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Massage Therapy Fact Sheet

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Massage Makes Strides in Public Acceptance — Consumer Research Overview

Explosive Growth Rate for Massage Training Begins to Flatten

ABMP Practitioner Characteristics and Professional Membership Patterns
Predominant Focus of Work
Location of Service Delivery
Professional Membership Patterns

Influence of National Retailing Trends on Massage

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Practitioner Characteristics and Professional Membership Patterns
ABMP membership surveys indicate the following practitioner characteristics and practice patterns:

Practitioners often see themselves less as business people and more as individuals who view their work as something of a mission. Practitioners report they are motivated by a genuine desire to improve the well-being and healthfulness of clients. Many have left other careers to pursue the opportunity massage therapy offers to help people on a one-to-one basis.

The vast majority are independent practitioners, which creates the usual challenges in operating a business and marketing of services. Research suggests many are hesitant to embrace aggressive, sustained marketing tactics.

For many, massage therapy is a second or third career. Many name lack of fulfillment in previous careers and a desire to be their own boss as reasons for choosing massage therapy and bodywork.

The ABMP 2007 Member Survey also indicates:

The average age of ABMP members graduating in 2007 and entering the profession is 44. The median age is 45. (We believe profession-wide average and median ages are a few years lower.)

Close to 83 percent are women and 54.5 percent are married.

Massage therapists had an average of 14.4 client contact hours (12 hours median) in the week prior to the survey, according to the ABMP member study.

65.6 percent wish they had more clients — 21.2 percent indicated that (more clients) was the one change they would most like to make to their practice.

Nearly half of the respondents (51 percent) report supplementing their income with another job, a job at which they spend an average of 25 hours per week. The top five second occupations include: office/secretary/clerks; massage instructor; medical, including nurses; teacher/education; and sales/retail.

90 percent have at least some college.

Predominant Focus of ABMP Practitioner Work

33.1 percent — deep-tissue/neuromuscular therapy.
31.4 percent — Swedish massage.
5.0 percent — energy work.
3.6 percent — myofascial therapy.
3.1 percent — orthopedic.
18.6 percent — other or not specified.

Most Common Secondary/Additional Practice Techniques used by ABMP Members

93.7 percent — Swedish massage.
83.5 percent — deep-tissue/neuromuscular therapy.
48.1 percent—on-site, such as chair massage and kiosks in malls and airports.
46 percent—energy.
45 percent — reflexology.
44.5 — hot stone.
44.3 percent — sports massage.

Location of Service Delivery
In the week prior to the 2007 ABMP Member Survey, members reported locations where massage had been performed:

35.9 percent of total massages were delivered at the practitioner’s office.
13.7 percent of massages were delivered in practitioners’ homes.
12.2 percent were delivered in chiropractic offices.
10.9 percent were delivered in day spas.
7.4 percent were delivered in massage-only clinics.
7.0 percent were delivered at clients’ homes.

47.2 percent of therapists said they spent their professional time overall in one location, 29.8 percent at two locations and 10.6 percent at three locations.

Professional Membership Patterns
Approximately 40 percent of practicing massage therapists belong to one of two full-service professional membership associations serving the field. Including student members, more than 61,000 belong to ABMP and more than 56,000 to American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA).

AMTA, founded in 1943, has for the past 10 years focused on the recognition of massage therapy by the medical profession, opening the door to respect for practitioners and eligibility for reimbursement by health insurance companies. AMTA has worked steadily at promoting the profession and building a massage research infrastructure.

ABMP was formed in 1987, and has surpassed the American Massage Therapy Association’s membership despite being in operation less than one-third the time AMTA has existed. What AMTA appears to have underestimated over the past two decades is the breadth of interests, career choices and practice parameters chosen by the burgeoning number of massage graduates. Therapists’ diverse practice choices called for responsive professional association support on basic services, with special attention to practice-building help. Early ABMP growth was also partially attributable to a welcoming attitude expressed toward a broad array of massage, bodywork and somatic modalities.

Additionally, a need was felt among a substantial portion of the massage community practicing part-time to have its concerns addressed. For many years, AMTA tried to keep focused on practitioners occupied full time in their field, believing that full-time image was important to gaining acceptance in the medical profession, even though most practicing massage therapists did not fit that full-time profile. (The majority of U.S. practitioners — and even of AMTA members — devote fewer than 20 hours a week to hands-on massage. Many have other part-time work, creating a unique set of needs in promoting and conducting their businesses.)

Glossary of More Than 250 Entries on Massage Treatments
Searchable Archive of More Than 800 Articles, from Acupressure to Zen