started classes in 2010, I soon found that this profession is definitely where I'm supposed to be. My classmates, instructors and personal (friends and family) clients all told me I am a damn good MT. I was working in a corporate cube farm at the time, paying for my schooling and for money to live while I completed my training.Ten months after I graduated, I found an ad in the paper for a MT position at a local chiropractic office. I applied for and got the job. I was so happy! The office manager at the chiro office had told me that she felt my DT technique was weak but she still wanted to hire me. I contacted my school for a refresher on DT and was scheduled to see an instructor the following Monday, however, that Monday morning the office manager called me to come in early because the morning MT had a medical emergency. So, I had to reschedule the refresher course for two weeks later. In those two weeks, I have to admit that I was starting to dislike some of the things that were going on at the chiro office. The clients would see the chiro before me and they would complain about him. I was supposed to report situations like that to the office manager, but I felt that relaying anything said by the client during a session was ethically wrong and may have made things awkward. The chiro and his other staff would refer to me as a chiropractic assistant, which really irritated me. I would have back to back clients with no break in between AND a list of about 30 housekeeping chores I had to do in the 5.5 hours I was there. Most of the time the other nighttime staff were in such a hurry to leave they would close down as soon as the last chiro patient left even though we were supposed to be open until 7. I had no time to do my chore list. When I told the office manager of my concerns, she asked the other two staff members about it and they became very cold towards me, like I was a "rat". I began to hate going to work but I kept a stiff upper lip for my clients because I cared about them and knew they were only being treated by the chiro due to the large balances left on their worker's comp or car insurance claims. The man just doesn't have a good bedside manner and always rushed the clients. Anyway, The Friday before I was supposed to go in for the DT refresher, the office manager called me and fired me because she said a client complained that I wasn't going deep enough. At that moment I felt like a complete failure. I know now that it wasn't the perfect place for me, but being fired from a job that I thought I'd love just makes me so frustrated. Even though it's been a few months, I still feel the sting and I have to constantly tell myself that I'm not a failure. I've turned down other massage jobs because I'm scared it's all going to happen again. Personally, I don't think I was let go because of my DT technique, but I can only take their reason at face value. I'm just looking for advice or other people's experiences to help me get over this fear. I know it's stupid because I'm only holding myself back and it's only one experience.

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You dont need that office..trust me..

Hi Brandy,

Sorry to hear of your stress!  Good advice from above, so I just want to add that it would probably be a good idea to "take their reason at face value" as you say, and get some more DT practice. At least then you'll know you've taken care of THAT issue!

Best.......

Thank you all for replying. Mark- I know they have a high turnover because the ad keeps showing up in the newspaper. I also went through Reiki I training and did use grounding techniques when I felt like I was about to lose it. It's just that my self esteem was bruised by the whole situation, and normally I just get up and brush myself off, but this time it's been difficult. The one important thing I did learn from my experience is that I'm great at relaxation massage. And Lee, I did go for the extra DT training (the Monday after I was fired) and the instructor taught me some simple tricks to keep my focus on the area and to SLOW DOWN! ;) I tend to quicken my glide over the shoulder/neck area.

After typing the original post and this reply, I feel a lot better. I guess I just needed to get it out, read it, and process the emotions. This is the first time I actually talked to other MTs about it so I think that helped too. :)

So many chiro's do not treat their MT's well.  Sad situation for many MT's who do not feel they can leave and do better elsewhere.  From your description of the place I would say they did you a favor.  

Best of luck to you.

  

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