by Sue Barrett

The Massage Therapy Foundation plays such an important role in our massage therapy profession and I wanted to help get that message out to as many people as I can. Even though I don’t have a background in how to do research, massage research certainly interests me. I thought to myself, “How could I help or what could my role be as a massage therapist?” That’s when I discovered there were things that I could do. I’ve always enjoyed a good challenge. In a previous life, I worked as a hairdresser for over 18 years and with that career I learned how to talk to all different types of people; young/old, male/female, professional/tradespeople and so on. This in turn has helped me in this profession as well. I find it easy to talk to people about what I am passionate about. So even though my strength may not be in the actual research step (yet) I have found that I can still help, and so can you! For me, talking to people about what the MTF does, and how the Foundation does it, was the first step. Being able to answer their questions or helping people to find the answers to their questions by talking to the right people at the MTF was my second step. My third step was to convey to people how easy it can be to get involved, even if it seems like it’s only in a small way. It can be as simple as a monetary donation, taking one of the Research courses on the website or volunteering at an event to raise money for Research – it all makes a difference. I think the more information we can present to the people that need it, the stronger we make our profession. So remember, a small effort on your part can make a huge difference when we all work together.

This is my role in Massage Research so far, what’s yours?

Sue Barrett, LMT
1st VP CT Chapter AMTA