04/22/2026
Sir, This Is a Healing Space
Confessions of a Massage Therapist Who Deserves Hazard Pay
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There are a lot of things they teach you in massage school.
Muscle groups.
Trigger points.
How to save someone’s neck without sacrificing your own.
What they don’t teach you…
is how to professionally respond when a fully grown adult looks you in the eye and asks:
“Do you offer… anything extra?”
Like he’s ordering off a secret menu.
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Let me set the scene.
Soft music.
Dim lighting.
Essential oils doing their thing.
I’m fully in my healing zone.
In walks a man who already feels like a liability.
You know the type.
The energy is… off.
Not illegal.
Not yet.
But morally suspicious.
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We go through intake.
“Any injuries?”
“No.”
“Areas of tension?”
“My shoulders.”
“Any medical conditions?”
“No.”
“Any common sense?”
…we’ll circle back.
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Everything is normal.
Until it’s not.
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It always comes out casually.
Like they’re testing the waters.
“Yeah so like… do you do anything… extra?”
Sir.
Sir.
This is not a drive-thru.
You don’t get to add a side of bad decisions to your session.
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Now here’s the part no one talks about.
There’s a split second where your brain splits into two personalities:
Professional You:
Stay calm. Educate. Maintain boundaries.
Real You:
Flip the table. Call your ancestors. Rearrange his face as you kick him out the door.
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I, of course, choose professionalism.
Because I like having a license.
And not being featured in a true crime documentary titled
“Massage Therapist Snaps Over Lack of Basic Human Decency.”
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But let’s be honest.
This isn’t a one-time experience.
This is a genre of client.
They travel in packs.
They think they’re original.
They all whisper it like they’ve discovered a hidden level of reality.
Like I’m going to lean in and say:
“Ah yes… you’ve unlocked the secret upgrade.”
No.
You’ve just unlocked the exit.
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Let me clarify something, because apparently this needs to be said out loud:
Massage therapists are not:
• your fantasy
• your curiosity experiment
• or your “maybe if I ask nicely…” situation
We are licensed professionals.
With training.
With intention.
With very strong hands
and even stronger boundaries.
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The wildest part?
It’s the confidence.
Because imagine walking into literally any other profession and trying this.
At the dentist:
“Hey… while you’re in there… wanna make it weird?”
At your chiropractor:
“Can you adjust my spine… and my expectations?”
At a physical therapist:
“So… how flexible are your ethics?”
You wouldn’t.
Because somewhere along the way, society decided:
Massage = optional respect.
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And that’s the part that isn’t funny.
Because behind the awkward laughs and sarcastic inner monologues…
There’s a very real line we have to hold.
Every. Single. Day.
We create a safe space for people to:
• release pain
• process stress
• let their nervous system finally exhale
And then someone walks in and tries to turn that into something else.
Something smaller.
Something transactional.
Something that strips away the entire purpose of what we do.
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But here’s the truth.
For every one of those clients…
There are ten others who walk in carrying the weight of the world.
And within minutes, you see it.
Their shoulders drop.
Their breath deepens.
Their body finally says:
“Okay… I’m safe.”
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And that?
That is why we stay.
Not for the audacity.
Not for the stories (although… those are something).
But for the quiet moments where someone’s body remembers what peace feels like.
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So no…
I don’t offer anything “extra.”
Unless you count:
• relief
• healing
• and the radical experience of being treated like a human being instead of a transaction
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And honestly?
That should be more than enough.
Written by Joy Love, L.M.T.
