Hello all,
I'm a nineteen year old female living in West Sussex and am interested in getting involved with Massage Therapy or Spa Therapy apprenticeships. I was hoping someone in this field - or anyone who is doing this as a course - could give me some advice as to how I can make my first few steps. Does anybody know of places local to me or in reasonable travelling distance that do apprenticeships/training in this field. Do I need any experience to do with therapy before I begin? My interest in it has only really just developed in terms of thinking about it as a career but have always had an interest in massage. Really I'm looking for advice and help to get started please.
I would appreciate all the help given! 🙂
Have you got any massage therapy experience or training under your belt? If not, then I think the best thing would be to find a local college (I left the area in 1973 so can't advice on local places) which is offering Complementary Therapy courses. You will need, at the very least, a decent grounding in bodywork, plus anatomy/physiology - the course may offer other modalities (reflexology, aromatherapy etc etc) which will all add to your skill set.
I have worked in spas in Belgium and in the USA - they didn't offer apprenticeships or training - you had to know your onions, as the first day on the job, you hit the ground running and didn't come up for air until about 8 hours later! I loved it, and it was a terrific experience, but I simply ran out of energy after about 18 months in both venues. It can be very demanding. I am now a self-employed therapist and still have the same enthusiasm as I did nearly 35 years ago when I did my first massage therapy training course (I've done many since then!)
Good luck - start googling!