I get a bit miffed when over and over again I read about how massage therapy training in the U.K is considered inferior to the USA and Canada. Yes, they do a zillion hours training in comparison to us blah, blah......... However, the proof is in the touch!
I'd like to hear from people who have experienced massage in USA/Canada or by a therapist trained in N. America - how was it?
I'm not trying to be glib here........... I'd genuinely like to know if their superior training makes them better therapists?
Reading the last few posts I realise that I was really fortunate to have received good massage training - maybe that's why I was "miffed" in the first place - because I don't feel that the training I received was of inferior or lacked content. I get the impression that ITEC accredited courses are of vastly varying standards. Depending which school you study with. It's a great pity that ITEC don't impose more rigorous vetting on the standard of teaching. I remember when I did my exam - in a room with 20 other students - thinking it would be rather difficult for the examiner to really tell if people knew that they were doing. We were all following "a routine" after all. We all passed. Does ITEC actually ever fail anyone in their practical. From what I've read over the years it seems that people fail their A&P but hardly anyone fails their practical. Surely this would be an indicator that maybe standards aren't high enough?
Unfortunately it appears that a lot of therapy training seems to have moved to a more academic medium, with greater emphasis placed on A&P and little actual hands on professional training.
If this was all that was required, then all Drs would be excellent massage therapists.
Well said Paul. I understand the need to know your A&P but I doubt there are many therapists out there who remember that much of it. By that I mean origins/insertions/actions of muscles and in depth details of the various body systems. Academic information is harder to retain than practical training - well in my case anyway. Also, once you're out there in the trenches that's when you start to build on your A&P knowledge - as each new clients presents with a different condition a good therapist will get out the books and look things up. That's when I find I remember info. better - not when I have to digest and "rote" repeat back facts for exams.
Why do you [or other forum members] think that more emphasis is being placed on A&P?
Well said Paul. I understand the need to know your A&P but I doubt there are many therapists out there who remember that much of it. By that I mean origins/insertions/actions of muscles and in depth details of the various body systems. Academic information is harder to retain than practical training - well in my case anyway. Also, once you're out there in the trenches that's when you start to build on your A&P knowledge - as each new clients presents with a different condition a good therapist will get out the books and look things up. That's when I find I remember info. better - not when I have to digest and "rote" repeat back facts for exams.
Why do you [or other forum members] think that more emphasis is being placed on A&P?
I think it's because its the part everyone is afraid of when they start and the part tutors feel under pressure with as there is so much to cover. Its certainly made to feel like the MOST important part of the course.
I have to say that when I was on my Holistic Massage course I was worried more about if I was doing a massage stroke correctly and didn't worry much about A&P. With A&P an answer is either right or wrong but there's SO much more to the practical. intuition, sensitivity both mental and physical, correct posture, pace etc. etc.
I agree Yogajoga,
It is infact much easier to teach A&P than intuition etc. The VTCT course that I have recently done (December) had more A&P questions than aromatherapy or massage questions! And how does a student demonstrate empathy if they are not taught more than the basics.
I still say that it doesnt always matter which course you train on - it is like learning to drive - you are taught to pass your test and then you learn to drive once you have passed and are out on your own - experience and a willingness to keep learning is the key to being a good therapist as well as listening to what the client wants
I have had 2 dreadful massage experiences - one at one of the countrys top spa and another at the hands of someone who had trained at the massage institute in london and spent the whole massage telling me how good they were. This was on another course with therapists working on each other. I refused to pay for one and would not have paid for the other
When I did my sports massage course 10 yrs ago the tutor made it clear it was up to the individual to spend as much time as possible OUTSIDE of class hours to learn the muscle groups/origin/insertions. This was because everone could get this information from the text book at their own pace .
This ment that a minimum number of class hours were used checking this knowledge and that maximum class time was dedicated to learning the hands on skills that make us effective therapists.
Yes empathy, intention, intuition, skill, ect are very important but you must have good A+P knowledge to enhance your developement as a therapist especially if you are doing sports or remedial massage.
