Question:
Years ago, I had thought that I'd like to start a holisticwellness center, but I went into the family engineering businessinstead. After 20-something years in this, I'm tired, the thrill isgone, and I want to try something else. So I'm looking at a mid-lifecareer change, and sometime in the next six months I expect that I'll beeither in grad school studying Psychology or Counseling, or I'll bestudying Massage Therapy. Yeah, it sounds like a wide range, but in someways, it's not.

I had taken some massage courses back when I was in college, and had notheard of Reiki until a few years ago - I had always thought it wasanother form of massage. Anyway, I have an opportunity to take someReiki classes in a small group, possibly a one-on-one. It dovetailsnicely with my (dormant but now re-awakening) interests in yoga andmeditation. So of course, I have questions.

Do Reiki practitioners typically do massage as well? Or considering thatmany US States require some certification, perhaps I should ask if CMTor LMT's also offer Reiki treatments? How does one get into the field?Do you typically work for a spa or salon, or do most Reiki-ists practiceout of their houses? And if there are any MT's reading this, I'm alsoasking the same question for finding jobs in the massage therapy field,also.

As it happens, there is a MT school in my area that's holding an openhouse night this week, and I thought I would attend in order to checkthings out. I didn't notice if they offer Reiki, but I would suspectnot.

Answer: Although you write from a US-centric point of view, I suspect thatthe general scenario is not that much different (apart from the CMT, LMTetc legislation) from in the UK ..

The SO started in massage, later supplemented with Reiki then evolvedinto Stress Management (which involved additional tuition and course work)

I suspect that most practitioners are independent, but am open to a slapdown ...