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New Grad

Got my diploma from ASMT on 12-20-13 !!!!!!!!!!!!! Wahoooo!! License won't be activated probably until end of Feb. I am so ready to start my new career. Start helping people help themselves get better.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Pyle on December 26, 2013 at 4:06pm

Thanks for your encouragement Mark. Worked my a$$ off putting in over 800 school hrs and performed bodywork on over 100 people during my clinicals. Time to get paid for my hard work.!!! LOL My ultimate goal(s) are working for "Elite Sports Integrative Therapy" Great company in Arizona for sports work. Anthony Marino's (owner) passion came out when he was invited to address my classmates and I about his experiences as a graduate of ASMT and now a business person. (www.esitherapy.com)

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Permalink Reply by Jed Heneberry on December 26, 2013 at 5:16pm

Congrats Bob!

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Permalink Reply by Bob Pyle on December 26, 2013 at 5:20pm

Thanks Jed! Gonna be picking the brains of you seasoned veterans for guidance and advice.

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Permalink Reply by Jed Heneberry on December 26, 2013 at 5:22pm

No seasoned vet here, but if we at ABMP can help in any way, let us know!

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Permalink Reply by Therese Schwartz on December 29, 2013 at 7:58pm

I've been doing massage and other forms of bodywork for 6 years now. It's been great! Not every day is fantastic - some days it's really hard to get through a session. But overall it's a very rewarding career. I only had 635 hours of school and it was tough by the end! So kudos for making it through.

Like Mark, I learn something every day (even if that's something not to do!).

One thing to keep in mind with your goal of working with athletes (well, any clients really!) is that more pressure is almost always not better. Try lighter first; then if you find that you still have to sink deeper you can do so carefully and with tissue that is prepared for it. And, never push through a resistance. Allow the tissue to dictate the speed at which it releases.

I don't know where all that came from! But I hope it helps!

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Permalink Reply by Bob Pyle on December 30, 2013 at 7:06am

Thanks Therese

I think the biggest advantage I had over most of my fellow students is I have had a couple dozen massages before I went to school. I know what a good massage feels like (to me anyway), I also know what I didn't like about my massages. As I progresses thru the program, I learned how to let the body and muscles tell me what needs to be done. Also listening to the client is the utmost important, its their body! Yes, knowing what needs to be done will gauge what pressure is needed or what type of modality. I just listen to the muscles and what my hands feel. During clinicals, quite a few clients wanted Deep Tissue work, but most people can't handle deep tissue, they think they can, but they can't.

In my typical "fluff and buff" I will use a min. of 3 or 4 different modalities. I don't like the same feeling of the same modality on my body during a massage unless I am trying to achieve a certain protocol. I want to feel that therapist working my body, not just killing time to make their quota for the day. I know I am ready to help people with this new career. I am looking forward to all of it!!!!!!

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Permalink Reply by Therese Schwartz on December 31, 2013 at 10:35pm

That's fantastic that you had experience receiving massages! I have what is technically called "tactile defensiveness" (it's part of a long list of sensory processing disorders that I have!) and so I hadn't had a massage before I started school. I had to learn to be OK with being touched! Weird, I know! I do fine now.