For professionals in the field of massage therapy and bodywork, continuing education is the perfect route toward greater levels of achievement, heightened enthusiasm and even increased income. Continuing education courses offer massage therapists and bodyworkers the opportunity to continue expanding their skill sets in many different directions.

Not every career is surrounded by such a variety of high-quality continuing education classes, which means massage therapists and bodyworkers should consider themselves fortunate for the options at hand. If you have a focus for your next quest in the field, it should not be difficult to find the continuing education class that caters specifically to your needs.

One reason the continuing education market is thriving for massage therapists and bodyworkers is simply because the industry itself is so broad, serving clients that range from professional athletes and stressed-out corporate employees to pregnant women and patients in palliative care. In addition to the diverse client populations that need the expertise of massage therapists and bodyworkers, there also are continuous advances in knowledge and technique throughout the realm of touch therapy.

As more and more research is conducted, and more and more people continue to build on current techniques and modalities, new and creative forms of massage therapy and bodywork are born, with the aim of helping professional practitioners of healthy touch best meet and even exceed their clients’ needs.

The continually growing and expanding industry of massage therapy and bodywork needs a dynamic continuing education arm to keep practitioners within the field up to date on the techniques and concepts available to best serve whatever client population they may be catering to at the time. If that client base changes at some point during the career of the massage therapist or bodyworker, there will typically be other continuing education classes available to help ensure the transition is a success.

Obviously, the existence of solid and plentiful continuing education options for today’s massage therapists and bodyworkers is a good thing, both for practitioners and their clients. The many benefits of continuing education make it easy to see why taking these classes is a requirement for professional massage therapists and bodyworkers in the majority of states and regions where the industry is regulated by a governing board. After all, a continuing education requirement simply makes it necessary for massage therapists and bodyworkers to keep on gaining knowledge and skills, no matter how long they have been in practice.

Even for those massage therapists and bodyworkers who do not live and work in an area where the industry is regulated, continuing education should still be considered a boon to one’s career. Taking the right classes can keep you up to date on all the latest advances in the modality you practice. In turn, staying current with your skill set can bring in more business and keep the clients you have coming back for more—and more often.

Look toward the bounty of continuing education offerings for massage therapists and bodyworkers with an eye of appreciation. These classes can pave the path toward the career of your dreams.

–Brandi Schlossberg