During a discussion with an acupuncturist concerning advertising, the author mentioned there was a bulletin board at a local new age shop where the acupuncturist could post business cards. “We tried that.” He said, “The clients we got from there practically wanted us to levitate them. They don’t know anything about acupuncture.” While, this author has never had a client who wanted to be levitated, she certainly has met a few whose expectations were beyond range.

Advertisements can be deceiving. A strongly generating ad can be done professionally and without disguise. If pictures are used, they should be congruent with services offered and not be misleading. Careful thought should be given that pictures and ad copy cannot be sexually misconstrued. Language suggesting medical treatment when no staff member is qualified to offer such treatment is misleading and inappropriate. When the therapist’s training is included in ads, it saves misunderstandings. This succinctness also draws quality clientele who might have otherwise dismissed the ad. Clients drawn in by false appeals are unlikely to return.

It is advised the therapist does a brief consultation on client’s first visit to discuss client’s expectations. Or simply make sure the client questionnaire covers this. Material can also be made available explaining who the therapist is, their training, qualifications, and what the client can expected during and as a result of treatment. This information also makes a nice couple of pages on the clinic’s web site.

The administration of certain techniques or procedures may be outside the scope of practice of massage. One might be available to provide such in addition to the massage therapy (assuming all other licensing requirements were met) but the Code of Ethics suggests the client should be informed the procedure is outside that of the massage certification. If the client is relying on the certification as a guarantee of expertise, the therapist should be careful that the “color of authority” of certification does not embrace other practices. It cannot be stressed enough, targeting through advertising people whose expectations differ from what is actually being offered detracts from repeat business and misses the target client.