Enrolling in a continuing education class as a professional massage therapist or bodyworker should be a fairly personal decision, even if one of the main reasons you are enrolling in in the first place is to fulfill a requirement for renewing or maintaining your license.
When it comes to choosing the continuing education class you want to take, that choice should be based predominantly on the strengths and weaknesses of your practice, along with your own goals and passions as a professional massage therapist or bodyworker.
Using all of your own criteria to pick the right continuing education course for you and your clients may be more difficult if you live or work in an area where a governing board dictates the topics of continuing education classes you are required to take. For instance, there may be some states or regions where a continuing education course on ethics is a requirement.
If you happen to have more rigid guidelines regarding the types of topics or classes you can pursue through continuing education in order to earn necessary continuing education credits, then do your best to pick the continuing education class that fits these guidelines and suits you and your practice.
However, in many places, there is more freedom for massage therapists and bodyworkers when it comes to selecting the continuing education classes they would like to take in order to earn the necessary continuing education credits for renewing or maintaining their license.
If you have the flexibility and freedom to make a personal choice about what type of continuing education class you wish to take, then be sure to weigh your options based on the current state of your practice, as well as your own goals as a massage therapist or bodyworker.
One of the best ways to pick a continuing education class, if you have the freedom to do so, is to base it on the perceived weaknesses of your practice. Remember, these weaknesses can run the gamut from accounting procedures and marketing to body mechanics or specific techniques and modalities.
It is important for you, as the professional massage therapist or bodyworker, to be mindful of where any weakness may exist in your practice or your own hands-on abilities. Only with consistent observation and insight will you be able to gain the most accurate awareness of any weaknesses. Stay on top of what is happening in your day-to-day working environment, and you should be able to find the continuing education class to help shore up specific weak spots in your work.
This kind of mindfulness also comes in handy when selecting a continuing education class based on your personal goals and passions as a massage therapist or bodyworker. For example, stay aware of whether your thoughts seem to return repeatedly to a certain modality or technique you read about or possibly received. This could be an indicator that you would enjoy learning this new skill in your next continuing education class.