What's in an appointment fee?

The story goes, a cargo ship captain has a problem with his ship and needs it fixed. He calls in the boat engineer person who takes a look, taps some part three times and gives the captain a very large bill. The captain balks at the number and says "anyone could have tapped the boat like that!" To which the engineer replies "you are paying me for the 10 years of study and 10 years of experience that gave me the knowledge and skill needed to to know exactly where to tap, how hard to tap, and how many times in as short a time as possible so you can get back to work. But go ahead and pay the cheaper guy and let me know how it goes. I can just as quickly put your ship back the way it was." Obviously the captain pays the bill because his ship is ready to go. The cheaper guy? Well, maybe next time when it is less urgent.

Massage therapy is expensive. I get it. I also understand why it is expensive -- because it is an expensive service for me to provide.

And it's not just costly to me in a dollars and cents kind of way but in my time, my physical, bodily resources, and my mental resources. I provide care to you as a whole person. I give you my undivided attention for the duration of our appointment. That's hard work on it's own never mind physically touching your body and trying to discern the textures I feel, what you tell me it feels like, and what this all means in the context of the pain problems you presented to me. That meaning making on my end is woven with my knowledge of pathology, physiology, and anatomy as well as my knowledge about how our bodily health and mental health can intersect, how difficult interpersonal relationships in your (and my) past can influence the therapeutic relationship between us, and navigating all of this to facilitate our arrival at your goals while maintaining a professionally boundaried relationship. These are skills that have taken a lot of effort and personal work and reflection to develop and they are valuable. There's a lot going on for me in that treatment space! And it doesn't end when you leave the room. I have clean up time, notes I need to make, information I may need to look up to better understand you, communications to other professionals I may need to make for your care plan, LAUNDRY (so much laundry guys, like... so much laundry) and all the continuing education I invest in (like the TMJD course coming up in November that I am SO EXCITED for) And then there are the basic costs of running a business -- rent, laundry (oh yes, it is it's own budget item), fee collection services (because it costs money to receive money unless you pay with cash), website presence, client management systems, communication systems, marketing, TAXES (costs almost as much as the laundry haha). There's a lot going on on my end to ensure that when you arrive there is a safer place for you to be with a person who is well supported, healthy and ready to provide that undivided, SKILLED attention you come in for.

And then of course... I have to pay myself. I need an income. Like you I buy groceries, pay for my home, have household costs, personal health and care costs, hobbies, debts, money to save for the future, all the same costs that you have. Truthfully, it costs me $120/hour to provide the quality massage therapy services you get from me. Are there cheaper RMTs in Hamilton? Yes. There are. If that is the deciding factor for you, I wish you well. I hope you get what you need. And if you like the sound of 15 years experience in massage therapy, commitment to continued training that is relevant to you (like trauma-informed care trainings -- for which I have the paper work to demonstrate I do actually know my stuff -- TMJD trainings, research reading etc), and commitment to my own health and well-being so that I can be fully present with you and provide a quality of skilled touch that is indeed rare (just ask my patients), then let's chat. If cost is a barrier to you accessing what you need, just talk to me. I'm confident we can find something that can work for you.

PS. Just in case you didn't know, I have a no tipping policy. I do not receive tips. For a lot of reasons that can be fodder for another blog post but suffice it to say, the price you see is the price you pay. No hidden expectations of you to pay more than quoted. If a therapist depends on tipping to make the money they need to make... they probably should be considering some changes to their business model. ;-)