MT insurance for the unexpected

Staying within one’s scope of practice is a key concept in the realm of professional massage therapy and bodywork. After all, a large number of the clients who come to see touch therapists tend to present with conditions or issues for which they may also be seeking traditional medical treatment. Usually, these clients also look to their massage therapists or bodyworkers to provide relief as well. This is where it can become so important to stay well within your scope of practice as a massage therapist or bodyworker. It is important for clients to understand that you cannot treat the medical issue or condition, but that you can apply your skills to offer them relief from any stress or strain they may be experiencing at the time. Keeping these boundaries clear is a great way to help your clients understand the role of the professional touch therapist in the healing process. However, it is also important that you protect yourself and your practice from any instances in which a client may come to believe that you stepped outside your scope of practice in the session room. As an example, a client who came to you a few months after a car accident may ask you to work on her neck, because she is still experiencing aches and pains in this region. The client may be receiving physical therapy or other forms of medical treatment as well. If she ends up leaving your session room and later her neck pain gets worse, this client may decide that it was the massage therapy or bodywork that exacerbated her pain. In the case such a client decided to sue you for damage or injury, you would want to have massage therapy liability insurance on your side. A massage therapy liability insurance policy will include professional liability insurance, also known as malpractice liability insurance, which would be there to see you through any necessary legal proceedings. Of course, it can be terribly difficult to imagine anything like this ever happening to you and your practice. However, the whole concept of massage therapy liability insurance is based on the notion of providing protection from those extremely rare, yet entirely possible, scenarios—the ones that could wipe out your assets and your reputation, should they ever happen to occur. Like automobile insurance, massage therapists and bodyworkers pay for massage therapy liability insurance to provide coverage for the unexpected. Fortunately, the fee for massage therapy liability insurance tends to be much lower than the fee for car insurance. With the right amount of research, you should be able to find a high quality massage therapy liability insurance policy for less than a couple hundred dollars per year. Knowing that the unexpected and unpleasant scenario of being sued by a client could happen is enough to send business savvy massage therapists and bodyworkers in search of the thorough safety net provided by massage therapy liability insurance. As a professional in the field of touch therapy, you know the importance of staying within your scope of practice at all times. Still, it is crucial to have massage insurance on hand to protect against the unpredictable.