Choosing the Right Massage Therapy School

In order to be a massage therapist, you have to go to massage school for a certain amount of time and take the certification exams. How long you have to go to school depends on which state you live in (for people in the U.S.). For instance, New Mexico, where I got licensed, requires a minimum of 650 hours spent in school. New York, on the other hand, is one of the most demanding with 1000 hours required. Some states do not have licensing requirements. To find out what the requirements are in your state, check with the American Massage Therapy Association website.

If you want to get the most out of your massage education, you should go to a good school and take advantage of what it has to offer. Most massage schools offer similar curriculums, though the philosophy and focus of each school may be different and more heavily geared towards certain modalities. You want to make sure the program covers the basics. An accredited school must meet certain requirements and should include the necessary classes in anatomy, physiology, etc (But don’t rule out unaccredited schools- they may have an outstanding program but choose not to be accredited). Another thing to keep in mind is that getting massages is one of the best ways to learn as you can experience first hand what feels good and what doesn’t, and which techniques seem effective. The nature of massage means that the hands-on portions of a massage education are of utmost importance- make sure the school you are considering emphasizes actually DOING and getting massages. I attended the Crystal Mountain School of Massage Therapy in Albuquerque, NM. In my school, we were introduced to many modalities of bodywork in addition to the foundation in Swedish massage. For me, this was helpful as there is a huge variety of approaches to healing. I found the energetic modalities very interesting and was grateful for the exposure. At the same time, our teachers were committed, caring, and had many years of experience in their areas of massage. It is a good idea to make sure that the teachers in the school you are considering have considerable experience.

Most schools also offer a business course now too. Massage therapy schools offer a business class for a very good reason- many graduates didn’t know the first thing about building a successful business and failed unnecessarily. Some basic business knowledge (especially geared towards massage therapists) will help greatly if you decide to open your own practice.

The best massage schools will satisfy the aforementioned criteria, and there are several to choose from. You personal needs and preferences will help you decide where you end up. As for online massage therapy schools, it would seem the lack of direct hands-on training would be a hindrance. I would personally only go this route if I were unable to attend a "real" school. If you do attend an online school, try to give and get as many massages as possible to make up for the lack of hands-on training. Of course, if you are already confident in your massage skills and only wish to go to school to become licensed, an online school might prove to be easier and cheaper.

Virtually all massage therapy schools will include clinical work as part of the program. In my school, as part of the requirements for graduation, we each had to complete a 150 hour internship. That’s the equivalent of 50 one-hour massages! A word of advice: doing massage occasionally for friends and family is very different from cranking out one massage after another for pay.

Once you have decided the massage therapy school in question fits the basic criteria of a quality school, go and check it out. What’s the atmosphere like? Do the students and the clients getting student massages seem healthy and happy? Does it feel good to be in the space?

If you are hard up for money and it’s hard to pay for tuition, you might have to take a loan. Depending on the school, students might be able to pay part of their way through school by doing a work trade. My school offered such a system whereby students could pay part of their tuition by working at the school, doing things like cleaning and other general maintenance. I did not take part in the program and don’t know how much tuition this program actually went towards, but this is something you would discuss with your school.

Before you enroll in a massage program, make sure you understand what it takes to finish the program!!! I cannot emphasize this point highly enough, as I witnessed my massage class going from from 8 students down to 5. I ended up being one of only 3 to graduate from the program and actually get licensed! It was not for lack of support from the school or teachers, who were extremely supportive; students had personal issues come up or could not do what was required to graduate. One student had basically completed the program but had missed some classes and didn’t want to make them up. She went through the whole 6 month program but was not able to graduate and take the licensing exam – what a shame! What a waste of time, money, and energy! It’s not hard to become a licensed massage therapist, you just have to know what’s required to graduate from the program and FULFILL THOSE REQUIREMENTS. You should only start a program if you are sure you can finish it. That means taking into consideration what you will need to do to get to school, studying and homework, as well as work outside of school, childcare, etc. I myself had to wait several months to make up three classes which I missed. Even though I missed these classes because my son was born at that time, the teacher insisted I make the classes up by attending them the next time they were offered (as opposed to writing reports to make them up, which is also permitted). This meant several months’ delay in getting my license, which meant several months of not earning as much income as I could have. Programs are often offered with different schedules to accomodate students' needs. In my school, we had a day class which could be completed in 6 months with 4 hours of instruction daily. Then there's the night program, which meets less often and is completed over the course of a year to accommodate work/childcare schedules. The consensus was, people in the night class often wished they could have taken the day class because it tends to be harder to focus in class after a full day, and also because the year-long program felt so long to them. Who knows how they would have felt had they actually attended the day program, but this was the feedback I heard from that class.

You need a mix of skills and abilities to become a massage therapist. You need to be able to study (there’s a whole lot of bones and muscles to remember), you need people skills, and you need to have enough physical energy to carry out body work. I would say that most important is the desire to help people heal. Try to keep this in mind, because if your primary motivation is to make money, that may not be enough to sustain you in a career in massage.

Going to massage therapy school is a big investment;  it can take a lot of resources to get through school.  Once you do, you are entering one of the fastest growing fields in alternative health care and are equipped to find rewarding, meaningful work.  Massage therapy school can often have a transformative effect on students.  In school, you learn about the human body and emotions.  You learn about one of the most sacred aspects of life:  healing.  Even if you leave only having gained knowledge, this knowledge will likely have a profound effect on how you view life.  At least one massage student has declared massage school like an instruction manual for living- you learn about the composition and structure of the human body, how it works, and all this in a way which gives you practical skills to help live more comfortably and naturally.