Studying massage by distance learning?

[Superb :)]

Hi Paul,
a question for you (and any other massage therapist that wants to answer):

If you were looking for a massage, and you saw a reasonably priced therapist, gave them a call, asked what their qualification was, and they told you it was a Stonebridge (or BSY or any other) distance learning massage diploma, would you book in and pay for a massage with them?

 

[iris_ankur]

Ahh my favourite Hp subject!

As a therapist who has been practising for 13 years and done over 1000 hours(guess-mation) of training costing me 1000s and 1000s of £, I cannot see whatsoever how anyone can learn hands-on therapy from a distant learning course to a professional standard.

As a teacher and former FE lecture who has taught within the community doing short courses, ITEC diploma courses and Tai Chi, how anyone can learn hands-on therapy from a distant learning course to professional standard beats me.

I have worked with the elderly, adult learning disabilities, festivals, sports events and in palliative care. No way on this planet would I've been allowed to work in any of those situations with a Stonebridge or BSY or SNHS certificate.

There is no way of this planet that I would be able to be at the clinic I work at with the forementioned qualifications.

I fully understand not anyone can go to college and learn, but over the years I have met people who have made big sacrifices to do what they wish to do. Sometimes we cannot do what we wish. There as thousands of things and places I would wish to go and do, but I can't do it all.

Practising massage in a privilege and a calling. It's not just about skills accumulation, it's about the attitude behind it. It's a big commitment, not the latest whim and fancy.

Whether we like it or not, massage to be taken more seriously as a healthcare profession is this country, standards have to rise.

As for the Guild of whoever, so what! Who the **** are they? A business at the end of the day. I could tomorrow set up a professional body and issue certificates. It's easy to do and legal. But would it be worth the paper its written on, that's up to you to decide.

As for how come distant learning courses with a day or two of training gaining insurance? That is probably due to the fact that they teach simple techniques with a minimum amount of contraindications. Simple = low risk = cheapo insurance. You try and get insurance for techniques that are potentially dangerous with in minimum amount of training and see the how premium rises up to the sky.

I've been working all day, working all day tomorrow massaging and therefore going to bed. Why am I on here then? Because I care. I don't wish to upset people, but if I truly belief in what I do, I have to say this and hopefully encourage others to take a responsible route into therapy work.

Nighty night zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......

 

[alcorceetencE]

If I need a massage then qualifications are less important to me than the person's ability to do the job in a caring and intuitive way.

When I first started massaging professionally, which was more years than I care to remember, I did it with no formal training what so ever, I put together an intuitive massage so I could practice my healing skills, I then gave my routine to someone doing a holistic massage course and they got a distinction for the routine.

A few years down the line, once I had developed my empathy and intuitive skills to the level I was happy with, I did go and do a remedial massage course at the Northern Institute of Massage, yes this was expensive and did give me qualifications for what I could already do, did my time and investment improve my skills, I don't think so as I am quite thorough at learning something when I set my mind to it.

I know it is becoming fashionable to put everyone else's training down as inferior etc, but the fact still remains that the proof of the pudding is as always in the eating, not the presentation. With massage you can either do it or you can't, no amount of training is going to change that fact.

As for insurance it has nothing to do with your qualifications, I had insurance before I was qualified, you can't get onto a so called governing busy body insurance scam unless you show them that you have jumped through their hoops high enough, but insurance is available privately to anyone who pays for it.

 

[lurponnodleds]

Hi Paul,
I take it from your answer that you would pay for a massage from someone with a distance learning only massage qualification, it would be interesting to see how many other massage therapists would.

Following you slightly off topic, I dont see how it has become fashionable to put everyone elses training down as inferior. There are good courses, and there are bad ones....fact.

The governing body dont issue insurance, some of the Professional Associations do. Mine is £50 odd pounds for £5million cover. Yes you can get it privately, usually from the companies that insure distance learning only courses, but when I last checked, they wanted over three times what I was paying, so surely that says something.

I know there are those that dont believe in professional associations or regulation, however, there is a reason why the industry has moved on, its called progress.

A few years ago, I had a call from a friend who had a friend that had received a massage treatment....on an acute sports injury.....now obviously massage is contraindicated in actute sports injuries, however the therapist still worked it....and left the client in a worse state than before...so much so that he tried to take some action. My friend, knowing that I was in this field, asked me what to do, so I suggested that the client contacted all the Professional Associations, with the therapists name and details of the complaint, (I gave him details of all the main PAs). The answer he got from every single PA was, sorry, they are not a member. So ultimately, the client vowed never to use a massage therapist again, because he felt he couldnt do anything about the shoddy treatment he had recieved. That is the reason that we should have PAs, we should have a regulator, and why standards need to be kept high.

 

[smislinlenema]

Let us not forget that prior to all this regulation and study that massage has very ancient roots. It was more ad hoc, instinctive and a part of every day life in some cultures. The knowledge was passed down the generations. Granted people weren't paying for it and not many people did it as a profession.

Sometimes I think modern massage has got so far removed from it's organic roots that it's unrecognisable. I'm not saying that regulation is a bad thing, I just want to remind people that there is more to massage than a string of letters after your name. There is intention, concentration, instinct, talent and compassion built into a good massage.

