In many ways, professional massage therapists and bodyworkers may benefit from thinking of continuing education classes as career improvement classes. By making the right choices at the right times in terms of which continuing education classes to take, a savvy touch therapist can consistently work toward building the best possible practice.
Of course, the idea of building the best possible practice can entail so many different variables, and nearly each one of these factors can be accessed and improved upon via continuing education. Examples of the more common ways in which a massage therapist or bodyworker may wish to boost his or her career include finding ways to bring more clients into your business, the ability to keep a loyal and large base of clients, providing the kind of touch therapy that is in demand in your community, and maintaining passion and energy for your practice.
At the most basic levels, most of these improvements to one’s career as a massage therapist or bodyworker equate to bringing in more clients, keeping clients happy, making more money and feeling good about the work you do. Fortunately, these are goals that can be met with the help of continuing education. However, it is up to the individual practitioner to figure out which continuing education classes to take at any given time.
Selecting your next continuing education class has to be an individual process, although there are certain general guidelines and recommendations you can use in an effort to make the right choice. The reason your decision about continuing education is so personal is because each massage therapist and bodyworker has different needs when it comes to improving his or her practice.
For instance, one massage therapist may have plenty of clients and be booked through next year. Therefore, gaining more clients will not be the goal for her next foray into continuing education. More likely, this massage therapist would be looking at ways to maintain her physical and mental energy, as well as her passion for her practice, in order to avoid burning out from day after day of one session after another.
In this case, the busy massage therapist might benefit from a course that refreshes her knowledge about proper body mechanics, allowing her to perform more sessions more effectively without taking as much of a toll on her own physical energy. Another option might be a continuing education class on a technique or modality that does not require as much physical effort to perform, such as some type of energy work.
For the massage therapist or bodyworker who does need to bring in more clients in order to meet his financial needs, a continuing education class on marketing may help do the trick, teaching ways to get the word out about your work. Another possibility may be learning a new technique or modality that could be popular within the local community, such as massage therapy for skiers and snowboarders if one happens to live in a winter resort town.