Whether you have complete freedom of choice when it comes to continuing education or your choices are guided by a state or regional governing board, there are so many ways to make the most of the continuing education experience. Here, we’ll explore different ways professional massage therapists and bodyworkers can enjoy and benefit from each continuing education class.
Let’s begin by taking a look at the continuing education experience as it applies to those massage therapists and bodyworkers who work in areas where the profession is regulated. In many cases, such regulation comes with specific guidelines or requirements where continuing education is concerned.
For example, massage therapists and bodyworkers might be required to earn a set number of continuing education credits in order to renew and maintain their licenses to practice. Some governing boards also issue a list of approved continuing education providers, and these regulating bodies may even state the exact continuing education class or classes that massage therapists and bodyworkers must take.
This means that if you happen to work in a state or region where massage therapy and bodywork is a regulated field, then your freedom of choice when it comes to continuing education classes may be somewhat limited. However, you can still reap big benefits from your continuing education classes, even if you did not choose them explicitly.
For example, a governing board might require that professional massage therapists and bodyworkers complete a continuing education class on ethics or safety standards or another such topic. To make the most of this kind continuing education experience, practitioners should go into every class with an open mind and positive attitude.
By entering the continuing education class with the right mental state, you will be ready to absorb all the valuable knowledge, skills and insight the course has to offer. You also will be more perceptive of other benefits that come along with the continuing education experience, such as the opportunity to meet and get to know other massage therapists and bodyworkers who are taking the same class.
Those touch therapists who happen to have quite a bit more freedom when it comes to choosing continuing education courses can use the same methods described above to help ensure the best possible experience. For these people, it should be fairly easy to enter the continuing education class with a positive and excited mental state, as it should be a class you picked for a reason.
For example, a massage therapist who hopes to expand her skill set to include some basic shiatsu will likely be quite enthusiastic about her first continuing education class on this topic. Still, it can help to consciously work on keeping an open mind and making connections with peers, no matter how much—or how little—the continuing education class appeals to you.
This way, you are almost certain to gain not only some new information, but perhaps also some new friends, each time you take a continuing education class, despite whether or not you were in charge of choosing the course.