The ability to take massage courses online has changed the game for manual therapists, allowing bodywork professionals to learn new skills, advance their current skill sets and steer their careers in so many different directions. In the not so distant past, CE classes for massage therapists tended to take place mainly in person. Typically, this meant commuting to the classroom on a regular basis or setting aside the time and money to travel for an intensive CE workshop or seminar.
There’s no doubt live classes and workshops continue to hold great value for professional massage therapists and bodyworkers. However, the opportunity to enroll in high quality massage therapy CEU online classes can be crucial to enhancing the education of today’s practitioner. With the increasing availability of massage courses online, manual therapists can learn from elite teachers who might otherwise be much less accessible. Instead of reserving a seat in a workshop with limited space for students, and perhaps booking a flight and hotel room, manual therapists can simply log on and learn.
Completing massage courses online gives you access to the most effective massage therapy techniques from the best teachers worldwide!
Looking at the bigger picture, this means a larger number of massage therapists now have the opportunity to learn the most effective techniques from the most effective teachers. In turn, this means more clients all around the globe will be able to receive manual therapy and bodywork from well-trained and well-rounded practitioners. By closing the gap between practitioners and elite educators, continuing education for massage therapy online can, in the end, lead to more successful manual therapists and more satisfied clients.
A great example of the power of online classes can be found right here, with Erik Dalton and his Myoskeletal Alignment Techniques (MAT). While Dalton and his colleagues from the Freedom From Pain Institute host a handful of live workshops each year, space is limited and the popularity of these seminars means they usually fill up fast. Before the advent of quality online and distance education, this scenario would have resulted in a much smaller number of practitioners learning MAT each year.
Now, with the availability of MAT continuing education classes that take place totally online, the number of practitioners who can learn MAT directly from Dalton has increased dramatically. Today, it is possible to become a Certified Myoskeletal Therapist by taking one of three foundational home-study programs developed by Dalton and available through his teaching facility, the Freedom From Pain Institute, which is an NCBTMB approved provider for continuing education, as well as a BOC approved provider.
It is also possible to earn a massage certification in MAT by taking a course called the Dalton Technique Tour Online, which takes place completely through the computer and Internet. In the coming months, the number of MAT continuing education classes available entirely online will jump to a total of five myoskeletal e-learning courses. This means even more opportunities for massage therapists and bodyworkers to become certified in the practice of MAT and to advance and deepen their existing MAT skills. Once these online courses are launched, there will be a total of nine distance learning programs available through Erik Dalton and the Freedom From Pain Institute, including a home-study CE course on professional ethics.
Completing one of the home-study or online classes on MAT can help practitioners secure their initial credential as a Certified Myoskeletal Therapist. From there, the more courses you complete, the closer you are to earning the credential of Master Myoskeletal Therapist (MMT) — a certification that can help you stand out as an official expert in MAT. In order to earn the MMT credential, which will become available early next year, manual therapists must complete all nine distance learning programs, as well as one live 50-hour MAT workshop.
By successfully completing the classes and training necessary to become an MMT, you will not only earn this expert-level credential that will boost your status as a practitioner, but you will also be boosting your income and employment opportunities, not to mention the efficacy of your work. Consider climbing the 10-step ladder to the MMT credential today, by signing up for an online continuing education class on MAT or enrolling in one of Dalton’s CE home-study programs.
