WELLNESS OF THE MASSAGE THERAPIST

This training is a physical and kinesthetic exploration to prevent injuries, especially those common among massage therapists. Wellness of the Massage Therapist is an intensive class that helps to develop body awareness and that offers several facilitative tools to prevent injuries. Wellness of the Massage Therapist covers specific notions related to the body and how to develop, analyse, use and apply these notions. It helps participants to understand how they can use their body and its resources in an optimal way. The workshops are divided by topic in order to teach best practices in body movements in line with various types of massages. This class mainly targets massage therapists who wish to better manage their work tool in order to healthily practise their profession for a long time.

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“I created the course Wellness of the Massage Therapist in 2002, in response to numerous testimonies of colleagues who had injured themselves while practising massage therapy. I was inspired to develop skills and work tools that may help us all to pursue longer and healthier careers. My love for movement and my experience as a contemporary dancer undoubtedly inspired this training. Wellness of the Massage Therapist is a unique and exclusive training. For participants, it offers a chance to explore important notions in relation to the body in the form of exercises and workshops, all with the aim of encouraging a healthy practice. Posture, weight transfer and ergonomics for practitioners of manipulative therapy are just a few of the notions that we explore during this training. I have taught this class in many Quebec institutions where massage therapy trainings are offered. Wellness of the Massage Therapist has been offered as a professional massage therapy skill training program and has also been integrated into continuing professional training programs in many massage therapy institutions. With time, I have acquired additional skills that now allow me to offer this exclusive training as an Osteopath D.O., as a massage therapist, as a teaching instructor of Pilates, as a professional contemporary dancer and as a formative coach.”

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I am a professor at the IKC®. I met Julie during her Kinetic Swedish massage® training and discovered a curious, creative, and passionate woman. It was clear that massage practice was only Julie’s first step into the world of the human body and manual practice. Until this day, she has never ceased to learn and has kept training. Right from the start, in parallel to the wellness of her clients, Julie also had the wellness of the massage therapist in mind. Therefore, she decided to create Wellness of the Massage Therapist, a training she taught, among other places, at the IKC®. I noted the benefits of this training on students learning massage therapy. I noticed that students were more aware of their movements and how they used their body. Their gestures had more fluidity and energy management was greatly improved during practice. Also, while students executed a massage, they seemed more comfortable and had fewer complaints concerning aches and pains associated to different massage techniques. I strongly recommend this training.

Manon Bergeron Professor, Kinetic Swedish massage®