Comments (0)

By admin, July 15, 2009 2:05 am

How do I get a career in Massage Therapy?

I’m a sophmore in high school and I was thinking about becoming a masseuse. So how do I begin? I live in California, so what schooling should I get, what books should I read, what college should I go to, what’s the average salary for my state, what can I do to be sucessful? I basically need to know everything!

Go to massage school! I have listed a site below that is easy to use and you can contact the schools – and learn more about their programs!

This is how I found the school I went to

FYI – Masseuse(Feminine)/Masseur(Masculine) indicates that you work in a massage parlor – where sexual favors are provided. It is an antiquated term – to day it is simply a massage therapist or a bodyworker or even a somatherapist.

Massage Therapists do not work on a salary – it is a per client session rate. I make $120 per hour treatment. I treat 15 – 20 clients a week. I average is $80 a treatment, but I offer a very specialized modality, meaning it is in higher demand so it costs more. Honestly you won’t get rich doing what we do. You will make good money – and you will enjoy what you do – but if you are an MT for money – you are in it for the wrong reasons.

In California you need a min. of 500 hours education. In southern California there are Holistic Health Practitioner Courses that are 1000 hours – they expand your scope of practice and allow you to do and treat things that MTs can not.

Since you are in California I recommend Mueller College of Holistic Studies (link below), as their program is the most balanced and most stable (been around for 30 years). IT is also the only COMTA accredited school in California – what that means is that your education meets super high standards that most other schools don’t bother with.

If you are interested in Traditional Chinese Medical Massage – you might want to look at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine (link below), although they are an acupuncture school they do offer a 1000 hour program dedicated to Tuina.

For right now – you should read anatomy, biology, keniseology, and pathology books – become very good at it. You need to know what muscles you are working, where they originate and attach, what can go wrong and why.

Most importantly best of luck to you!