How to practice Massage Therapy while you're in school | ECPI University

How to Practice Massage While You're in School

Massage practice is vital for any student. You want to feel comfortable and confident before graduating and going into business for yourself or working for a beauty or wellness health spa.

No matter what direction you choose for your personalized path as a massage therapist, you want to be able to tell potential and current customers that you have direct experience in the field so that they will be able to trust their bodies to your hands.

Before you begin experimenting in the field however, you may want to purchase insurance through the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA).

You don’t have to be a professional or a graduate with a certificate in order to obtain this liability insurance. The AMTA offers student insurance coverage until you become officially certified.

Here are 7 more ideas for practicing massage while you are in school.

Internship

Confidence will get you a long way in life. You can build self-confidence by getting the experience through an internship with a health club/spa, a massage business, or chiropractic centers.

You don’t have to wait until you are close to graduating in order to start looking for a potential internship. Choose a location and start going for regular massages to get in good with the other employees. You may tell them immediately what your goals consist of and why you are there.

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Fellow Students

Besides practicing on one another during class time, you can massage each other outside the classroom. You can even set up a location on campus where other, non-massage therapy students can come get a massage in exchange for a donation.

Family and Friends

Practicing on family and friends is the easiest way to gain direct experience without the added pressure. Not many people will refuse a free massage.

Health and Wellness Events

You can offer free or donation-worthy massages at health and wellness events in your local neighborhood. These are becoming more popular as society is becoming more health and wellness conscious. These events are fantastic for direct marketing experience – which you will need if you want to succeed as a massage therapist.

Health and wellness events might have herbalists and others selling food items and other products that contribute to obtaining/maintaining a healthy body overall. Upcoming massage therapists should attend as many of these events as possible because many of your clients in the future will already be part of the holistic health movement – get on board with them!

Malls

Go where the people are! If you want to offer free massages (with donations accepted), the local malls will garner you plenty of attention and experience. There may be other certified and professional massage therapists in the malls – but don’t let that perturb you.

Beach/Shore

Setting up shop at a boardwalk location is going to get you a lot of experience. People are on vacation or just go to the beach on the weekends to relax. You will obtain practical, hands-on experience while enjoying the tranquil and beautiful oceanfront atmosphere.

Airports

The last of the ideas for practicing massage while you are in school includes setting up a massage chair at the local airport. Many business people take quick flights from one part of the country to the other and don’t get much personal time for relaxation and stress relief.

Stress builds up in the neck, shoulders, and upper back. Learning to knead out these “stress knots” is great practice for you as an upcoming professional massage therapist. Business people love to obtain a short massage while waiting for their next flight.

Interested in earning a Massage Therapy degree?

If providing massage services sparks your interest, perhaps a future in massage therapy is for you. At ECPI University, we offer an accredited Associate in Applied Science in Massage Therapy that could give you all the training and experience you need to enter this exciting and dynamic field. Our accelerated coursework and year-round schedule could have you earning your degree in as little as 18 months. Contact ECPI today to find out how you get started on a new path!  It could be The Best Decision You Ever Make!

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