Continuing education is an essential component of any professional massage therapist’s career. You should not feel burdened by any continuing education requirements you may have. Instead, you should take advantage of the diverse courses offered in a variety of places that provide significant benefits to your career. The following six incentives are just a few of the reasons why massage therapists should love, not dread, continuing education.
1. To Comply with State Requirements
To remain a massage therapist, you often need CEUs
The biggest reason to take continuing education courses is simply because it is required by your state licensing board. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 44 states and the District of Columbia regulate massage therapists. Each state will have different requirements, but almost all will have some sort of requirements, even if it is just a few hours every couple of years. By regularly attending courses, you never have to worry about not being in compliant.
2. Meet the Needs of Your Clients
Continuing education courses provide you with benefits beyond just keeping your job. A basic massage therapy course is only able to cover a limited amount of information. By taking continuing education courses, you have the opportunity to learn about the latest techniques or refresh your memory on certain practices. Additionally, you can take specialized courses to learn how to treat clients with special needs, such as pregnant women, seniors, or injured people.
Pregnant women need special accommodations during a massage
3. Increase Your Income
Although many courses on massage therapy focus on relaxation and stress relief, there are many massage techniques that can help people to recover from injury, prevent injury, or control pain, according to Massage Magazine. By taking these specialized courses, you not only receive essential continuing education credit, but you also will be able to provide services to a larger client pool, which may help you to enter a higher income bracket.
4. Stand out From Your Competition
Many massage therapy CEU courses provide certificates of completion that can help you to stand out from your competition. Even if you do not have certifications, you can market yourself as an expert in a variety of massage techniques for a variety of purposes or benefits, which can help you be more competitive in an increasingly saturated field.
You can add services such as hot stone massage after taking CE courses
5. Remain Inspired
Doing the same thing every day can become dull, especially when you no longer feel challenged. Continuing education provides opportunities to challenge yourself, learn new topics, and bring a new light into your practice. It will also help you to reconnect with the reasons why you chose to be a massage therapist. Some courses may also teach you ways to update your business, including different creative ways to market to new clients.
6. Reduce Professional Risks
Working in massage therapy has some inherent risks to your health, your client’s health, and professional liability. You can take continuing education courses that will help to mitigate your risks. Some courses can train you in ways to reduce the risk of injury to yourself and your clients, while others will help you learn the best practices to protect yourself from any litigation.
7. Networking
Continuing education courses can be fun, inspiring, educational, and sociable. When you attend classes or conferences, you have the opportunity to meet other people in the industry, widening your professional network. This can help you to build your practice and find employment opportunities in the present or future.
Have fun and build your professional network at CE events
How Can BeautyCE Help?
Finding the time to fit in continuing education courses can sometimes be tricky when you have a thriving practice. By taking online, accredited CEUs from BeatuyCE, you can gain many of the benefits of continuing education at your convenience. It is a cost effective, hassle free avenue for adhering to your state requirements while also expanding your professional education.
With the right courses, you can revitalize your career while remaining compliant with your state’s licensing requirements. Therefore, you should not view continuing education as a boring obligation but instead as an opportunity to grow in your chosen career.