Massage Therapy School
Learn Massage Therapy

Finding the right massage therapy school is the most important first step to help you become a massage therapist. Different schools have different focuses and the school you attend will shape the direction your career takes in the future.

Before applying for a school, find out about the licensing requirements in your area. You need to know how many credit hours you need to take in order to get a license or certification. Some places don't require that you go to school for massage at all. You can take a few classes or even do an apprenticeship in those areas.

Whether or not the area you live in requires you to get an education in massage, I really think you should invest in some sort of schooling. Massage is a healthcare modality. When you work with the public it is extremely important that you have the right trainer for the job. Simply reading a book or taking a correspondence course will not give you the skills you need to become a good quality therapist. You need hands on experience and you also need to learn from people who have worked in the field for years. It frightens me that some places don't require that.

If you are considering living in a different area than the one you'll attend school in, you need to make sure your training will be accepted there. Different areas have different requirements for a person to practice. If you attend a school that doesn't fulfill the requirements of the area you move to you'll be forced to take more classes in order to get your license.

Knowing what type of therapy you're most interested in will help you decide where to learn massage. All schools will teach you the basics, but they also have various modalities that they specialize in. For example some school may focus more on energy type work and others will be more focused on neuromuscular work. You can find things like that out by thoroughly looking into the school before you attend.

Massage therapy school usually runs from $5,000 to $10,000. The length of time you're in school varies greatly according to the area. Massage therapy school programs run anywhere from 6 months to 2 years.

The most important thing you have to consider is the quality of the massage therapy school. There are lots of schools that teach massage. Some places are brand new and some have been around for a long long time. When looking for a school you must make sure that the school gives you the training you'll need to be a great massage therapist. Beside teaching you how to massage, the school should teach anatomy, ethics, massage law, and have a class about how to set up your own business. When you graduate from school you should have a clear understanding of biomechanics and know some basic causes of pain and how to treat them.

Your school should have classes in the type of massage you want to focus on. If you're unsure about the type of massage you want to do, attend a school that offers a wide variety of classes. There are many different types of massage and many possibilities for your massage career.

When I was looking for a massage school to attend I was trying to decide between two schools in my area. I chose the school that I attended because after looking into it, I found out that they were the oldest massage school in the area. Their program was more therapeutic based than the other one and I'd decided that I wanted to specialize in therapeutic massage.

Just because you think you know what you type of massage you want to specialize in now doesn't mean that you won't change your mind. When I first started attending massage school, I wanted to specialize in prenatal and infant massage. I thought that would be a perfect combination and was even considering getting training to become a doula. When I entered school I was introduced to neuromuscular therapy and CranioSacral therapy and I decided I wanted to study them.

When you find a school search for information about them online or even ask massage therapists in your area what they think of the school.

When you go for an interview with the school's admissions officer make sure you find out if the school offers financial aid if you need it. Find out if they have a job placement program. Also find out what kind of assistance they give for taking state licensing exams. Before you enroll it's good to sit in on a class to see what you think of the quality of instruction. Most schools will let you do that. If the school won't you might want to consider attending another school.

Find a massage school in your area in our massage school directory.