What do massage schools near me have to offer?
So, maybe you’ve always wanted a career in health care. Maybe folks have always told you “you have good hands” or “you’re so calm”. Maybe you want to shift gears from an unsatisfying job, or add another skill set to your current one (personal trainers? yoga teachers? aestheticians?) Or, maybe you’ve had some great healing experiences with massage therapy as a client and thought, what if I became a massage therapist?
If these thoughts have crossed your mind you may have already googled massage schools near me to start the process of comparing programs, locations, costs, and other factors. There is a lot of information to sort through and the admissions counselors can sometimes be over zealous in getting you to sign up.
Kiera Nagle, MA, LMT, CLC, MaMassage founder and clinical director, taught for many years at two of the three prominent massage schools in nyc, and was the director of the massage therapy program at Pacific College for several years as well. Here, she gives a quick breakdown of the benefits of each of the MT programs at these schools.
Swedish Institute is the oldest and most established of the massage therapy programs in NYC. As one of the oldest massage schools in the country, this school boasts about over 100 years of teaching massage therapy curriculum. With faculty who teach from many years of clinical experience , students can learn about traditional western massage techniques and medical approaches to their hands on care and physiological understanding of the body and it’s processes.
Pacific College of Health and Science was established in 1987, with the massage program on the NY campus launching in 2008. Modeled after the existing acupuncture program, Pacific’s massage program teaches from an integrated Eastern / Western perspective. While students will learn western anatomy and physiology and western massage techniques, there is also an emphasis on traditional Chinese Medicine theory and an array of Eastern Modalities such as Shiatsu, Thai Massage, Reflexology, and Tui Na as required courses in the program.
Both Swedish Institute and Pacific College are located in Manhattan and have higher costs, though students may be eligible for financial aid and their programs run on trimester systems, so may completed in shorter periods of time than QCC.
Queensborough Community College QCC - CUNY is the most economical program in NYC, though with its location in northeastern Queens may be difficult for some students to get to. QCC also runs on a semester system, so student progression through the program may be a bit slower. However, the science component of the QCC program is rigorous- massage students take the same A&P courses as the nursing students.
Once you’ve graduated from massage school and are licensed. there are continuing education requirements. If you are looking for a NYS or National approved provider of massage therapy continuing education, you don’t necessarily need to go to a massage school. MaMassage® provides continuing education in perinatal and trauma informed massage services. Check out our trainings here at this link.
