Massage Therapy: Therapeutic Bodywork Practitioner Program

Classes 1 through 6 include:

Classes 1-6 must be taken consecutively as listed.

1. Anatomy/Pregnancy and Infant Massage
2. Assessment and Advanced Techniques/Business
3. Beginning Bodywork and Ethics
4. Integrative Massage and Lymph Techniques
5. Specialized Techniques
6. Therapeutic Techniques & Anatomy

The foundation of this program, the first six classes include, but are not limited to, the following areas:

• Basic Swedish Style Massage — long, connecting strokes and techniques designed to relax and reduce stress.
• Anatomy/Physiology — the base from which we expand into the therapeutic application of massage. Learn the location, position, and function of the bones, major organs, muscles, and nerves in the body.
• Ethics and professionalism, equipment, hygiene, safety.
• Muscle Isolation — positioning the client, palpating landmarks.
• Neuro-Lymphatic & Neuro-Vascular — exploring pathways that supply and affect muscles and surrounding organs and systems.
• Neuro-muscular — contracting and releasing mechanisms accessed; helps provide longer lasting results.
• Fascia Alignment — relaxing and moving connective tissue, which is primary to foundational balancing of the body as a whole.
• Manual Lymphatic Drain — technique that encourages and directs lymphatic flow.
• Pregnancy and Infant Massage – proper positioning for pregnant client’s comfort, gentler strokes for infants to small children including premature babies.
• Seated Chair Massage – to provide shorter duration massages; important for office and conference settings.
• In-class Practical Experience — actual supervised assessment and practice.
• Supervised Lab Hours – practice newly learned skills on classmates for the Beginning Bodywork Lab, and on public volunteers for all other Lab hours.

Classes 7 through 14 include:

• Advanced Oils
• Beginning Essential Oils
• Bodywork Systems/Anatomy/Physiology
• CranioSacral Bodywork
• Meridian Work & Light Healing Touch
• Nutrition
• Reflexology

These classes provide instruction in more specialized techniques, blending them into a highly effective method of addressing imbalances in the body and enabling the therapist to facilitate healthy change. These techniques include:

• Continued practice in all Body Mechanics previously covered in classes 1 through 6.
• Meridian Balancing — effective method of working with and within the energy pathways of the body.
• CranioSacral Bodywork — gentle pressure along spine, cranial, and sacral areas.
• Essential Oils & Emotional Balancing — subtle, highly effective, life-changing techniques.
• Reflexology — access reflex points on feet and hands to unblock, stimulate, and align energy pathways of the body.
• Nutrition & Bio-Chemistry — information about food, vitamins and minerals that affect structural and overall health.
• Additional therapies on injury techniques, myofascia, and more will also be covered.

Holistic Bodywork

Description: In this class, students will bring all of their hard work, techniques learned, and skill sets together to perform a mock massage therapy appointment. Students will practice integrative mass, practice all advanced techniques,
review all protocols and bodywork therapies including CranioSacral, Reflexology and Light Healing Touch. Students will also participate in a mock interview regarding essential oils, and review for the oral exam during finals weekend. Students will
also be able to review muscles and terminology to prepare for the final exam.

Final Exam

Description: There are three parts to the final exam: written, oral and practical. Students will be tested over all techniques learned during the course of their one year of study, including business and ethical questions. Students
will need to know all the bones and muscles and will be tested using an oral exam. The written exam will be over all subjects learned during the therapeutic bodywork practitioner program.