What is ethics and why do we need to study ethics in the massage profession?
Ethics is the standards of behavior and not just about right and wrong or what is legal and what is not legal. Ethics pertain to the beliefs we hold about what is right or wrong which means each person has their own beliefs about right and wrong and it often depends on the situation. What is ethically acceptable with one client may be different with another client in a different situation.
Values are about what each person holds to be most important and will provide direction in everyday living. Values are not the same as ethics although they are often used interchangeably.
If you value time with your family you will create a job and living situation that allows you to do that in a way that is fulfilling to you. Your job/career may often conflict with spending time with your family which will make it challenging to decide what to do- should you attend an important meeting at work or attend your child’s sports event or their debut in a play or concert.
A moral belief is a strong belief that something is ALWAYS right or wrong. Morality often involves religious beliefs. Laws are usually based on the communities common morals.
Ethical issues constantly arise in the practice of massage because each client and their situation is uniquely different. The key in solving ethical dilemmas is to understand your own values and be constantly working to understand yourself better under various circumstances. It is important to be constantly learning about yourself through your work as a massage therapist.
Professionalism is different from ethics but is related. You can act unprofessionally but still be acting ethically. What is unprofessional to one person, may not be seen as being unprofessional by another. Someone may be bothered when you don’t reply within an hour to an email and one person may see it as being unprofessional while another will just understand that you are probably in a massage session. It will also vary greatly.
The Therapeutic Relationship
The therapeutic relationship is the special relationship between a client/patient and the massage therapist. There are some main components of the therapeutic relationship that really different from relationships with friends, spouses and family. The focus of the massage therapy session is the client/patient. The client/patient deserves to feel safe and secure at all times. People are lying naked or partially naked, under a drape and are touched by strangers (the massage therapist) making them more vulnerable than any other situation. There is a power differential that exists in this type of relationship that also brings up many other issues that make preserving the therapeutic relationship essential for a successful interaction.
The therapeutic relationship is what actually is the biggest reason that people get better. It isn’t necessarily the massage technique you are applying. People don’t know the difference between neuromuscular therapy and Swedish Massage. What they do experience is safe touch in a nurturing way.
Professional Codes of Ethics
Professional Associations will create their own code of ethics which is really challenging when you have so many different associations with different codes of ethics. Which one is the right one? The code of ethics that are created by various associations are so general and are not very specific so that they are freely interpreted by members. Each person can interpret a professional associations code of ethics to suit their own ethical guidelines. They are just general guidelines for you to expand on and adopt as your own. They are really limited in what they actually do making it challenging when you belong to various organizations who have different code of ethics.
Codes of Ethics are usually created based on past behaviors that an association has found to be a problem and are not usually created to be proactive in setting ethical guidelines.