Teaching a Massage Therapy Class

A massage therapy class is the foremost source of a masseur or masseuse’s education and training. As an instructor on massage therapy, it is essential that you introduce the profession’s theories, concepts, and skills in a highly efficient manner. In doing so, you ensure your students’ professional traits and their proficiency in executing massage therapies. Here are some suggestions to implement when teaching certain subjects to a massage therapy class.

Massage Theory and Skills

Massage theory covers the concepts and theories of the different kinds of massages, including the history and development of the profession. A good way to teach concept and theory is to reinforce it with visual aids. You can use diagrams, interactive learning aids, and videos tackling the kinds of massages you are required to discuss. When teaching history, liven up your class by introducing parts of history that they may be familiar with. You can also relate past practices and their implications to the current massage practice.

Anatomy

Anatomy, which is the study of the human body, is best taught visually. You can secure anatomical models, charts, diagrams, photographs, and videos for this purpose. Models are specifically useful as reinforcements on human bones and muscles. While discussing anatomy, relate how bones and muscles respond to massage therapies.

Physiology

Physiology deals with the functioning of the different parts of the body. For teaching physiology, you may want to employ interactive diagrams that present how certain parts of the body work. Try to look for or create teaching aids that discuss the body’s response to external stimuli or pressure brought about by massage.

Kinesiology

Kinesiology is the study of the body’s movement and its relationship to optimum health. Teaching this subject is best done with the participation of the class. You could pair up the members of your class and ask them to perform kinesthetic exercises or massage techniques on each other. In this way, they would experience the comforts and pains that can be produced by massage techniques and movements. It helps them get a good grasp of what their future clients would feel from their massages, and thus regulate their massage pressure.

Client Assessment

Aside from the technicalities of massage, you should also include how to make health assessments of clients. You can provide your class a checklist of what should be looked on before and after a massage session. You should also teach them how to conduct a physical examination, that is, how to determine physical abnormalities that may be caused by the massage.

Ethical Considerations

Another important subject to be tackled in a massage therapy class is ethics and professionalism. Present them the proper behavior of a massage therapist when in a session and help develop the desirable traits. Stress the implications, legal or not, of failure to abide by the profession’s code of conduct.

Business Supplements

Finally, give your class an account of the massage therapy business. After the completion of their program, most of them would set up independent massage therapy businesses. Provide a personal account of the massage therapy business with tips on how to get started in the field.