How to Become a Massage Therapist

July 8, 2022

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Massage therapists provide massage services to their clients, manipulating their muscles and soft tissues to help them to feel more relaxed. The ultimate goal of a massage therapist is to improve the health and wellbeing of their clients. As a massage therapist, you would work in a hands-on role, interacting with a wide range of people on a daily basis. This is a great career path if you’re confident, outgoing, and want to work in a role where you get to help others every day.

Are you thinking of pursuing a career as a massage therapist? From the qualifications needed to be a massage therapist to the type of massage therapist salary you can expect to achieve, here’s everything you need to know about how to become a massage therapist:

What is a Massage Therapist?

The role of the massage therapist will depend on the unique needs of their client: some clients will want a generalised soft tissue massage to alleviate their aches and pains. Others will need more intensive sports massages to meet their athletic needs. And some will simply want to relax. There are a number of reasons that clients will visit a massage therapist, and your role will be to provide a wide range of services that meet all of these needs.

Whilst the role of a massive therapist is an incredibly demanding one, there are a huge number of benefits of choosing this career path. These benefits include:

The ability to work flexibly and set your own working hours. Many massage therapists are self-employed, which means they can work around both their client’s needs and their own needs too. This is a great job if you need to work around your family or wish to maintain a good work-life balance.
Helping other people. There are very few roles where you can make a positive impact on the lives of other people so quickly. But as a massage therapist, you can help to relieve muscle tension and pain in as little as a single session.
Keep active as you work. If you like to keep active, then pursuing a career as a massage therapist might be the right choice for you. This is a physically demanding role and one that will see you keeping fit and healthy whilst looking after the needs of your clients.
Constantly meeting new people. If you like to meet people from all different walks of life, then the role of a massage therapist is a good one. You will meet a wide range of different people in this role, which will help you to continually improve and develop new skills.

As a massage therapist, you could work in a variety of different locations: this includes a therapy clinic, at a health spa or from home (either your own or the homes of your clients). You may need to wear a uniform, and some massage therapists will offer other complementary therapies such as aromatherapy, reiki or reflexology. These well-being therapies often work well in conjunction with massage, creating a relaxed and calming environment.

Personal Qualities of a Massage Therapist

If you enjoy working with your hands and want to make an immediate positive impact on the lives of the people that you work with then a career as a massage therapist could be the perfect choice for you. Some of the personal qualities you will need to have in order to succeed as a massage therapist include:

Feeling comfortable in the presence of strangers. The role of a massage therapist is an incredibly intimate one. You will need to feel comfortable and able to put your clients at ease in your presence.
Confidence and good interpersonal skills. A successful massage therapist can interact with clients from all walks of life, build trust with their clients, and create a good professional relationship.
Knowledge of human physiology and an understanding of how the human body works
Empathy and understanding of your clients’ needs
Manual dexterity and the ability to work well with your hands
Patience and the ability to remain calm under pressure; the human body rarely behaves as you would expect, which means that therapy situations can sometimes become stressful.
A good level of physical fitness, because as a massage therapist you will be on your feet for long periods of time. This is an incredibly active role that can be physically demanding.
Tact and discretion. Receiving a massage is an incredibly intimate experience and some clients may feel nervous about the experience, particularly if they have never had a massage before.
Excellent listening skills, so that you can understand your clients’ unique needs, and provide the right massage services that will meet these needs.
A certain level of computer literacy to enable you to take details or carry out certain tasks on a handheld device or tablet computer.

What a Massage Therapist Does

As a massage therapist you can expect the everyday responsibilities of the role to include:

Consulting with clients to determine problem areas and working with your clients to devise a treatment plan best suited to their needs and their budget.
Take details from your clients about their lifestyle, diet and medical history. You should create written recordings of these details and store these files safely.
Provide massage services. There are many different types of massage that you could provide, with the most common including, but not limited to: Swedish massage, shiatsu massage, sports massage and deep tissue massage.
Use the massage services that you administer to apply pressure to tension areas and leave your clients feeling less stressed and more relaxed.
Provide advice and support to your clients about lifestyle changes they can make to improve the health of their muscles in the long term. This could include exercise techniques or posture changes.
Maintain comprehensive records of your clients’ appointments, updating your appointment book, booking follow-up appointments for your clients, and minimising any cancellations.
If you are self-employed, your role will involve promoting your services and attracting new clients. This could include promoting your business on social media, encouraging word of mouth promotion, and offering attractive deals to long-term clients.
Referring your clients to medical professionals if you feel that further care is required.

