Welcome to the Massage Therapy Program. Spring 2011 is the 17th anniversary of the Massage Therapy Program, which began in the spring of 1994 under the direction of former Dean Phil Nash and Fitness & Dance instructor Dawn Sare. The Massage Therapy Program offers a Massage Practitioner certificate of up to 338 hours, and a Massage Therapist certificate of up to 700 or more hours if you complete the requirements for the Certificate of Achievement or Associate in Science degree in Massage Therapy.
Massage is an ancient healing art that has awakened many of us to the intimate connection between the body, mind and spirit. Massage also helps us remember our interconnection with all human beings, and with the world around us. Massage allows us to connect with one another at the deepest level of our being, encouraging interpersonal trust, respect and reverence. Massage can act as a bond that ties us together into one human family, and it can serve as a salve that heals the emotional wounds we suffer in life, wounds that can fill us with fear, hate, intolerance and despair. Without these connections, peace, health, and happiness are elusive states in a world that is often stressful and fragmented.
Massage goes hand in hand with health and well-being, the desire to serve humanity, the need we have to touch and be touched, and our wish to live in harmony with each other and the environments that support us all. Massage is a wonderful luxury many enjoy only on special occassions, but more and more people receive regular massages as an integral part of a wellness-oriented approach to healthcare. Unfortunately, massage therapy is vastly underutilized in our society, but it has vast potential for helping to make us all healthier and happier. It is recognition of and respect for the potential of massage for connecting and healing us that we hope to inspire in you and in those you have the privilege to touch.
Our goal for the MPC Massage Therapy Program is to introduce people to massage and to the understanding that massage is about connection with oneself and with others, connection that is safe, ethical, nurturing, compassionate and mutually rewarding. For those who want to explore massage as a career, we want to train entry-level massage therapy practitioners who will be touchstones verifying the many benefits quality massage therapy can provide. These benefits include self-awareness, a sense of connection with self and others, pain relief, relaxation, enhanced fitness, and normalization of the physiologic functions impaired by the physical and emotional stresses of daily life.
In recognizing and celebrating the connections that massage can establish or reaffirm in and between each of us, we welcome a commitment¾to ourselves and to all those with whom we share the awesome power of touch¾to make this world a better place for us all.
Click here for a map of our new location, PE 205, southwest corner of the gymnasium building on the second floor (the old dance studio, more recently the fitness center)