Ethical Massage
Running head: ETHICAL MASSAGE
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ETHICAL MASSAGE Ethical Massage Being a licensed massage therapist for the past eight years in the State of Florida, I have been required to take an ethics course every two years in order to maintain and renew my therapeutic massage and bodywork license. We are required to take continuing education courses which earn us CEs, totally 24 every two years in order to successfully renew our licenses. So, having taken an ethics course several times since my licensure, I am very familiar with the ethical issues that massage therapists and their clients face, along with the Code of Ethics in which massage therapists strive to follow. While there are several ethical issues that massage therapists face in practice, including patient rights, billing and coding, conflicts of
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interest, one of the most common, and most troubling to me, is relationships, particularly relating to dual relationships and sexual misconduct. Every ethical massage therapist strives to achieve the virtue ethics stated by Aristotle and all massage associations‟ Codes of Ethics reflect these virtues in their detail. Ethical massage therapy should be a two-way street between the therapist and the client, each seeking an experience that is not only safe and healthful, but also sacred and respectful. By adhering to virtue ethics, the massage therapy community and their clients can achieve what is morally right in order to attain true happiness. In virtue ethics, “ethical behavior is a result of developed or inherent character tries or virtues. A person will do what is morally right because they are a virtuous person. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) was a famous exponent of this view. Aristotle felt that virtue ethics was the way to attain true happiness.” Among his commonly accepted virtues, the ones that massage therapists strive for in conducting a morally ethical massage include autonomy, beneficence, confidentiality, finality, justice, nonmaleficence,
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ETHICAL MASSAGE Ethical Massage Being a licensed massage therapist for the past eight years in the State of Florida, I have been required to take an ethics course every two years in order to maintain and renew my therapeutic massage and bodywork license. We are required to take continuing education courses which earn us CEs, totally 24 every two years in order to successfully renew our licenses. So, having taken an ethics course several times since my licensure, I am very familiar with the ethical issues that massage therapists and their clients face, along with the Code of Ethics in which massage therapists strive to follow. While there are several ethical issues that massage therapists face in practice, including patient rights, billing and coding, conflicts of
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interest, one of the most common, and most troubling to me, is relationships, particularly relating to dual relationships and sexual misconduct. Every ethical massage therapist strives to achieve the virtue ethics stated by Aristotle and all massage associations‟ Codes of Ethics reflect these virtues in their detail. Ethical massage therapy should be a two-way street between the therapist and the client, each seeking an experience that is not only safe and healthful, but also sacred and respectful. By adhering to virtue ethics, the massage therapy community and their clients can achieve what is morally right in order to attain true happiness. In virtue ethics, “ethical behavior is a result of developed or inherent character tries or virtues. A person will do what is morally right because they are a virtuous person. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) was a famous exponent of this view. Aristotle felt that virtue ethics was the way to attain true happiness.” Among his commonly accepted virtues, the ones that massage therapists strive for in conducting a morally ethical massage include autonomy, beneficence, confidentiality, finality, justice, nonmaleficence,
References: Waterstreet, Charles (2012). Introducing the ethical massage. Society and Culture. From The Sidney Morning Herald. Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-andculture/introducing-the-ethical-massage-20120512-1yjeg.html. Kaprocki, LMT, BS, Paula J. (2011). Ethics for Massage Therapists. 1st Edition. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:qGTfeJzsSCYJ:www.bodybalancing.com/CEU%2520Documents/CEU%2520Document%2520%2520Ethics.pdf+&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESj1VSFFDcbMWpHe2fBwxDu3Ar_FNJhuO91rU-nDxRfXM6GYA95hBbYmmKmTtqIQe5jG7E4fAoLEBax7ryfi4byUTFw2jp8kEqNH66tZouG6bwH3DZifS3HdSI1tnM9TWEfU3&sig=AHI EtbSXgUw3LCFTrqKX-e1CLcpS25F4Eg. National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (2008). Code of Ethics. Retrieved from http://www.ncbtmb.org/about_code_of_ethics.php. Niss, Dr. Michael (2003). Ethics in Massage Therapy. Innovative Educational Services. Retrieved from http://cheapceus.com/course_documents/30/Ethics_In_Massage_Therapy.pdf. Merriam, G. (1999, May 11). Ethics of massage. Missoulian, pp. 1-C1. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/392240919?accountid=32521. 7