Massage Therapy Training can be found in many massage schools and now some massage therapy colleges. One of the controversies in the massage profession is over the number of hours of education that is required to be a successful massage therapist. I am sure I have written about this before but can’t find where so here I go again.
Most states have some kind of licensing requirements in place or if you are in CA each city has various requirements making it a nightmare to work as a massage therapist in that state. I think the states that do require licensing have a minimum of 500 hours of massage school training. Some go to 1000 hours of training. How much is really needed to be able to give a great massage and also be successful as a massage therapist are really two different issues. To be a successful massage therapist you could be giving people the worst massage of their life but if you are educating them or just being present with them, they may become regular clients no matter how good or bad your massage is. A good massage is also very subjective. What is good for some is a nightmare for others.
To run a successful massage business all you need to do is be a good business person. Massage schools really teach you very little about that.
Is 500 hours of massage training really necessary? I personally don’t think it is required to start giving massage. Can 500 hours of training and more enhance your skills as a massage therapist? Yes definitely. I think what happens when people hear me saying that you only need 100 hours of massage training is that they feel threatened that I am saying that their many hours of education isn’t worth anything or isn’t helping them to be a more successful massage therapist.
I for one started out in massage in 1987 after 250 of massage school. Many of my friends have even less than that and are still in business too. Many of the newer massage therapists can’t seem to make it even after all of that training. I have talked with many who are afraid to do massage for fear of doing something wrong or fear of getting physically injured doing massage.
Keith Grant in his white paper on “Issues in Massage Governance”(pdf) also talks about this controversy stating that 100 hours of massage school is enough to start in the massage profession and that people also learn better in smaller chunks of training. People often get into overload mode after more than 100 hours of training. The other thing is that the number of hours of training needed has never really been researched. After I became a massage therapist with 250 hours of training the next year it was increased to 500 hours with no reasons why or no formal inquiry into how much was needed. The number was just arbitrarily picked out of a hat ( or should I say massage school.) Keith also points out that the increase in the number of hours of training is related to the fact that massage schools could get more grant and loan funding for their students if there were a higher number of hours of training.
I think people who have more hours of training feel threatened or feel concerned about how much they have struggled to start a business even with the 500+ hours of training. I wonder if it it more training and training overload that is actually causing them to have such issues.
So how much education is needed to be successful in the massage profession? Today after reading about the success of “Massage Envy” I would say none. Go get a degree in business and open up a massage franchise and hire all those poor students who have just paid all of their money to go to school just to get a job paying $12 an hour.
But seriously, the number needed is really more about what you need personally to be successful. Do you need more training and time to integrate the material and practice? How much time do you have to put into it? How much time do you have before you need to be working? What are your learning styles?
If you are not a massage therapist yet and are thinking about becoming one you can find out more in my Ebook “The Massage Therapy Career Guide – The truth about becoming a massage therapist available at www.massage-career-guides.com
If you are already a massage therapist – how many hours of education do you have? How successful is your business currently? What more do you need to know or wish you had known?
Learn more about becoming a massage therapist by reading my Guide.