Regards steve
My experience was similar to Steve's, when I trained at the NIM we did most of the a+p at home and 90 hours or so practical hands on training to learn how to massage etc. in class.
I'm still trying to figure out what Australian syllabus looks so amazing. Do you mean a 300hr Cert IV Remedial Massage where there is only a bit over 100hrs hands-on training?????
Hi Cola,
I have been massaging in Australia for 8 years (and I'm just about to move to London, hence my interest in this forum).
As someone mentioned, the Australian massage industry is not regulated. However, if clients have private health insurance (most of them), they are able to claim a rebate for certain types of massage.
A few years ago the minimum requirement for health care claims (and insurance) became a one year, full time, Diploma of Remedial Massage, unless you were already an established practitioner who had sneaked in under the Cert IV requirement. This year, as far as I know, that level of training has changed again and the Diploma course now takes two years, full time.
I heard last year that the Canadians had decided to recognise Australian members of the AAMT massage association as equivalent to Canadian therapists. Not sure if that is fact yet though.
So...I suppose that may look impressive on paper to some, but, as I see it, large volumes of training cannot replace genuine passion and feel for the job, although the extra knowledge can come in really handy. I returned to study last year to get my remedial, and the course I did was fairly thorough. There were aspects that were hugely informative, and others that were a complete waste of time. Great teachers and mediocre ones, you know how it goes. All in all, I got an enormous amount out of the course, largely due to the fact that I already had experience in the field and was able to pick my lecturers' brains about specific topics.
In my experience, there is no real difference in the quality of therapists across the world in Western countries. It largely comes down to innate ability and passion for the job. I have encountered some truly exceptional therapists in Australia: one of whom had no formal training at all (but grew up in the Cook Islands) and the rest ran the gammut of CertIV / Raynor / Remedial. I've had a Canadian massage me and she was great, a couple of Americans-one good, one mediocre. Probably too small a sample to really be of much use!
Cheers, cat
I'm a relatively newly qualified therapist (ITEC) so don't have the breadth of experience that most of you do. However, I've had a few massages recently from different therapists, and the one I would definitely go back to is in fact a Canadian remedial massage therapist. I found her understanding of body mechanics to be way above anything else I had experienced, and never felt she was sticking to a structured routine of any kind. When she explained the Canadian training system I was amazed at how little we have to do here in the UK to become qualified compared with other countries. I do believe that if you have a genuine passion and feel for massage then that alone will drive you to study further and build up your skills and empathy for the client, but it must surely help if the initial training received is more in depth than that provided in the ITEC course.
I'm a relatively newly qualified therapist (ITEC) so don't have the breadth of experience that most of you do. However, I've had a few massages recently from different therapists, and the one I would definitely go back to is in fact a Canadian remedial massage therapist. I found her understanding of body mechanics to be way above anything else I had experienced, and never felt she was sticking to a structured routine of any kind. When she explained the Canadian training system I was amazed at how little we have to do here in the UK to become qualified compared with other countries. I do believe that if you have a genuine passion and feel for massage then that alone will drive you to study further and build up your skills and empathy for the client, but it must surely help if the initial training received is more in depth than that provided in the ITEC course.
Hi Serenity Sue.
I agree with you. I'm about to qualify and certainly feel that my training is just the beginning. I want to become a skilled therapist and plan on improving my practise in as many ways as I can. I do feel that the training I received was basic and many of the younger girls on the course will now go and do 'massage by numbers'. this isn't what I want. So it is up to me to improve myself. I am moving to Australia and the minimum qualification there is 6 months full(ish) time. It's much more a regulated and health based profession. I still worry that I'm not doing it right. Surely if my training was more thorough I wouldn't feel this way. (I'm doing VTCT)
Rosie Cotton
Hi ya
I think one of the problems here in the UK is that massage is considered a relaxation therapy rather than a remedial therapy. So after the bulk standard ITEC/VTCT type Holistic/Swedish massage foundation course, you have to study additional courses to be at a higher level.
