The value of the Advanced Program
by David Lauterstein
In the last years we have seen something almost weird happening in our field. For the first time ever, the demand for massage therapists has exceeded the supply. This is great. This means there are jobs for just about every single one of our graduates.
What they usually need at this point is more confidence and we find that to have more confidence they need two things:
1. Experience doing massage
2. More advanced skills
The former they will get at these early employers, which is terrific.
The latter they will get if they take a systematic Advanced Certification Training.
Increasingly our 500 hour graduates are coming to our 250 hour Advanced Program with this in mind. And we are happy they do!
Because to earn more you need to learn more. When you make more per hour you can afford to do fewer sessions each week and that saves your body. And learning more makes your work even more satisfying for and therapeutically effective for your clients.
I’ve been doing deep massage and structural bodywork for over 30 years and I’ve never missed a day of work from overwork – good body mechanics and more efficient techniques are life-saving for therapists, personally and professionally.
So, when you are looking at the next level of your practice, you will serve yourself best by getting this advanced level of training as soon as possible.
Get your hands on as many people as you possibly can. Then, while you’re doing that and the Advanced Program, which is essentially only one day a week of class, you will have lots of people where you get to try out and practice your new techniques.
Our Advanced Program is unique in the U.S. for all that we cover. First, it confers, with passing course work, Orthopedic Massage Certification and Deep Massage Certification. Secondly it also gives Advanced Program Certification, including, in addition to the certifications in Orthopedic and Deep Massage, advanced skills in Trigger Point Therapy, Structural Assessment, Shiatsu, Zero Balancing, and Integrative Bodywork.
I teach about 100 of these hours and it is my pleasure and honor to do so. I don’t have time to do much teaching our 500-hour programs – so selfishly I want to share and get to know and assist particularly you who want to excel in doing advanced massage therapy/bodywork.