Further Your Career With Massage Continuing Education
- Request free info from Massage Wellness Schools
If you were smart enough to jump on the well-being band wagon and are now a trained massage therapist, then you already know how lucrative and fulfilling this career is. With enough of a customer following, you can even work from home and make your own prices and hours, allowing you to be financially successful but still have time to live and enjoy your life.
But most massage thereapy courses give basic lessons in anatomy, techniques and business; enough to help you pass your certification exam. To keep your license renewed and to be up to date on new techniques or study further than simply the basics, you need to enrol in massage continuing education.
A standard massage therapist course can take anywhere from 4 months to a year, depending on if you do it online or by attending class, but it is designed simply to give you the basics that you need to take your licensing exam. 37 states in the US require massage therapists to be certified in order to practice, so you need to take either the National Certification Examination for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCETMB) or the National Certification Examination for Therapeutic Massage (NCETM).
There are conditions however, to keep that license, and one is taking massage therapy continuing education classes. In order to renew your massage certification, which needs to be done annually, each state has a certain number of continuing education classes you must take and in specific subjects.
You will need to take 12 mandatory hours of any class relating to massage techniques, 2 hours of ethics and 2 hours of preventing medical errors. The additional continuing education classes to take vary on the state you're in, or can be chosen for personal interest.
You can take massage ceu classes either online, by mail at home, or by attending a vocational school. Some of the classes you are able to take are advanced anatomy and pathology, since in your massage therapy program you just cover the introductory level, professional anatomy review, designed as a refresher course or business studies if you want to work for yourself.
Additional specialty courses that are popularly done from home include improving balance and flexibility, fibromyalgia and chronic myofascial pain, ethics, aromatherapy facials, body psychology, learning about ayurvedic massage and massaging with dogs.
Massage therapy continuing education is just as important as your original massage therapy program, because without taking the required refresher courses and continue learning about new procedures and techniques, not only will you not have any clients due to your outdated style and tools, but you will also lose your license to practice. Check into your state's particular class requirements, and find ceu course online to make the process easy and painless.
