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How to Become a Massage Therapist

2021-07-20T13:26:07-07:00July 14th, 2018|

Do you dream of a job in a peaceful environment where your work makes a real difference in the lives of others? Do you enjoy working with your hands? Can you connect with people and put them at ease while still maintaining a professional demeanor? If so, massage therapy may be right for you! Read on to learn how to become a massage therapist in Oregon.

Figuring out that you want to become a massage therapist is the first step. Next, you must apply to accredited massage schools in your preferred area, and with the academic programs you desire. Following acceptance into […]

How to Find the Best School for You to Take Massage Therapy Classes

2021-07-20T13:26:25-07:00December 10th, 2015|

Are you LMT-curious? Maybe people tell you that you’re great with your hands. Plus, you love helping people, and dream of getting paid to do so. If so, you may be thinking about taking massage therapy classes. Selecting a school is your first step in the journey toward becoming a professional massage therapist. In today’s post, we suggest three basic questions you can ask to figure out the best massage school for you. […]

High Demand Opens Jobs for People Trained in Massage Therapy Schools

2021-07-20T13:26:44-07:00November 13th, 2015|

Complementary and alternative medicine has grown in popularity among consumers worldwide. Although there is limited scientific research on the benefits of massage, the general public is becoming more accepting of this discipline as they experience it and find positive results for themselves. Statistics show that Americans are willing to spend their own money for alternative therapy treatments. The National Institutes of Health reported that Americans spent $34 billion on alternative medicine in 2007. These numbers show that people are willing to try different ways to achieve recovery and better health. […]

Cupping Therapy 101: How it Works, What Benefits it Brings

2026-03-03T07:15:34-08:00June 25th, 2015|

Updated February, 2026

Picture students in a class at a massage training school. You see thumbs, fingers, and elbows pressing into muscles. Or, if you’ve ever experienced Thai Massage, you might see massage therapy classes with trainees pulling and pressing while in yoga-like postures. For most massage modalities, this understanding of pressing or stretching into tissue to relieve pain and tension is correct. Cupping is an exception.

While most manual therapies use downward pressure to alleviate muscle adhesions, cupping uses suction to pull tissues up. As an analogy, think of a dirty […]

Massage Therapy Modalities: Structural Bodywork

2015-06-11T20:27:07-07:00June 11th, 2015|

In our series on massage modalities, we’ve covered Thai massage, trigger point therapy, and Tui Na. Today we’re looking at a different form of massage: Structural Bodywork. At its crux, structural bodywork explores and offsets imbalances within the body.

The mother of structural bodywork is Ida Rolf. Ida Rolf was a biochemist, yoga teacher, manual therapist, and sensorimotor educator who had a holistic vision of health. Her focus as a healer was to improve overall biochemical functioning, rather than treating certain systems. Rolf’s creation, Structural Integration, improves health by improving the human body’s structure in relation to gravity.
Within this […]

The Benefits of Volunteering Your Massage Therapy Services

2015-06-04T20:25:37-07:00June 4th, 2015|

Winston Churchill once said, “We make a living by what we do, but we make a life by what we give.” LMTs have many opportunities to volunteer, from providing hospice massage to providing massage therapy for homeless youths. But why would you want to practice your craft for free, when you can get paid for it? Well, that’s a totally legitimate question. Read on to discover some of the many benefits massage therapists can enjoy from volunteer work.

Portland Massage Therapy School’s Top Benefits of Volunteering:

Volunteering Zaps Stagnation.

Every profession includes boredom from […]

Reflexology: Intro to this Massage Modality

2015-05-28T20:24:07-07:00May 28th, 2015|

Reflexology is an ancient manual healing method in which acupressure points on the feet, hands, and/or ears are compressed to alleviate pain and treat medical problems. Although there is little academic evidence that reflexology treats specific medical conditions beyond a placebo response, this ancient practice has been relieving pain and other stress-related conditions for thousands of years. Remember, a placebo brings healing about half of the time; 1 out of every 2 patients on a placebo see positive health results. As in many CAM therapies, many accredited massage schools offer reflexology courses because this healing modality […]

Client Populations: Working with Elderly Patients


2015-05-14T20:20:57-07:00May 14th, 2015|

Massage careers can take practitioners all over the world, to all manner of settings. However, when envisioning a post-massage certification career path, the common image is that of a healthy middle-aged person receiving a basic Swedish massage. Reality is much larger in scope. In this series we will be discussing how to work with different client populations- in all ages and stages of life. We kick things off with a discussion of geriatric massage, including its challenges, effective techniques, and benefits.

Challenges Massaging Elderly Clients

Elderly clients can often be intimidating to massage, due to their unique health conditions and physical needs. Older […]

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