Spas That Hire Desperately are Often Negligent

Because of the increased demand for massage and the low supply of experienced massage therapists, spas have resorted to hiring massage therapists right out of school. During my 20 years as an expert witness in cases of sexual assault in a massage context, I have found spas that hire desperately are often negligent.

 

 

Background on the Massage School Industry

First, some background on the massage school industry. In the early 2000s, massage was booming. Large corporations saw the potential for profit and began buying up massage schools all over the country.

 

But in order to get the fast profit they wanted, these corporations cut the highly paid staff of experienced teachers and instead hired recent graduates with little or no experience. They cut teacher training programs, communication skills courses, business courses, and the majority of the ethics curriculum.

 

These now corporate-owned massage schools then changed their applicant criteria and began recruiting people right out of high school into their massage programs. This lowered criteria did not take into account emotional maturity or professionalism – key requirements for a good therapist.

 

Even with all of the slashing and burning, these corporate-owned massage schools had difficulty turning a high profit, and many closed down. Within the past 5-10 years, there are now about half the number of schools there used to be. The corresponding drop in graduates has led to the low supply that spas have to hire from.

 

 

Why Brand New Massage Therapists Are Not Recommended

This current educational landscape is why brand new massage therapists are not recommended. The graduates from these massage schools are no longer at the same level as years past. They have less ethics education, less communication practice, and possibly less emotional maturity.

 

And when a massage therapist is hired right out of school, they have no real-world experience. Spa-provided training programs and supervision must be in place to account for these deficits. Putting untested practitioners in a room with vulnerable clients creates an environment open to the risk of sexual assault. And if spas do nothing to prevent that risk, they are negligent.

 

 

Strong Programs Needed When Hiring New Massage Therapists

In previous blog posts, I discussed the need for thorough hiring practices and comprehensive ethics training. These programs, in addition to clinical supervision, greatly decrease the likelihood of misconduct incidents, and are even more important when hiring new graduates.

 

Hiring

Verbal and practical interviews must be conducted, and challenging “red-flag” questions must be asked. Because new graduates would not have worked in a spa before, these questions are very important to ascertain their mindset and boundaries.

 

Experienced lead massage therapists must have the authority to disqualify any candidate, even those in onboarding. Sometimes, telling behaviors or actions do not appear until a therapist feels “safe,” as in: hired.

 

Ethics Training

As mentioned above, many massage schools no longer have robust ethics curricula, and fair or not, spas must fill in the gaps or be deemed negligent.

 

This looks like:

• teaching ethical principles, boundaries, communication, and sexuality
• live, interactive sessions with challenging role-plays and discussions
• employing skilled educators to teach, coach and test therapists

 

 

Clinical Supervision

A massage therapy supervisor is either a counselor, psychologist, social worker (who is a consumer of massage), a massage school ethics teacher, or a very experienced massage therapist with a background in psychology. They are a neutral third-party that helps therapists with difficult or uncomfortable situations and feelings toward clients or about bodywork, inappropriate clients, among many other topics.

 

For new therapists, especially, it is crucial to have a clinical supervisor who can help address any first-time feelings or situations while working with actual clients. A therapist with little experience in the profession and minimal ethics and boundaries training will likely have difficulty handling the feelings of attraction that may occur, especially when they are under stress.

 

 

Limiting Opportunistic Offenders

Opportunistic offenders are individuals with poorly developed interpersonal boundaries, who, when under stress and attracted to a client, have the potential to become a sex offender.

 

With proper training, would-be opportunistic offenders learn to maintain healthy boundaries and monitor their impulses, and their potential to offend decreases. Limiting these opportunities as much as possible is an important part of risk mitigation, and spas that do not attempt to do so are negligent.

 

 

The Takeaway

There are inherent dangers when spas hire newly graduated massage therapists, and if these spas do nothing to mitigate these dangers, they are negligent. Spas can lower the risk of inappropriate behavior from new hires with good hiring practices, thorough ethics training, and clinical supervision.

 

 

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If you’re a lawyer who is currently involved in a sexual assault case and needs an expert witness with a massage or spa background, schedule a conversation with Dr. Benjamin.

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