With an estimated 100 or more licensed massage practitioners serving Port Townsend and East Jefferson County, it might seem like enough is enough.

Not so, it seems, because the Port Townsend School of Massage keeps turning out new grads, and many people make a full- or part-time living with massage.

And the variety of modalities offered here is quite astounding, from stress-relieving Swedish massage to intraoral massage to myofascial balancing and many others. If you have an issue, there is a technique or modality and a local, licensed practitioner you can call on for help.

With so many licensed massage practitioners (LMPs) in the area, the question arises as to whether there are too many for the community they serve. It might appear so from the outside, but from inside the industry, there are few who believe that. Although there is one practitioner for every 100 residents, the overwhelming response from those in the industry to that question is that “there is someone for everybody.”

MANY OPTIONS

Feeding the idea of a glut of practitioners is the successful Port Townsend School of Massage (PTSM). Susan Sherman, school owner and director, is aware of that perception, but said that 90 percent of her students are from out of the area. They come from all over the country, and beyond, and take their newfound knowledge back home. Many of the local LMPs are PTSM graduates, and many of those who are not PTSM graduates take their state-required continuing education classes there.

Some attribute the heavy density of LMPs to the belief that Port Townsend has a strong energy field that attracts people who are more spiritually aware and receptive to this energy; that there really is someone for everyone and they are attracted to each other metaphysically.

The reason for the large number of practitioners could be simply that massage and bodywork have become mainstream and more people want it.

Whatever the reason for the high density, perceptions about the healing arts are changing. For example, what springs to mind when you think “massage”? Is it a luxurious spa with glamorous women lounging around after a long, relaxing Swedish massage, waiting for a mani-pedi? Maybe you think of massage as physical therapy after an injury. Or is it a hidden “massage parlor” in a seedy part of town, where anonymous men go for an erotic massage with what they call a “happy ending”?

All of these perceptions are valid. There are several “day spas” in Port Townsend that cater to their clients’ every whim, including massage, tanning and other luxuries. Several chiropractors offer massage therapy for their patients, many for help with sports injuries. And massage “parlors”? Probably not in Port Townsend!

Another misconception is that going for a massage is a “girl thing.” Although women outnumber men by about two to one, both as practitioners and clients, the number is changing as more men enter the field and clients come to understand the health benefits of bodywork.

WHO ARE THEY?

One of the local school graduates, James Jackson, who specializes in myofascial balancing, is aware of the male/female discrepancies, but it doesn’t faze him at all. He, like most of the other practitioners, loves what he does.

“This is the best job I have ever had,” Jackson said. He depends on an orthopedic approach, working with his patients toward goals they set, whether it’s being strong and stable enough to carry a grandchild across the room, or climb a ladder safely to replace a lightbulb. His goal is to get them well and out of pain, and is happy when they don’t return, knowing that he has assisted with their healing.

Harmony Pinette is a PTSM grad who has been in practice for 15 years and also taught at the school for several years. Pinette said, “Most of the guys I know who went to the school ended up sticking with things they did before,” which she attributes to the men finding it more difficult to attract clients. “I only know one guy, Jim [James Jackson], who is working full-time, but I think some of them end up working part-time.”

But her clientele is 50-50, male and female. She has couples who come to her for bodywork, which includes a variety of techniques, including massage, which she employs after an assessment of the client’s entire biomechanical system. One of her clients, a gentleman in his 90s, claims massage has kept him healthy.

SPECIALTIES FILL NEEDS

As with so many practitioners, for Jamie Deering, who runs Healing Elements in Port Ludlow, her profession is her passion. Deering came to this work via a variety of experiences, all of which complement what she does. She made the leap from being a middle school teacher to becoming a bodywork practitioner, with stints as a musician and business person in between. Her initial training was at the Northwest Academy of Healing Arts in Tacoma.

Initially, when she moved to Port Ludlow two years ago from Tacoma and realized that several other LMPs work in the area, she was concerned that there might not be room for her. But she quickly realized that her specialty – therapeutically focused, holistically grounded therapy – filled a need in the community. Her teaching experience comes into play during her somatic education workshops and the contemplation retreats she leads.

Sailmaker turned LMP, Ellen Falconer at In Balance Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork also trained at PTSM. When she started out, she kept up her sewing business, as she was concerned about “the hordes” of practitioners already working in the area. But her specialty and her passion for it found her the niche she needed to be successful in the industry. Lymphedema management is a gentle treatment for people with swelling disorders sometimes associated with surgery and cancer treatments, and fills the needs of many, especially in a retirement community like Port Townsend.

And like most other practitioners, Falconer is always looking at new ways to help her clients and fill their needs. By learning more about pain and how it works, she is exploring methods and modalities that will provide relief to more of them.

A SERVICE INDUSTRY

Filling needs and providing service to their clients exemplifies what drives the local LMP community.

Kelly Barlow at La Bella Day Spa, a practitioner for more than 20 years, said that besides being qualified and keeping up to date with modalities, “This is a service industry, and being reliable trumps everything.” The advice she offers newcomers to the profession is simple: “If you want to have a thriving business, don’t come in with the idea of working a few days a week. Treat it as a job.” She feels that practitioners, much like doctors, must provide safety, comfort and trust to their clients. “Your clients rely on you. They need to know you will be there when they need you.”

Barlow welcomes new practitioners to the area, noting that she doesn’t look at other LMPs as competition. “A lot of us are very busy, so clients are getting what they need,” she said, adding that she refers clients to others if she is unable to accommodate the client or that person needs something she can’t provide.

The healing arts are so well represented in Port Townsend and the surrounding area that the consensus is there really is “someone for everyone.”