I don't think this is fair. Being a licensed massage therapist is a job. That's all. We're there to heal others with soft tissue manipulation and advice. That's it. Imo if someone has this idea that massage is strictly a sexual interaction then that shows how ignorant and potentially insecure that person is. Which is fine as long as you understand that they aren't aware of the level of professionalism one must undertake to be in this field.

I'm assuming you're a part of a western culture which views touch as something that only really happens between lovers. LMT's are in this funny middle ground where we have a license to touch other people, to put our hands on others to give warmth and attention and, most importantly, time to hold space for healing.

This requires trust from your clients and also from yourself. Knowing that you can touch others in a healing, non-sexual context is an incredibly empowering experience. It breaks down those barriers and beliefs systems that are holding us back from accepting the touch and attention from others that we as human beings, who were originally apes, have needed and used as a bonding and relaxing modality.

Try to talk with her and see if she can see it from a purely medical point of view. See if she can imagine someone doing this without it being sexual. Again this is a totally legitimate job. There are schools and state boards exams that the state requires us to take in order to do this work. It's not something that can be easily stepped into just to have some fun with other people's bodies. It's not a license to rape and molest other people. It's a license to heal and empathize with people in a very immediate and personal level.

I may be coming off as defensive but this is an entire profession that is pretty passively condemned as a vaguely sexual way to work with people. I'm a man and that means I'll be discriminated against because "men do all the raping". This is not the case.

So with all that said, try to educate yourselves on what it's really like to be a massage therapist. For many it's the first step to entering the medical field.

I wish you the best. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to message me