How Much Does a Massage Therapist Earn?

A massage therapist’s salary will vary wildly depending on your level of experience and the number of hours that you work. Massage therapists have the potential to earn an average of between £8.07 and £48.69 per hour. If we assume that the average massage therapist will work for 20 hours a week then that means your annual salary expectations could be between £8,392.80 and £50,637.60. If you work in a full-time position of between 37 and 39 hours per week then your annual salary could be significantly higher than this.

If you become a self-employed massage therapist then you can set your own hourly rates and your own working hours, but you should research the prices and services offered by other therapists in your area to ensure the hours you are setting are competitive. This is likely to provide the highest salary potential for a massage therapist. But you should note that if you choose to become a self-employed massage therapist you will be responsible for all of the costs you will incur in providing your services. And if you establish your own premises or therapy centre, you will need to secure a massage and special treatment licence . This is true even if you operate your massage therapy services from your own private address. Besides the premises for massage and special treatment having to be licensed, the therapist who provides the treatment also has to be registered with the council that the premise is located in.

Qualifications Needed for a Massage Therapist

You don’t need a degree to become a massage therapist. In fact, there is no core set of training requirements that you will need to work as a massage therapist, meaning that you could begin operating as a massage therapist with no qualifications at all. However, if you wish to work within a therapy clinic your employer is likely to require you to have certain qualifications, and if you wish to become self-employed then your client base will expect you to have undertaken training in order to fulfil your role. You can gain these qualifications through either on-the-job training or a college course. Just some examples of the courses that you could take to enhance your massage therapy skills include:

Level 3 Diploma in Massage
Level 3 Diploma in Sports Massage Therapy
Level 3 Diploma in Complementary Therapies

In order to secure a place on a level 3 course, you will usually need to have 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent. If you would rather take a more hands-on approach and start developing your massage therapy skills as soon as possible then you may consider securing an apprenticeship instead. You can gain apprenticeships to become a holistic well-being practitioner or a beauty therapist. In order to secure an apprenticeship for either of these roles, you will usually need to have 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship.

On-the-Job Training

Because massage therapy is such a hands-on role, many therapists learn their skills by training on the job. Some massage therapists will learn their skills solely through on-the-job training, though you are strongly advised to secure a professional qualification, as this will cover essential lessons such as human physiology, correct massage techniques, and practical skills such as how to secure clients for your massage therapy business.
If you are considering becoming self-employed and operating your own massage therapy business then you may wish to consider additional training in how to establish your own business. From keeping balanced accounts to securing new clients, running a business can be hard work and overwhelming if you’ve never done it before. Any of the following courses could be hugely beneficial in helping you to manage your own massage therapy business successfully:

What’s more, taking a business-related course will give you a series of transferable skills that you can use if your interest in massage therapy wanes at any point.

Professional Bodies

The General Council for Soft Tissue Therapies (GCMT) is the largest professional body for massage therapists in the UK. As a non-profit organisation, the main aims of the GCMT are to improve educational standards within the massage therapy community, to create best practice guidelines, and to lobby for better regulation, insurance and employment within the sector. Joining a professional body dedicated to your chosen profession can be incredibly beneficial for your career: sod me of the benefits of joining the GCMT include having the opportunity to have a say in how the development of the profession is managed, and on which best guidelines practices will best serve the wider massage therapy community.

Other professional bodies that are aimed at qualified massage therapists include the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC). Some of the most significant benefits of CNHC membership include the opportunity to show your client base that you take your commitment to massage therapy seriously and that you uphold the highest possible standards in your work. You will also be listed on an accredited public register that could increase your client base, and you may find that your services receive medical recommendations: Doctors are able to refer patients to practitioners on Accredited Registers. This includes everyone registered with CNHC.

If you would like to join a more specialist body tailored to the unique massage therapy services that you provide then the following comprehensive list of professional bodies may prove particularly beneficial: