Located in Chicago, The New School for Massage, Bodywork & Healing was established in 2002 by Emmanuel Bistas. Bistas combined his entrepreneurial talent with his desire for students to learn and respect the ever-evolving field of healing arts to create a school that focuses on developing massage skills to ensure long-term career success. The school strives to keep up with the changes in the industry, and practiced masseuse therapists offer the latest techniques during courses such as pathology for bodywork, foundations of therapeutic massage and professional ethics. Students can practice techniques in the school's student and professional clinic, which performs an average of 4,500 treatments per year.
The European Massage Therapy School offers a comprehensive 610-hour program that aims to prepare students for a career in massage therapy. The Skokie, Illinois, school is nationally accredited by the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools. It offers flexible schedules with evening and weekend options, programs that can be completed in nine months and an average class size of 14 people. Most instructors at the school have master's or doctorate degrees as well as experience working as massage therapists.
The Classic Touch School of Therapeutic Massage in Springfield offers degree programs in therapeutic massage and advanced clinical massage. The 512-hour therapeutic massage program aims to help prepare students for the National Certifying Exam for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork, which students must pass to receive a state license. Students will become familiar with essential massage therapy skills and will then move on to advanced techniques and courses in massage modalities, sports and infant massage and chair massage. The 200-hour advanced clinical massage course is designed for those students who wish to further their abilities as a masseuse and run a successful clinical practice. Students in this course will learn the trigger-point method, health team communication and thumb-finger techniques to release muscular tension.
The Soma Institute in Chicago offers a clinical massage therapy program and a master clinical massage therapy program. During the 750-hour clinical massage therapy diploma program, students prepare for a variety of career paths, from sports massage for professional teams to wellness massage at spas. Courses include kinesiology, physiology and anatomy. The 300-hour master clinical massage therapy program is designed for students who already are practiced masseuses and want to enhance the skills they have. Students learn advanced bodywork techniques as well as practices derived from Eastern medical techniques.