How to choose the best massage school

You probably have already decided to go to massage school or you are in the process of deciding if a career in massage is right for you. One of the things you need to know is how to choose a massage school.

There are over 1500 massage schools in the US alone. What makes a good massage school? What do you need to know about becoming a massage therapist and choosing a school that will help you excel in your career?

There are some little known facts that most massage schools or massage associations will tell you about when considering a career in massage. After 20 years in the profession, I am telling it all! Why? Because massage has been the best thing in my life but also it was the hardest thing I have ever done. Massage schools don't tell you how hard it all is - getting and keeping clients, learning about starting and running a business, that jobs are low paying for the most part but you can make more if you take the time to do your job research carefully.

Massage Schools are in the business of recruiting students for their massage school. The minimum requirements to enter massage school is to just graduate from high school. It doesn't matter to massage schools what your age is but the average age of all massage therapists is 45. This means that most massage schools are geared toward teaching adults and careers in massage are often second or third careers for people after they have tried other things. Since there are no other requirements for entry into massage school, it is important that you think carefully and know what you are getting into before choosing a massage school.

Most massage websites won't really tell you much about the school. They usually will try to get you to come in and see how their school will be different from all of the others. When doing your research it is important to visit as many massage schools as you can.

The most important thing to consider when researching massage schools is what exactly are your needs? How much money are you willing to spend? How much time do you have to put towards training? How much of a self starter are you? How motivated are you to be successful in this career?

What you want is information and concrete statistics about their massage school. Some of the things that you need to know are included in my Ebook The Massage Therapy Career Guide- The truth about becoming a massage therapist.

Most massage therapists start their own business. You can set up a business just about anywhere. Massage is becoming popular in many arenas. The most popular is a spa or medical clinic. Companies are hiring massage therapists who do seated massage or chair massage to help improve morale and performance of workers. Airports are offering chair massage too.

There are more jobs opening up at places like Massage Envy which is a massage franchise. There are actually many new franchises opening up that are similar. The basic concept is to offer low cost massage and offer people a membership at a low cost. The massage therapists at these places are usually paid $15 an hour or so, plus tips. That isn't that much considering that most massage therapists only work about 25 hours a week due to the physical demands. You can find higher paying jobs at medical offices such as with chiropractors. A good wage would be $45 an hour plus benefits.

Most massage schools start with teaching you basic Swedish Massage techniques. Swedish massage did not come from Sweden contrary to popular beliefs. Swedish massage is just a basic form of massage. Learning Swedish massage creates a framework for continued studies.

You will also be learning things like Anatomy and Physiology, Pathology, Kinesiology, Business skills and Ethics. This is a basic outline of classes you will be taking and some notes on each topic on my website www.thebodyworker.com

Setting up your own massage business can be a really scary thing just out of massage school. Most massage schools offer limited training in how to start and run a massage business. You will be learning how to do everything - write a business plan, set policies and procedures, set your fees, get a steady flow of clients, marketing, setting up a website etc.

While some of that can feel overwhelming, you can get help and there are many resources to help you in any and every area of staring your own massage business.

I have two websites that offer more information: www.thebodyworker.com and www.massage-career-guides.com

One of the first things you need to do is figure out what your needs are in a massage school before trying to choose the best massage school for you.

For example - most massage schools only offer a short course on business and marketing. If you are going to open up your massage business like most massage therapists do you will need much more information. You can try to find a massage school that offers more in that area or if you can't then you will know that you will have to learn on your own. You can then approach massage school with the idea that you will need support in starting and building a practice so you can focus on networking.

Also there are schools that will offer more hours than are required by the state to become a massage therapist so you will have to decide if you really need that much training or would you rather just start sooner. This would be helpful for self starters or people who have a background in business or other health care professions.

Some other things to consider is how much can you afford to pay, how close is it to your house, how much time will you have to put into studying, travel, homework, what time of day the classes are, how they fit into your schedule and what kind of massage do you want to learn. Do you want to work with injuries and people with health conditions or start a spa like massage center that focuses on relaxation.