ORIENTATION TO THE COURSE
INTRODUCTION
The massage therapy profession is continually growing in our country
and around the world. Our profession is being recognized and gaining
respect as a valid and sought after health adjunct in today’s
healthcare climate. In order to have a successful career in massage
therapy it is necessary to operate from a solid ethical foundation.
Our lives are more successful and satisfying if we live with honor
and integrity in all of our relationships and business dealings,
both personal and professional. Part of practicing ethics in the
massage therapy profession is recognizing the difference between
professional relationships with our clients and personal relationships
with our clients, which we will address in this course.
In the massage therapy profession our clients are permitting us
the honor of letting us into their personal space. We approach levels
of intimacy and touch with our clients that are part of very few
other professions. Because of the trust our clients place in us,
it is imperative that we provide a safe space where ethical considerations
relating to our profession are practiced without question and secure
boundaries are in place.
In this course we are going to touch on these Roles and Boundaries,
as well as Professional Ethics, Legal Requirements, Confidentiality,
Business Practices, and Prevention of Sexual Misconduct.
This course is designed to help the massage therapist in today’s
world gain a fuller understanding of ethics and morality and what
they mean in the scope of their profession. Applying a professional
code of ethics to the massage profession is sometimes difficult
and much of this topic is seen as vague and open to interpretation.
We hope that this course gives guidance and a firm foundation in
these subjects.
OBJECTIVES
We will study workable and understandable definitions of morality
and ethics within the context of massage therapy. Students will
be asked to work towards developing a personal and professional
set of ethics that they will be able to use in their profession.
This course is designed to:
· Clearly and simply define the subject area of ethics, morality
and professionalism in massage.
· Clearly and simply define our responsibilities in our business
practices, legal requirements and confidentiality.
·Clearly and simply define our responsibilities to our client
in keeping proper boundaries and preventing sexual misconduct.
ORGANIZATION OF THE COURSE:
This course is organized in Learning Modules, numbered I-IV. Each
module requires reading of sections of the text, doing some research
on a certain topic, problem solving and writing a short assignment
on the specified topic. The specific assignments are discussed at
the end of each Learning Module.
Learning Module I Learning Module II Learning Module III
Learning Module IV Attractions Theraputic Relationships
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES:
If this were a residential course in which the instructor discusses
relevant materials with students in a classroom situation, the timetable
would be approximately six hours of course work.
However, in an Independent Study Course such as this, the student
does not have the benefit of interacting with the instructor or
with classmates in a classroom setting. The student must therefore
assume a greater degree of responsibility for his/her learning and
study of the material. Furthermore, the student needs to exercise
self-discipline so that he/she can complete the course within the
prescribed 6-week period following registration. The student is
responsible for submitting written assignments relative to the various
modules of the course. While the total number of assignments may
seem like a lot of work, they will allow the student the opportunity
to articulate what he/she is learning and provide the mentor with
a better perspective in assessing the student’s understanding
of the material.
The final activity is to mail all the assignments done for the
course.
The modules should be completed in the sequence in which they are
presented.
After you have completed all of your assignments, please mail them
in their entirety to your mentor by name c/o
The Cayce/Reilly School of Massage Therapy
215 67th Street
Virginia Beach, VA 23451
On the envelope, under your name and return address, indicate your
mentor’s name and the course you are submitting assignments
for. This will allow the Registrar to forward it immediately to
your mentor without opening the package.
Although this is not a course in English composition, poor writing
detracts from the quality of any paper. Papers should be well written,
with accurate spelling and effective use of grammar.
MENTOR RESPONSIBILITIES:
The mentor will be punctual in responding to work submitted by
students. The student will usually receive written feedback and
a grade on assignments within two weeks of the time they reach the
mentor. The mentor’s critique and comments will generally
be written directly on the assignments---notations such as:
a compliment for a point well made,
notes of additional ideas that should have been included,
a rhetorical question to stimulate thought but requiring no written
response
to the mentor.
You should feel free to contact the mentor by mail with comments
on the graded essays.
EVALUATION AND GRADING:
The mentor will assign a letter grade to each essay. The grades
for all the essays will be averaged to produce a final grade. The
grading of essays is somewhat of a subjective process. Consequently,
the student is encouraged to interact with the mentor after each
paper has been graded and received by the student. The mentor’s
system for grading is based on the following guidelines:
- This grade indicates an exceptional completion of assignments.
The student has gone beyond basic expectations for the assignment
on this module. There are many examples of independent thinking
and originality.
- This grade indicates a paper well done. The fundamental points
have been summarized and explained well. There is some evidence
of independent thinking and originality.
- This grade indicates an acceptable job on the essays.
- A grade of D or F for an assignment is possible. A paper, which
doesn’t measure up to the criteria for a C, will first be
returned to the student before any grade is assigned. The student
will have another opportunity to complete the assignment.
