The very best CEU courses for massage therapists are those that can make a noticeable impact on your practice. Following the completion of a CE course, manual therapists who are not seeing any significant changes in their daily work, either on the technique or the business side of their practice, may need to rethink the way they select their next continuing education experience. By choosing from only the top massage therapy continuing education classes, students may find they need to make somewhat more of an investment up front for dramatically greater returns in the long run. Here, we will outline a few of the aspects that set a truly high quality CEU program – like Myoskeletal Alignment Techniques (MAT) – apart from those that simply allow practitioners cheap and easy access to CE credits without the delivery of any exceptional skills or information.

To begin with, A-list CEU courses for massage therapists typically are taught by someone who has a solid reputation in the profession, as both a teacher and a practitioner. There is a reason these folks have made a name for themselves as pioneers in the industry of professional massage therapy and bodywork, like Erik Dalton has. Before you sign up, do a little research on the Internet to read the teacher’s biography or resume page, find out the extent of his or her training and how many years this person has been working and teaching in the realm of manual therapy. If the instructor’s name does not ring a bell right off the bat, this is not an automatic dismissal, it simply means it will be especially important to find out more about this teacher’s background. You want to make sure the person you are paying for an education has an impressive background in the topic you’re looking to learn.

CEU courses for massage therapists typically are taught by someone who has a solid reputation in the profession, as both a teacher and a practitioner.

Another tip for finding top massage therapy continuing education courses is to check out whether a particular CE program has been vetted and approved by other organizations, such as the NCBTMB. You’re looking for signals of substance and credibility, so search around to see what groups have approved or adopted this person’s training techniques. For example, manual therapists who are considering enrolling in one of Erik Dalton’s CE classes on Myoskeletal Alignment Techniques (MAT) will find that Dalton’s teaching facility, the Freedom From Pain Institute, is both an NCBTMB and a BOC approved provider for continuing education. In addition, Indiana State University has brought MAT training on board for those students who are interested in earning a minor in massage therapy.

In many cases, the need to separate lower quality CE classes from those of great value pertains mainly to massage therapy continuing education classes online. It is here, in the online realm, that organizations may have an easier time selling quick CEUs without delivering a worthwhile education. Therefore, if you are considering an e-learning program for your next continuing education class, take special care to investigate the program. The best massage courses online will include a wealth of material in a variety of formats, from video programming and insightful text to chat forums and other interactive features. Again, you will want to check around to learn more about the teacher’s background and find out whether the continuing education units you might earn have been approved by credible organizations.

Before you fall prey to the lure of a cheap and easy CEU program, make sure you think about all the ways that paying a bit more for top-notch continuing education can end up paying off big in the end. As noted earlier, one of the main ways to know whether you have had a high-quality CE experience comes after the fact — when you find out whether the knowledge and skills delivered during the class are having any positive impact on your practice. For example, if you decide to take a CE class on marketing for massage therapists, and you try putting those lessons to work once the course has been completed, you will want to see an uptick in appointments as the result of your efforts. When you take a top CE class, such as those offered by Erik Dalton, you can expect noticeable results and a real return on your investment.

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