Becoming a Licensed Massage Therapist #2

Be sure to read post #1 first!

Every state varies as to its requirements so you have to research to find out:

• How many hours of schooling your state requires
• What state-approved test you have to take

I suggest going online to find out the number to your state's board of health.  From there you can find out who to call for information for massage therapists.

You have to learn about the human body and you have to learn your state's laws for licensed massage therapists.  The laws might be available online as Tennessee's are.  

Don't be misled, my massage school only covered the basics.  It is focused on educating you on the human body.  You will most likely not come out of massage school certified in anything special like Trigger Point, Prenatal massage etc. even though they introduce you to these. 

Think of it as getting your driver's permit.  You take a written test, prove that you can stay in your lane and use your turn signal and you get a permit to drive.  It doesn't end there!  You have to keep learning and being critiqued.  If you want to drive trucks, motorcycles or machinery you have to get special training.  

Massage school is just like that.  You get the basics and then you have to go out, practice, learn and take Continuing Education.

My original dream was to become certified in prenatal massage and maybe be a Doula as well.  I really want to advise people in healthy living in spite of drugs.  Lately I have been hoping to learn Manual Lymph Drainage, Deep Tissue and Trigger Point.  For all of these I have to keep a lookout for class opportunities near me.  

That brings me to my next point.  I am apart of the AMTA which is nice because they offer liability insurance, updates on continuing education opportunities, online courses, the Massage Therapy Journal Magazine etc.  You have to pay a yearly fee and the price is different for what kind of membership you have, Student, Graduate, Professional.  Follow this link for more information:   amtamassage.org 

Becoming a Licensed Massage Therapist #1

Becoming a LMT -

To become a Licensed Massage Therapist you will need:

• Courage (not a lack of fear, just a will to do what's best for others in spite of fear)
• A genuine desire to help people and to make sacrifices to give to people
• Schooling/Testing
• Licensing

Something I have learned lately is that when making big decisions and big changes in your life, it's a good idea to know who you are.  Draw a pie chart of the most important parts of who you are.  Consider if this new direction for your life will be true to nurturing the biggest parts of who you are.

I have been massaging friends and family since I was about eight years old.  This really helped direct me to the career choice.  They were wonderful to encourage me and critique me in ways that prove to be invaluable today! Everyone was impressed by my growing strength and that motivated me to keep giving.

If you have not had this background of practice that is okay.
Practice as often as possible and take Anatomy and Physiology classes if that is available to you.
It helped me a lot to be involved in those kinds of classes as well as health class and health club.

Yes, massage therapy is a great profession and pays well, but don't be like me and forget that you have to build clientele.  Depending on the environment you will be working in, you might not make even $200 a week starting out, so some kind of back-up would be advisable to pay the bills until you have enough customers to cover your needs.