Basic Therapeutic Massage
Twenty-one days, eight to a batch, assessed on a live table.
Who this is for
Anyone serious about hands-on work. This is the most employable single skill we teach, and the one where the gap between a good course and a bad one is most obvious to a client within ninety seconds.
What you will actually be able to do
- A full-body therapeutic sequence delivered to professional standard
- Hands taught properly — pressure, rhythm, contact and body mechanics
- Body mechanics that let you do this for years without wrecking your own back
- The most directly employable skill in the catalogue
Modules
Applied anatomy
The muscles and landmarks your hands will actually meet.
Your own body
Stance, leverage and how not to injure yourself.
The strokes
Effleurage, petrissage, friction, tapotement — to competence.
Regional sequences
Back, legs, arms, neck and shoulders.
The full session
Sixty minutes, start to finish, unaided.
Screening and scope
Who not to treat, and when to stop.
Day-by-day curriculum
Published in full, because you should know what you are buying before you pay for it.
Days 1–3
Applied anatomy
Surface anatomy and palpation. Locating muscles and landmarks by feel rather than diagram — trapezius, erector spinae, glutes, hamstrings, deltoid. Tested by palpation on a partner.
Day 4
Body mechanics
Stance, weight transfer, table height, using bodyweight rather than arms. Taught early because habits formed in week one persist for a career. Therapists leave this profession with shoulder and thumb injuries; this session is why ours do not.
Days 5–8
The four strokes
Effleurage, petrissage, friction and tapotement. Each taught in isolation, corrected individually, and practised until pressure and rhythm are consistent. Hands assessed daily.
Days 9–11
Back and shoulders
The full posterior sequence. Draping and modesty, oil handling, contact maintained throughout. Delivered to a partner, critiqued, repeated.
Days 12–14
Legs and arms
Posterior and anterior limb sequences. Direction of stroke relative to circulation, and joint handling for people with restricted range.
Days 15–16
Neck and scalp
The region most requested and most easily done badly. Cervical handling, contraindications, and where not to press.
Day 17
Screening and contraindications
Acute injury, infection, DVT risk, uncontrolled hypertension, pregnancy, recent surgery, skin conditions, medication affecting bleeding. When to stop mid-session and how to say so.
Days 18–20
Full sessions, supervised
Three complete sixty-minute sessions each, on live models, faculty observing without intervening. Feedback after each, from both faculty and the person on the table.
Day 21
Assessment
One full sixty-minute session assessed against a published rubric, plus written examination on anatomy, screening and scope.
Practical exercises
- Palpation and landmark identification, assessed
- Four strokes practised to consistent pressure and rhythm
- Regional sequences for back, legs, arms, neck
- Three supervised full sessions on live models
Assignments
- A palpation map completed on a partner and verified
- Written contraindication protocol in your own words
- Reflective log across all supervised sessions
How the certificate is earned
A full 60-minute session on a live model, assessed against a published rubric by two faculty members independently, plus a written examination
Pass requirement
65% practical and 60% written, with at least 85% attendance
Weighting
- Full session practical (60%)
- Written examination (25%)
- Palpation assessment (15%)
Certificate of Completion
What this certificate lets you do
Published because a course that does not teach its own limits is teaching you to be dangerous.
You may
- Deliver therapeutic massage within an establishment under a supervising practitioner
- Screen and adapt a session for a general adult client
You may not
- Practise independently on the public
- Treat any diagnosed musculoskeletal condition as therapy
- Work on anyone pregnant, post-surgical or under active medical treatment without practitioner clearance
- Describe yourself as a physiotherapist or any registered title
Learning outcomes
- Deliver a complete 60-minute therapeutic massage unaided
- Locate major muscles and landmarks by palpation
- Maintain body mechanics that protect your own career
- Screen for contraindications and stop when required
Career opportunities
- Massage therapist in a wellness centre, spa or hotel
- Therapy assistant in a naturopathy centre
- The strongest single-skill route towards the Therapist Foundation Programme
Apply for Basic Therapeutic Massage
A fifteen-minute counselling call first, with no fee and no obligation. If this is the wrong programme for you, that is what we will say.