Choosing a school for Massage Training

by Jane
(Mansfield, MA)

To be perfectly honest, there were only about 3 schools for me to choose from, when I entered massage school in the 90s. All were about a good hour and a half from where I live.

One went for 18 months at the time, and one went for about 9 months. Of course, the tuition was cheaper at the shorter training.

I chose the shorter one, simply because they both offered the certification that I would need for employment. The months that I took my training actually turned into almost a full year, because scheduling of necessary classes and clinic time. Still, it went by quickly.

I don't know if all new graduates feel this way, but when I was done, I felt that I still could use more solid training. However, I began working right away for a spa and learned more as I experienced the real world spa work.

Unfortunately, there were about 3 other MTs there who had graduated from the school which took longer, and they seemed very smug about their school and acted as though it was the superior training (in their conversations).

I worked with another MT who had attended my school. Our school gave a huge leeway of types of massage and energy work. The other MT told me that she had checked out the longer school, visited, and found that their teaching was rote, rote, rote.

In any case, we earned the SAME hourly rate as the MTs we worked with, who felt superior. I think it's fine to be instilled with some kind of "school spirit" while training; but I could feel the difference when being around this other group. It was uncomfortable. Some of us were nationally certified, some were not. That wasn't an issue. Everyone had the same opportunities, no matter how long the training was.