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Massage Student Seeking Answers to Question

Hi there!

I've just entered the Massage Program and I'm super excited and eager to continue growing as a person and learn more about my field!

I'm really curious about the different modalities that exist and was wondering if anyone would mind sharing their preferred ones and how they came to favor it?

As well as how long it took you guys to master it and whether or not certification is required to practice certain massage methods.

Just hearing about your experiences and training would really help and inspiring me to find my own nitch.

Thank you guys for reading! (And hopefully replying <3)

-Best Regards,

Meshelle <3

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on January 23, 2015 at 8:57pm

There are a lot of modalities out there. It's kind of like the martial arts. When I first started, I looked around to see what was going on in the massage world around me. I lived on Maui. At the time there was only one Shiatsu therapist on the island. And he was in his late 60s and was ready to retire. He had clientel. So I decided to be a Shiatsu therapist based on that. And at the time I somehow thought that a Shiatsu therapist was more advanced or better then just a massage therapist. But of course thats not true. But that gave me a nitch. The older Shiatsu therapist retired shortly after I got my license.

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Permalink Reply by Cindy Faye on January 27, 2015 at 8:11am

You'll learn about many or most modalities in school. Certification is required for some. You may choose a modality by researching the need in your community or, you may just find one you like doing and feels right. Master it? Not sure at all about that one young grasshoppa :)

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Permalink Reply by Neal Lyons on February 1, 2015 at 11:58am

my personal favorite as a client is deep tissue as my main goals are relief and preventive/rejuvination. as a practitioner, swedish is my favorite because it is the most commonly requested massage. although licensing/regulation may not be necessary - you do need appropriate training to perform certain modalities. goes without saying as well that medical massage therapists can benefit their careers by obtaining advanced/specialized certification - though again, not necessarily regulated