There is more to the humble massage than meets the eye, remedial massage supports the body to repair and graduates from South Regional TAFE’s massage programs have the opportunity to make a genuine difference to people’s wellbeing and lives.
The Diploma of Remedial Massage is a year-long course with 200 hours of practical training and 21 units that include studies of anatomy, physiology, neural pathways, drug interactions and common illness.
A chance encounter inspired student Sarah Duce to pursue the profession: “I didn't know what I wanted to do in my life and one-day I got a massage for my friend's birthday. I felt the effects straight away after going to that particular massage, so I wanted to try it out for myself.” she said.
A highlight of the course for student Aimee Collyer was that it allowed her to learn more about her own body and mind: “I like that we've learned so much about ourselves, because that's not something I expected and then learning how to look after ourselves teaches us how best to look after other people.”
Meanwhile, Sarah enjoyed the intricacies of testing and treatments, explaining: “We learn about the pain neural pathways, and how we can interrupt them, or how they can help in our treatments. This includes the nervous system, it's just about the resistance that you apply to it.”
Lecturer Michele Waller said that while her students shared a common trait of wanting to help people, the students themselves range from post-high school age to career changers who were looking for a job with more flexibility.
“Some of my students use the Diploma of Remedial Therapy as pathway to continue studies in physiotherapy, myo-therapy or exercise physiology,” she said.
“Generally, they will each find their niche and specialise in a particular area of massage, some take an interest in the exercise side of massage and will work alongside physiotherapists in clinics or in sports teams, some add to their knowledge by pursuing studies in yoga or Pilates.
“Around 95% of my students will end-up working for themselves. They might work for someone else for a little bit to get some more experience and then they generally end up working from home where they can set their own hours.”
You are quite literally in very good hands if your therapist has studied at South Regional TAFE. On offer is a Certificate IV in Massage(opens in a new tab) (Albany) and Diploma of Remedial Massage(opens in a new tab) (Albany and Bunbury).