If we except this fact and realise that a bulk standard foundation course is just the first run on the ladder, prehaps the standard of massage practised clinically in the UK will be higher.
All you beginners out there reading this post: go on and study sports, remedial and specialist courses and make massage a power form of complementary medicine, not some new agey angel dust sprinkling.
Best Wishes
Reiki Pixie
Just to add to the above - advanced massage techniques don't have to be deep tissue/sports or remedial. Aromatherapy is extremely powerful and can incorporate lots of techniques using essential oils as can manual lymphatic drainage, which again, is not deep, but very powerful.
Sorry if that was slightly off topic, but I just wanted to clarify that anything other than deep tissue is not necessarily new-age.
Hi ya AB
Of course aromatherapy is important, I had one yesterday! 😀
Cheers
RP
P.S. You can't get more Flakey than Reiki!
I've lived in Boston briefly with a massage therapist and I must say that the treatments I've had over there or with her were better. She had 7 years of experience and all the other staff working had years of experience, which might have helped. Sometimes the difference in standards is quite small. Although touch is more important than experience. I have had very good massages from my students before.
Going back to a previous point, I'm going to stick my neck out here and say that I do think that nailing your A&P is essential to being a remedial or sports massage therapist (I can't talk about other massage types because I don't do them). You have to have a detailed 3D picture of the musculature, nerves, blood vessels etc in your head every time you lay hands on someone or else you're really just fishing. There are techniques like Myofascial Release (indirect method) where it is more about sensing and following the unwinding of the fascia, but on the whole I think that origins , insertions etc should be second nature.
Thoughts
Henry
I thought of this thread today when I read the following on the US site bodyworkonline:
Around here, it costs about $10,000 to go to massage school. Another $500 to get licensed, and about $500/year to maintain that license and business licenses.
Well, I don't know how good American therapists are, but I do know that I would never have got into massage if it had cost me that much to get started.
I am moving to Australia and the minimum qualification there is 6 months full(ish) time. It's much more a regulated and health based profession.
Massage is unregulated in Australia. Anyone can say they are a massage therapist. If you want to run your own business you can do it with zero qualifications. The problem is if you want anyone to employ you or if you want your clients to be able to claim back money from their health insurance, then you need health fund recognised qualifications. Anyone prepared to employ a massage therapist wants them to be registered with the health funds.
I thought of this thread today when I read the following on the US site bodyworkonline:
Around here, it costs about $10,000 to go to massage school. Another $500 to get licensed, and about $500/year to maintain that license and business licenses.
Australia costs about that much for a diploma qualification, lots more for a university qualification. Add the insurance, the annual professional body fee and between 20 and 100hrs continuing education required each year to remain a member of the professional body, and it easily gets up to $1000 annually. (The hours of continuing education required varies depending on the professional body).
But, just like many states in the US, you don't actually need a formal qualification to say you're a massage therapist.
Hi. To answer the question, yes I had a massage from an American woman once. She was ****e!!! Very judgemental of me I know.
The way I see it, no matter how much anatomy and theory you throw at students the truth is that some people will do the minimum to get through exams, and then forget it and stick to their own half baked ideas, whereas some people will keep learning anatomy and sensitivity to the client in an ongoing process.
Also some people that think they're technical make shocking mistakes with anatomy and hurt you, whereas some people who are untrained but have a good touch can still massage.
I get a bit miffed when over and over again I read about how massage therapy training in the U.K is considered inferior to the USA and Canada. Yes, they do a zillion hours training in comparison to us blah, blah......... However, the proof is in the touch!
I'd like to hear from people who have experienced massage in USA/Canada or by a therapist trained in N. America - how was it?
I'm not trying to be glib here........... I'd genuinely like to know if their superior training makes them better therapists?
Reading this
You start understanding that such USA gurus must be banned fr0m profession forever. Absolutely no knowledge , zero level of understanding.....