Did I get your attention?
Actually if you were the type of person that would be looking for that kind of service you wouldn’t be here. Really.
What I am talking about is our Client List which is private. Confidentiality is just that. We do not share our client’s information with anyone. If there is a reason your Physician or Health Care Provider needs to know you are planning on or getting massage sessions we will request you to notify them. That is just the way it is done.
Some Massage Therapists do not understand what the big deal is. One would hope that clients would love you and refer to you and not care what anyone thinks. That is not always the truth though. Some people just want their privacy respected. And that is okay. A client once said “My wife knows I come to see you, she comes to see you. It isn’t any of my co-workers business though”.
Everyone has their rights to privacy. More than one Massage Therapist has shared their concern that, the secrecy implies they are doing something different than Massage Therapy. This is not true at all. The thing is that many people including Massage Therapist equate getting a massage to getting their hair done. With so many Massage Therapists working in Salons, Spas and Beauty Shops it isn’t surprising there is some confusion. It isn’t confusion it is culture. The culture of the clients of Salons, Spas and Beauty Shops is more tribal, they get most of their services in a common area and or walk through a common area with many people receiving services so there is no anonymity.
On the other hand many people equate getting their massage as therapy and considering it is done in a more private setting expect that privacy. With Massage Therapy actually becoming more accepted as a healthcare career people will expect even more privacy. Many Massage Therapists are already aware of and following HIPPA Guidelines.
We have been appalled and shocked at the number of Massage Therapists that in public, in person, on their websites and on facebook out their clients. Not that it is any embarrassment to be someone’s massage client but, it is just common courtesy to get people’s permission or just don’t do it.
It doesn’t matter if they have been a client forever or just one time, if they are alive or dead. That is just so wrong on so many levels. It is after all unnecessary. What is someone trying to say when they identify someone as a client?
Our perception is that they are working in an area that may have a different culture about privacy, like a Salon, Spa or Beauty Shop. They are still probably great Massage Therapists. They may be lacking in self-esteem, seeking attention and have some questionable approaches to ethics and boundaries. Of course this is just our opinion. What matters is that we choose to be unquestionable about people’s privacy and information.
We do not sell our client’s information to mailing lists. We have even witnessed a massage therapist bragging to other massage therapists about the residual income they receive from selling their client list and imply that WE are the stupid ones for missing out on this opportunity. Thanks, we’ll pass on that.
Over the years we have worked with a large number of famous people in sports, entertainment and other areas. They always appreciated us having a private separate entrance, scheduling that 30 minutes in between clients so they are not running into our next client and not publishing or announcing that they were getting a massage from one of us.
We could have went nuts recently over the number of Olympians we have worked with. Football season is coming up and there is a huge list of players we worked with in college that are now in the league and even league players that still consider us their massage therapists. The interesting thing is that famous entertainers and athletes have never been that challenging to work with. More of a challenge is to work with people that have Chronic Pain, Cancer and Lymphadema. We are up to that challenge but, we do not drop names.
Maybe that is the key. We don’t own people. We don’t own you. We don’t own your information. We won’t even bring it up if we run into you at the supermarket. You would have to be the one bringing it up. You are not our client, we are honored to be Your Massage Therapist. We would love it if you referred your friends.