My Job: Massage therapist

Sharon Wood is a massage therapist and trainer. Photo / Graeme Sedal

Name: Sharon Wood.
Occupation: Massage therapist, self-employed.
Age: 45.
Working hours: Probably 40 hours with all jobs combined.
Pay scale: Between $80 to $100 an hour for specialised massages, plus contract pay for teaching at the college and salary from community job.
Qualifications: Bachelor of Health Studies (Massage & Neuromuscular Therapy), New Zealand College of Massage.

Describe your job.

I work as a massage therapist. I'm self-employed and own the NMT Care clinic in West Harbour which is integrated with an osteopath.

At the clinic, I specialise in headaches and migraines and people with high stress levels. This involves soft tissue treatment combined with massage therapy. Soft tissue is a form of treatment that includes working with the muscles, fascia, ligaments and tendons.

I have about 15 clients a week as well as running the clinic. I also work 20 hours each week for the New Zealand College of Massage as Community Liaison Officer. As part of their training, students do practical work in the community to enhance their learning. If they are our first-year students, they might go out to a home for the elderly, say 10 hours a week, and practise what they've learnt. If they're our third-year degree students, some are out in specialised sports placements like the Warriors or Auckland rugby, and some of them are in medical clinics. I co-ordinate this programme, mixing and matching so students are in the right places. It's a great programme for giving students experience but it's also a fabulous way of taking massage out into the community; showing what we do and all the different types of massage.

I am a contract teacher as well at the college, taking sessions on stress and teaching specialised routines around the neck and the cranium.

What skills/training are needed to be a good massage therapist?

A sound knowledge of the science of the body and the ability to blend that with your heart. A lot of people look to massage for a change in their career where they feel they can do something meaningful. You do have to have a sound knowledge of the body, the mechanics and the integration of the systems but you need to be able to blend that with compassion and caring. It's a job where you interact closely with people on many levels.

Your work background and training?

After I left school, I finished a diploma of business studies and worked in insurance and marketing and then as a personnel consultant, and I guess that was where the interest in people came from as it was working with people one-on-one.

When I had my boys and was still in hospital, Plunket taught me how to do baby massage. I came home and practised, then went along to the college to learn about massage because I just loved it. I did the diploma in therapeutic massage and graduated in 1997. You can do everything at the college part-time which is ideal when your children are young. When I graduated I went back and finished my diploma of body therapies and then a specialised diploma of clinical neuromuscular therapy. I also did some private study on mind/body medicine and integrated health care, and last year finished my bachelor degree.

With the degree, I extended my knowledge further in the areas of biomechanics, health psychology, biochemical interventions and research methodology. With my work in the community, I liaise with osteopaths, doctors and physiotherapists. When working in the field of complementary medicine I feel it is important, as a professional, to support my practice with the best possible qualifications available in my field.

Why is your job important?

It helps people to make change, lets them know that we can take control of our bodies; we don't have to be a victim to pain and stress.

The best part of your work?

It's assisting people so they realise they can be in control of their stress levels and their pain; and how those things interact in the body especially in the musculoskeletal system. A lot of people don't realise how it does impact, not necessarily thinking of a headache as dysfunction in the neck or pelvis.

The challenges?

Sometimes you're working long hours. You have to look after yourself. I find that 15, 16 clients a week is a comfortable number to cope with. I have colleagues who will do 25 a week.

Do you get time to have massages?

Yes, we look after each other at the clinic. Sometimes we get tired and sore with what we are doing, so I get treatments. I do have to say that relaxation massages are fantastic.

Advice for someone considering a similar career?

Have a go. Do a weekend course at the college and see whether you love it or not. Within the massage world there are so many different areas that you can explore. You can find something that covers your interests and what you enjoy in life.