State massage therapy head from San Carlos: Lisa Santoro is first president from the...

[massage]

San Carlos resident Lisa Santoro became the first Peninsula leader of California’s chapter of the American Massage Therapy Association in a number of years when she was named its president in early March.


Santoro, 52, is originally from Belmont, Mass., and began her work as a massage therapist after surviving Hodgkin lymphoma at age 26. She had gone to a chiropractor and gotten a massage during her recovery.


“It made such an impact on me,” she said. “I was looking to change my life and wanted to give back. I felt like I’d been given so much.”


She decided to change gears from being a music promoter and going to art school to working toward becoming a massage therapist. Now, she specializes in doing massages for cancer patients or cancer survivors. Practicing for a number of years, she moved to California two years ago when her husband got a job in Silicon Valley. Upon moving to the state, she did volunteer work for the massage association to get to know her colleagues in the area. Then came the election as its state president.


“I spoke from the heart [during the conference at which I was elected],” said Santoro, who is married with two teenage sons. “I talked about things that are important to me and where I envision California going. People heard what I said and agreed.”


Santoro’s goals are threefold. First, she wants to get more information to massage therapists to educate them on marketing and business skills, along with educating them on different areas they can specialize in for work. She also wants to see membership rise, as for the past six or seven years it’s been at 3,600 members. She wants it to get to 4,000.


“I want to make sure we’re all at the table,” she said. “Giving our perspectives.”


Her third goal is to bring the number of hours required to become a massage therapist up from 250 to 500, the current national standard. She herself has 5,000 hours of training over her 20-year career and believes the training is essential to be a good massage therapist.


She would also like to see the California Massage Therapy Council’s California Certification law renewed. This law helps vet massage therapists with fingerprinting and background checks. It also allows therapists to practice in different cities without having to seek certification in each city.


There are certain misconceptions the general public does have about massages.


“A lot of people think a massage is a luxury, but it’s a necessity,” she said. “More people are looking to non-surgical approaches — like physical therapists and massage therapists.”


People also think the massage should hurt, but this isn’t always the case, she said. There are misconceptions about massage therapists themselves too, she added.


“A lot of people don’t realize how much training it takes,” said Santoro, who founded the massage program for the University Health Services of Harvard University. “It’s not a hobby. … You have to understand all the layers of how the body works.”


More doctors are also referring their patients for massages to treat headaches, back pain and other issues. She herself goes every month for maintenance and to help with the scar tissue as a result of her cancer.


The massage industry has changed a lot over the 20 years she’s been practicing.


“Franchises are the number one thing coming into our profession,” Santoro said. “I personally think they do a wonderful service. They employee massage therapists, giving them 401(k)s and sick days. It gives them a place to get their hands on a lot of people.”


Santoro is keeping busy too. Not only is she working on the general education portion of a bachelor’s degree at Foothill College, she also plans to open a nonprofit in the fall called the Thriving Survival Center that’s exclusively for people going through cancer and cancer survivors. The center will offer massages, yoga, meditation and other forms of movement. There will be reduced prices and some free programs.


To those who are money strapped, she recommends going to the National Holistic Clinic of therapy schools, with locations that include San Jose, Emeryville and San Francisco. The student clinic offers more affordable massages by students who already have lots of training and are supervised, she said. Additionally, De Anza College has a massage clinic with reduced massage prices.


(650) 344-5200 ext. 105


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