 

[PaintHorseLover]

Hi Faciaman

Contra indications vary on where and what you are taught, we were taught not to work over a recent operation and depending on the severity of the recent injury to approach the area cautiously, but that did not mean that treatment should not be given, if we can't get on top of the area straight away, then we can certainly work around it to assist the healing.

So to state that acute injuries should not be addressed is incorrect. Now if someone has not been trained to treat injuries then I agree they should not do it, but for general body massage which is what we are discussing here they just need to avoid the area.

Before I got my qualifications and after, I was either employed or did exchange treatments with many therapists practising a host of different therapies, yes they would not let me work in their practices as I was not a member of a trade association, but they were more than happy to receive my treatments as I was and still am an excellent practitioner.

So yes I am happy to receive massage from someone who has done a distant course and I am very happy to receive massage from natural massage therapists who have not received any formal training but are competent in their natural abilities. Saying that if I have an injury then I would be looking for someone who can get on and treat it for me.

 

[Tunner Babs]

That is the appears to be the problem then Paul, because the case in question mentioned by fasciaman, the therapist must have had exactly the same idea as you, and decided to use remedial massage to treat an acute injury, (I actually know of this case too, because I was contacted to see if I knew the therapist) and to say that acute injuries shouldnt be addressed by massage is not incorrect, it is the teaching of pretty much every syllabus in the land, and common sense in my view, you dont apply heat to an acute injury, and massage can produce heat, as well as the other problems that it can cause

If you had a problem, say an ankle sprain, would you be happy to receive a treatment from someone who had done a sports injury distance learning course? The principles are the same, read a book and go and give a hands on treatment.

Yes massage is instinctive, and intuitive, and you cannot learn these skills from a course...however, courses teach you how to be safe and effective.

Take as an example, a client with rounded shoulders, who's upper back muscles are no doubt lengthened, and their pectorals shortened. Unless you had done a decent course, you would just quite happily do your lengthening strokes up the back, thus the problem would not get resolved. That in my book would not be a safe massage (and yes there are different degrees of safety). You would never get that sort of information on a distance learning course (unless the companies read this and add it to their out of date course materials).

I agree with most of the comments from yogajoga, however, I dont think massage is unrecognisable. We have lots more variations of massage, using knowledge of the human body and movement, we have been able to develop those ancient techiniques. I certainly believe that massage is one of the oldest and most powerful healing tools, and that is why I believe that it should be taught by people that are themselves natural and intuitive. I certainly dont teach my students 'routines', because that is not intuitive, instead they get a feel for persons body, and how it responds to their touch. That cannot be taught via a distance learning course.

 

[Jumping Sun]

Just to pick up on your comment about treating someone with kyphotic posture. Your average massage course will not go into much detail about how to treat kyphotic posture - you will be taught a full body massage - using light to medium pressure and you probably won't go anywhere the pecs. To massage the pecs [and assisted stretching is also important] you need to do a sports massage course, or a course which shows you advanced techniques, or a workshop specialising in kyphotic posture.

I don't think that by working the rhomboids and trapezius more - because they're more accessible and everyone is taught those techniques is dangerous. What you are doing, is exacerbating the very cause of the condition. ie. back muscles which are tight in a lengthened position due to round shoulders and pecs which are tight in a shortened position. This makes the treatment less effective but I wouldn't say dangerous. The client will feel some instant relief from getting the back muscles massaged but it will be shortlived and their posture will remain the same no matter how many treatments they get where the pecs aren't massaged and postural advice isn't impressed upon them.

If I'm missing something here I'd really like to find out how this might be dangerous.

 

[Mat G]

Again there is a big difference between learning general body massage for non specific issues and the more specialised forms of massage which do require more in-depth information to practice.

Without knowing the specifics of the case you are mentioning, as well as seeing what is wrong with the person first hand, I can't really comment on it, each person presents individual symptoms that are unique to them and requires a treatment to suit their individual requirements.

Personally I do not hold with the teaching that if someone comes with a lumber issue then you just treat the lumber area, to me the body is one entity and it needs as much of it treating, as is required for each type of injury we are presented with.

 

[Udde]

I didnt say the word dangerous, I said the problem would not get resolved, in fact you explained exactly what I meant better than I did, so thank you for that.

I think we may be going off topic slightly, as we are discussing massage by distance learning, however, it does highlight the differences in training. When I teach even what you would call 'basic' massage, I always discuss posture and the effects of massage on postural problems, and how just slightly changing techniques and movements, will have a beneficial effect on the problem, and wouldnt exacerbate it.

 

[soccer_girl2021]

Oh yes, apologies - you said "would not be a safe massage" I guess I inferred dangerous as being not safe. We're in agreement anyway ;-)

 

[Pompal 09.]

O for the golden years of family tradition massage and apprenticeships. Doesn't it conjure up wonderful nostaglic images. Problem is in 21st century UK that this doesn't exist - we are living in a modern technological culture not a village in the foot hills of Nepal or Northern Thailand (more wonderful romantic images). Times change and we have to change with it. Of course anyone can obtain a series of qualifications and letters after their name, but what's far more important is combining the best from the old and the new - intuitive/nature skills with modern A&P knowledge. Any serious massage practitioner will naturally do this. It's about using both sides of the brain!

RP