Therapist Foundation Programme
Forty-five days. The point at which you become genuinely useful in a treatment room.
Who this is for
People who want this as a profession rather than an interest. This is the core programme of the Academy and the main route into our own internship pathway.
What you will actually be able to do
- Competence across four therapy categories rather than one
- Sixty hours of supervised practice on real people, not fellow students
- Assessed by the founder against the standard our own therapists meet
- The primary route into the Nirmal Kaya internship pathway
Modules
Anatomy and physiology
Applied, palpated, and tested.
Assessment
Measuring a person and knowing what it means.
Therapeutic massage
Full-body competence.
Heat, steam and hydrotherapy
Equipment, screening and monitoring.
Mud and external applications
Preparation to removal.
Movement and relaxation
Guided practice delivery.
Communication and consent
History, explanation, boundaries.
Supervised practice
Sixty hours with real patients.
Day-by-day curriculum
Published in full, because you should know what you are buying before you pay for it.
Days 1–6
Anatomy and physiology, applied
Musculoskeletal system, circulation, nervous system, digestion. Taught through palpation and observation rather than diagrams. Assessed by locating structures on a live partner.
Days 7–10
Assessment skills
Vitals, posture screen, movement screen, body composition, history taking. Each participant assesses ten people and is assessed doing it.
Days 11–13
Screening, red flags and referral
The full contraindication picture across every therapy taught here. When to refuse, when to stop, when to send someone to a doctor. Examined before any hands-on work begins.
Days 14–22
Therapeutic massage
Body mechanics, four strokes, regional sequences, full-body session. The Basic Therapeutic Massage syllabus delivered inside the programme, with the same assessment standard.
Days 23–27
Heat, steam and hydrotherapy
Equipment operation, thermoregulation, monitoring, contrast applications, emergency drill. Assessed practically.
Days 28–31
Mud and external applications
Preparation, local and full-body application, hygiene and turnover.
Days 32–35
Movement and relaxation
Therapeutic movement basics, guided relaxation and yoga nidra delivery. Enough to deliver competently under a practitioner's plan.
Days 36–38
Communication, consent and records
History taking, explaining a plan, teach-back, boundaries, documentation. What you must record after every session and why.
Days 39–43
Supervised patient practice
Sixty hours across the programme culminate here: delivering to real patients under direct supervision, with the supervising practitioner present and intervening only when necessary.
Day 44
Practical examination
A full session with a real patient, from screening to documentation, assessed independently by two faculty including the founder.
Day 45
Written examination and review
Written paper across anatomy, screening, contraindications and scope. Individual review, and where relevant, internship discussion.
Practical exercises
- Palpation and landmark assessment
- Ten supervised assessments on real people
- Full-body massage to assessment standard
- Heat, steam and hydro delivery with monitoring
- Mud application, full body
- Sixty hours of supervised patient contact
Assignments
- Ten written assessments conducted on real people
- A reflective log across all supervised patient hours
- Written protocols for four therapies in your own words
- One case study following a patient across multiple sessions
How the certificate is earned
Practical examination with a real patient assessed independently by two faculty including the founder, plus written examination and portfolio
Pass requirement
65% practical, 60% written, and 90% attendance. All three are required.
Weighting
- Practical examination (45%)
- Written examination (25%)
- Supervised practice record (20%)
- Portfolio and case study (10%)
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 the therapies taught, within an establishment, under a supervising practitioner
- Conduct assessments and record findings
- Screen patients and decline where contraindicated
You may not
- Practise independently on the public
- Diagnose any condition
- Design a treatment plan without practitioner approval
- Use any registered professional title
Learning outcomes
- Deliver massage, heat, hydro and mud therapies competently under supervision
- Assess a person and record findings to clinical standard
- Screen for contraindications across every therapy you deliver
- Communicate findings and boundaries clearly to a patient
- Work as a useful member of a treatment team from day one
Career opportunities
- Wellness therapist in a naturopathy centre, spa or resort
- Therapy assistant in a clinical wellness setting
- Eligible for invitation to the Nirmal Kaya internship pathway
On employment
Completing any Nirmal Kaya Academy programme does not guarantee employment, an internship, or any offer of work. Internships are offered by invitation to high-performing candidates when supervision capacity exists. Employment depends on performance, assessment and an open vacancy. Most people who complete our programmes will not be employed by us — many go on to work elsewhere, and some use the training for themselves alone. Anyone who tells you a course guarantees a job is selling you something.
Apply for Therapist Foundation Programme
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.