The client who is interested only in a particular treatment and no products should not be persuaded otherwise. Some massage and bodywork organizations have ethics which frown on commercializing the industry. For example, the Alberta Registered Massage Therapists Society says "refrain from using professional credentials to promote or discuss commercial products or services."

The NCBTMB ethic, however, is more exactly concerned with exploitation.

If the therapist is given commissions by a third party salesperson or owner to push a product, the therapist should be careful that the product actually benefits the client and is something the client truly desires. Beside the ethical implications, the clients may come to resent having merchandise toted to them. Buying products was not their intent, especially when the product does not really serve them and only adds to their expense.

In the beauty industry, selling products is important to the shop because it requires no further work or time on the part of the beautician. This is side money and can be quite lucrative. The same can happen in the massage and bodywork industry. However, it is important because of the nature, or nurture to be more precise, of this industry that only something that the client needs be suggested. The clinic can have many products on display but suggesting them to the client just for the purpose of making money is unethical in this industry. A good display with little notes attached to products explaining what each product does is all that is necessary to make a sale or two. If the client has money to spare and is in the mood to buy something, they will.

Do not make a referral to another therapist simply because the therapist is getting a kickback. That is an ugly practice. Unless the referral benefits the client, it should not be made.

The therapist will generally treat information received from a client as confidential (see chapter 9).

It may be necessary to establish boundaries in the non-massage relationships--massage is what the therapist does for a living and does not reflect the therapist's feelings or emotions about the client. Any outside-of-massage relationship should be non-damaging to the client.

In the relative intimacy of the therapist-client treatment, some clients may begin to feel an attraction for the therapist. While it is apparently possible to date a client, it is clear from the Standards of Practice that in order to engage in a sexual relationship with a client, the therapist must cease to see the client professionally and thereafter wait six months. (See NCBTMB Standards of Practice VI (a).)

Some clients may become addicted to massage. While this may seem great for the therapist financially, the client has a problem. If the therapist thinks a client is taxing their finances in order to satisfy a massage addiction, the therapist may save them money by offering an affordable package, space their appointments further apart or simply ask them how much they would like to spend on massage each month and set up client's appointments accordingly.