For most professional massage therapists and bodyworkers, taking massage continuing education classes is a requirement in order to renew and maintain one’s license to practice legally. To make the most of the necessary investment of time and money for massage therapy continuing education, do your best to enroll in only those programs that will bring value to your life, to your clients and to your career as a whole. As a general rule, you will want to look for CE programs that will take your skills to more and more advanced levels, allowing you to reach the status of an expert manual therapist. The beauty of working to secure expertise is that your highly advanced knowledge and abilities can help you to better serve your clients — and give you a lasting feeling of competence and satisfaction with your daily work. Mastering effective massage skills and techniques can also bring the big benefits of increased referrals and employment opportunities, which typically equates to a larger bottom line.

Massage Continuing Education Programs

As you look through the massage various continuing education programs available, be sure to consider whether the ones that are based on a hands-on modality have a clear ladder to climb. You will want to feel confident that, if you find you enjoy the modality and would like to master it, there is a set series of courses you can take to ensure an in-depth education that will deliver the expertise you seek. In addition, check to see what the credential or certification for that particular modality is like, as you will need to be able to prove to clients and prospective employers that you received a specific level of training in whatever modality you choose to pursue through ongoing continuing education. For those of you considering massage training in Master Myoskeletal Therapist (MMT)®, rest assured that there is not only a well-rounded catalog of classes, but also two clear levels of certification.

You must complete one of Dalton’s massage continuing education courses in the MAT program as part of the process to become a Certified Myoskeletal Therapist.

If you have not yet completed any MMT classes with the modality’s creator and veteran educator Erik Dalton and his team, then your first certification goal will be to complete the Foundational Home-Study Courses. In order to earn this credential, a professional manual therapist must complete one of Dalton’s massage continuing education courses on the topic of MMT. Currently, practitioners can choose from ten different distance-learning MMT CE classes or enroll in a live workshop with Dalton and his team in order to earn the credential of Master Myoskeletal Therapist. There are three foundational home-study courses that focus on various aspects of MAT: Lower Body; Upper Body; and Posture, Pain and Performance. These distance-learning CE classes include top-quality DVDs, detailed texts and more. Simply purchase any one of the three programs, online or by phone, and the materials will be on their way for you to begin your journey into the rewarding world of manual therapy for pain management.

As far as MAT e-learning options for continuing education, practitioners have the opportunity to get started right away on Dalton’s Technique Tour, a CE program that takes place totally online, allowing students to earn 16 CEUs and the credential of Certified Myoskeletal Therapist — all from the comfort and convenience of the nearest computer with an Internet connection. In the coming months, four more e-learning CE programs on MAT will come online, making it even easier to gain enhanced skills in myoskeletal alignment. The upcoming myoskeletal e-learning courses include Shoulder, Arm and Hand; Motion is Lotion; Art of MAT; and MAT Assessments. The beauty of completing MAT massage courses online is that your education can begin right away, so there is no need to wait to begin pursuing your goal of excellence and expertise in the field of manual therapy.

On the quest to reap the benefits of becoming an expert in MAT — and, in turn, deliver those benefits to your client base — your first MAT class can be considered the first rung on a ladder that climbs higher and higher as your myoskeletal alignment skills deepen. As you complete more MAT CE classes, you will be taking steps toward increasing your expertise in this pain-management modality. Even better, there is a tangible reward for all that training, which allows you to show clients and prospective employers that you have reached the highest level of expertise in manual therapy for pain management. Once you complete the full catalog of MAT classes and 50 hours of live myoskeletal workshops, you will receive the elite credential of Master Myoskeletal Therapist (MMT).

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