Selecting a massage school

Overview

Selecting a massage school is an important first step on the road to becoming a massage therapist or improving skills in specific areas. Therapists starting their training should ask themselves and the school several questions as they start looking at massage schools:
• Where do I want to live and practice?
• What type of styles fit well with my beliefs about healing, my physical condition, and my strengths?
• What types of careers do alumni graduate into? What kind of income and clientele should I expect after school?
• What services and resources are offered by the school? What is the school’s reputation within the massage community and the public?
• What is the approach to education and how does that fit my learning style?

Where do I want to live and practice?

Massage licensing laws vary significantly by state (and in some cases city) across the United States. Therefore, school programs appropriate for some states are unacceptable in others. Having a good idea of the requirements for states you may want to live, and practice massage in, is important in determining if the school’s curriculum will be accepted in areas where you will need a license. In most cases, selecting a school who’s requirements meet the standards for a National Certificate is an important minimum step in ensuring career flexibility in case of a move or desire to work temporarily in a different location.

What types of styles fit my beliefs, physical condition, and strengths?

There are 50-100 different styles of bodywork, each offering a different experience and value to both clients and therapists. Bodywork can be relaxing, restorative, metaphysical, spiritual, reconstructive, and/or curative. Understanding where your passion lies and how you want to interact with clients to solve pressing needs is important, especially knowing if your energy comes from emotional connectivity, spiritual expression, teaching, problem-solving, etc.

Your physical condition matters for your long-term longevity. Massage can be physically demanding, especially if you are going into styles requiring the application of force, like deep tissue or shiatsu. Understanding the toll a style may take on your body and how you can keep the physical requirements sustainable are an important aspect of choosing a particular style of school and type of training. Understanding what else you’ll need to maintain your body, including ergonomic equipment, exercise/ strength program, flexibility training, massage exchange, and others can help you understand what your career will look like and require.

What types of careers do alumni experience? What is the school’s reputation? What resources and services are offered?

School alumni are good indicators of what your career may look like. Make sure you talk to a few and understand how the training they received impacted the opportunities they had after school and how that has translated into a career. Training requirements, including specific focus of curriculum and contact hours may open up different types of opportunities following graduation, including research and teaching careers. Career center resources, including relationships with local practitioners, employers, and advanced training centers provide a range of opportunities following completion of training and initial apprenticeship/learning as an early graduate. Your ability to find quality employment and mentors in the first couple of years following school will determine what happens later in your career. Strong alumni networks are important as well—you want to be able to reconnect with your school and its network of therapists as your need for new skills arise and as you look for new opportunities.

What is the approach to education and how does that fit my learning style?

Massage education has a number of different components, spanning business, anatomy, physiology, disease, and hands-on skills. Some people can learn this diverse set of information from books and lectures, where others require pictures and videos, and others require discussion and hands-on situations. Thinking about how you learn best and listening in on a class or two can give you a sense of how much you will benefit from a school’s approach to teaching the massage curriculum and whether you bond with the instructors.