Massage Therapy School in Morgantown, WV

Morgantown, a growing community based around a state university, has a very visible massage clientele. The city has a young population and one that appears to be embracing holistic wellnesses. One will find private massage studios here that provide the typical modalities used for relaxation, sports performance, and easing of aches and pains. One will also find studios that incorporate massage with other wellness practices like yoga. Some practices appeal to people’s spiritual side. There is some integration of massage with other healthcare disciplines. Of course the area has a number of self-employed massage therapists — this is the case throughout the country.

Massage Therapy Schools in Morgantown and Nearby

West Virginia requires that students complete massage therapy programs of at least 500 hours. The West Virginia Massage Therapy and Bodywork Certification Board has approved a number of schools (http://www.wvmassage.org/ce.asp?show=schools).

Morgantown Beauty College offers a 750-hour massage therapy program that can be competed in seven months. Accreditation is through the National Accrediting Commission of Career Arts and Sciences (NACCAS).

Laurel Business Institute offers a massage diploma option through its School of Spa and Cosmetology Arts. The school notes, as strengths, the solid grounding its students receive in the business aspects of massage therapy as well as the holistic wellness focus.

More Options: Massage Therapy Schools in West Virginia

Morgantown’s Top Massage Practices

Somatic Wellness Massage incorporates both massage and yoga. Massage clients can opt for massages ranging from Active Isolated Stretching to “Relaxing Spa Experience”. There’s even Thai massage here. The spa experience includes comforts like warm towels and warm stones or bamboo. Clients can opt to have massage on a BioMat for added therapeutic benefits.

Bliss Bliss Bliss goes further into spa services. Massage and yoga are both on the menu. So are facials and waxing. Patrons also come for the sauna, an experience that can be combined with light or sound therapy. Bliss Bliss Bliss sells memberships. This practice represents the modern wellness spa that incorporates a broad holistic wellness and speaks to the mind-body connection. Members can even opt for private meditation sessions.

One will find LMTs running their own small businesses; Alternative Healing Center and Pampering Penguin Massage number among the area’s popular massage spots.

Massage in Healthcare

Advantage Health & Wellness states that massage therapy has become a mainstream treatment for a number of conditions. On their website, they address a question from a puzzled chiropractic patient about why their chiropractor might have suggested massage for a condition involving numbness of upper extremities. They emphasize the interdependence of body systems and note that there are different types of massage for different purposes. Active Health& Wellness has multiple massage therapists on its team. It includes among its services chair massage. A quick chair massage, they state, can help employees with their aches and pains as well as their morale.

There has been a push in West Virginia in recent years for healthcare providers to treat pain with methods that don’t carry the risk of addiction.

Therapy Services LLC offers massage therapy as well as speech therapy, physical therapy, and occupational therapy. Physical therapists may provide massage therapy prescriptions. The organization states that massage therapy can often be covered by insurance when it is part of a person’s physical therapy treatment plan.

A massage therapist license represents a relatively quick path into private practice in the health and wellness field. People don’t need prior healthcare experience, but some do use prior experience to leverage their careers. The proprietor behind Haven of Healing Arts, an experienced LMT, earned a degree in speech pathology and spent some time in rehabilitation settings. Her background, she states, has been helpful when it comes to earning physicians’ trust and receiving their referrals. Medical massage is among the services she lists — medical massage is massage that is part of the treatment for a diagnosed conditions.

Specialized Training in Massage

The following are among the trainings referenced by massage therapists in the Morgantown area: Polarity, Bowen Therapy, Manual Lymphatic Drainage, Reiki, Mu-Xing.

Some massage therapists, in Morgantown and elsewhere around the nation, are proud of having certifications that weren’t previously available in their community. There’s a lot out there including methods that help with pain and range of motion and those that support special populations. Some massage therapists complement their massage training with training in related modalities like aromatherapy.

West Virginia requires massage therapists to do at least 24 hours of continuing education every two years, with a small amount of carryover allowed. The Board has provided a non-exhaustive list of nationally certified providers (http://www.wvmassage.org/ce.asp?show=opportunities).

Average Massage Therapist Wages

Morgantown massage therapists earned a mean $17.84 an hour in 2018, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. BLS data suggests a more narrow range of typical salaries than in many cities, though the figures don’t include self-employment earnings and thus exclude a significant portion of those who earn money from massage. The 10th percentile wage reported by the BLS for Morgantown was $16.15; the 90th was $19.82.