Not a lot of people know how to get into the field of massage therapy. We're here to help guide you through our process.
Job growth in the massage therapy field is projected to grow by 32% from 2020 to 2030
Massage therapy can be an amazing field to get into if you enjoy helping people and are interested in learning about healthcare. Many people fall into the wonderful world of massage later in their career journeys, but people of all ages can have a successful career. Having your license can provide a nice primary or secondary income.
Pacific Northwest Massage Academy provides an excellent licensure program to the Clark County Washington area. Below is a list of just some of the courses included in our 10-month program.
Lecture Based Classes
Anatomy & Physiology
If we are working on the body, we need to understand the body and how it functions. Massage therapy affects all organ systems, so a basic understanding of these systems is vital to successfully modify treatments for your clients.
In this class, we study the different organ structures and take a look at how these organ systems work together to sustain life.
Our instructors go in-depth explaining different bodily structures and how each is affected by massage.
Kinesiology
Similar to anatomy, in this class, we study the mechanics of body movements. We learn over 80 different muscles, what bony landmarks we can use to find them, and what actions are performed by each one.
Knowing what muscles are involved in different movements provides you with better tools to work intuitively, specializing your treatment of each client to better assess and address physical imbalances.
Many sport massage therapists will use their kinesiology skills and knowledge of biomechanics to assess an athlete's most common movements in order to address their issues more efficiently.
Pathology
Massage therapy is part of healthcare, so it is also important that we are aware of common medical conditions. Knowing how and when to treat someone or when to refer them to a doctor is key for quality treatment.
Business and Ethics
We discuss different aspects of business to help our students plan their next steps after school. We talk about how to interview, how to write a resume, what you need to start your own business, ethical business practices and more.
Hands-On Classes
Intro to Massage
A lot of people go into school without ever giving a massage before, and that's okay! All of our instructors have over 20 years of experience as licensed therapists and are there to help you every step of the way. We start with the basics and demonstrate techniques for relaxing Swedish or "classic" massage.
An advantage of studying at a smaller academy like ours is our ability to provide one-on-one instruction. Our classes work in small groups to get the most out of their education.
Advanced Deep Tissue Treatment
After our intro class, we dive deeper into therapeutic treatment. Therapists working in medical, or chiropractic offices commonly use these types of techniques to treat injuries and release deep knots. All of these classes are hands-on and include both demonstration and ample practice time.
Eastern Theory and Practice
Not all schools offer an introduction to Eastern modalities such as Thai, Shiatsu, Reiki, etc. At our school we are proud to include these classes in our course, providing additional options outside of classic or deep tissue massage.
We take a holistic approach to learning, offering a mix of eastern and western methods of massage therapy.
Additional Hands-On Classes Include:
Chair massage
Sports massage
Prenatal/pregnancy massage
Special populations
Lymphatic Drainage/Cancer treatment
Myofascial Release
Our school takes a holistic approach to treatment and aims to give our graduates the tools they need to be intuitive healers. We provide test prep classes, help with registering for the licensure test, and continuing education courses post-grad.
If you've been thinking about becoming a massage therapist in the Clark County Washington area, consider setting up a tour of our school to see if we're a good fit for you. We hold day and night classes, our next classes start Aug 15th, 2022 or Oct 10th, 2022.