How to Become a Massage Therapist?

How to become a massage therapist?  The first thing someone needs to do is graduate high school or obtain their GED.  Next, the individual needs to choose an institution to receive their education in massage therapy.  There are a couple different types of massage therapy schools, the more relaxation Swedish-based schools and the more clinically-based schools that practice rehabilitation of sports injuries.  Both schools have intensive anatomy and physiology courses of the human body and the art of massage therapy.  The science courses weigh heavily on the muscular system and its role in the body.  All schools learn the same basic massage techniques such as: effleurage, pettrisage, tapotement, roulement, muscle stripping, cross-friction massage, and myofasical and trigger point release massage.  It’s the other techniques or how they apply the basic ones that sets them apart.  For instance a Swedish-based school focuses more on relaxation and stress and tension reduction and using more effleurage (long gliding techniques) and pettrisage techniques to increase blood flow to the tissues, increase metabolism, and induce relaxation.  On the other hand, more clinically-based schools are not concerned about relaxing the patient; their more concerned about rehabilitation of muscles, breaking up adhesions to increase range of motion, and decreasing pain.

Deciding how you want to mold yourself as a massage therapist will help you pick the right school.  There are many institutions in the US, some in colleges and other private entities and all range in the number of instruction they offer.  500 hours is the least amount of instruction a school offers and they can exceed upwards of 1000+ hours.  After graduation, you must obtain a license in the state and/or city that you choose to practice in and possibly take an additional test to practice massage therapy.