The world of professional massage therapy and bodywork is deep and wide, with a range of career niches and employment possibilities, from running one’s own solo practice or working within a spa to being employed in a wellness clinic or on staff in the rehabilitation department of a hospital. For those manual therapists who wish to work on the end of the career spectrum that leans more toward medical massage, getting to that area of the field is usually a matter of selecting the right massage therapy continuing education.

Essentially, continuing education courses can serve as the steering wheel for your career as a massage therapist or bodyworker. It is up to you, from the time you first graduate from your basic education, to begin charting a course toward the type of practice you believe will be most satisfying for you and in which your skills and innate talents will be put to the best possible use. If you are still a bit unsure about what area of the industry you would like to work in, check out an array of CE programs to see which ones might make good additions to your current skill set and help move your career in a more successful direction.

Of course, before you leap in to enroll in a continuing education class, you may want to be sure that it is being offered by an NCBTMB approved provider. Often, various governing boards, as well as professional organizations and employers, may ask that any CE hours you earn be through a teacher or provider who is on the NCBTMB approved list. There may be other requirements for CE credits to count toward renewing your license and other professional needs, which means it is crucial to stay aware of the regulations within your state or region, as well as the CE requirements of your employer or professional organization, if applicable.

If you feel fairly certain that medical massage is the career path for you, then the next step after getting clear on the specifics of any continuing education requirements is to figure out what type of medical massage you may want to practice. In general, there tend to be two different camps when it comes to medical massage, although there is certainly crossover between the two as well. The first camp comprises medical massage therapists who tend to work with patients in a more acute care setting. For example, this may mean providing massage to patients who are have recently had surgery or who are receiving treatment for a critical or terminal illness.

The other category of medical massage leans more toward massage for sports therapy and rehabilitation. Unlike the other camp, this form of medical massage frequently involves deep tissue massage techniques that have been designed to address all kinds of pain conditions and the postural issues that often accompany persistent pain patterns. For example, a practitioner who is looking to work in this more orthopedic area of massage may need to learn massage techniques for back pain—an all too common complaint among the clients of medical massage and sports massage therapists. If this is the direction you are looking to steer your career, then enrolling in the CE programs provided by Erik Dalton and his colleagues at the Freedom From Pain Institute may be the most importance choice you make.

Whether you choose to take one of Dalton’s in-person seminars, sign up for a distance learning program or take one of his online CE courses with the click of a button, you can rest assured that, right away, you will begin to learn effective evaluation and assessment protocols, as well as powerful deep tissue massage techniques to address the source of pain and provide clients with lasting relief. At the same time, you can also be earning a solid number of CE credits toward renewing and maintaining your massage license, as Dalton is an NCBTMB approved provider. In addition, professional practitioners who complete any one of Dalton’s continuing education programs can earn the title of Certified Myoskeletal Therapist—a boon to the manual therapist who’s looking to work in the world of medical massage.

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