Adrian School of Massage

Recently our school founder and director asked the staff and graduates, "why do you LOVE being a massage therapist" I myself was having a hard time putting my passion into words at the moment but I have continued to think about it.  Upon further reflection and inspiration for other's responses I thought it would be fun to make a list of 50 reasons being a massage therapist is AWESOME! Compiled of my own personal opinion, the input of ASM staff and graduates as well as information and stats from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics and the American Massage Therapy Association! #1 We are helping people #2 By providing massage we help others manage their anxiety/depression #3 We have awesome co-workers....other massage therapists! #4 We can usually set our own hours #5 We are licensed health care professionals #6 We are a part of one of the fastest growing occupations (predicted to grow by 26% 2016-2026 according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics ) https://www.bls.g...

Kris Martinez is our Student Records Administrator and works in our Graduate Clinic at Adrian School of Massage.  Kris attended Hillsdale High School and graduated with honors before attending Adrian School of Massage.  When Kris isn't working at the school she sees clients at Thrive Massage in Tecumseh MI.  She likes to incorporate Swedish and Myo massage techniques into her sessions because she feels this combination gives a relaxing but still therapeutic massage.   What led you to the Adrian School of Massage? I was guided by a friend to be a student and it was the best advice I ever got!  I loved the people and the experience so much, I was excited to join the team when a position became available. Do you have any advice for those considering a career in massage therapy? Do it! But keep in mind, you have to be flexible and adaptable to many different scenarios. In one day you may see someone who wants light pressure and a relaxing massage...

     Massage therapy has a long, beautiful history; regarded as one of the first forms of medicine!  Despite its lineage, the massage industry has only recently seen some important changes toward statewide regulation/licensing.  Most states now require a defined minimum hours of training from a massage school resulting in certification and/or passing an exam to demonstrate competency for a state issued health care license.      The state of Michigan for example requires a minimum of 625 educational hours, successful national exam testing (MBLEx) and state license with a background check to be maintained by completing required continuing education hours.  Great news for students attending the Adrian School of Massage, the program offers 824 hours, well above the state requirement so you are well prepared for your licensing exam and to start your career with a vast skill set to offer your clients!      So what ...

Along with providing the community the opportunity to receive affordable body work from our students completing their requirement in our student clinic, Adrian School of Massage offers free infant massage classes led by our students after completion of this portion of their program.      Today our students worked with parents/caregivers and baby, teaching them the benefits of infant massage, answering questions, as well as providing them with information and techniques they can take home to massage their children at their convenience.   We interviewed one of our class participants, first time mom Erica McComas on what drew her to the class and what she is taking away from it: " I learned about this class from the school's Facebook page.  I hoped by coming I could help learn some relaxation techniques to calm her when she is upset and hopefully help her gut!  I liked the tummy techniques they showed us. The pediatrician had said tummy massage co...

Ashley Wallace is one of our Student Clinic Supervisors at Adrian School of Massage!     After graduating from Madison High School, Ashley attended some classes at Owens Community College before becoming a student at the Ann Arbor Institute of Massage. In her professional practice she specializes in Swedish, Neuromucsuclar and Myofascial modalities. She also greatly enjoys working with expecting moms, lympathic drainage techniques and offers raindrop therapy!   Q: What led you to the Adrian School of Massage?  I love helping people. Christy is one of my good friends and she asked for help at the school so here I am!   Q: Do you have any advise for those considering a career in massage therapy?  Your career is what you make of it. Not everyone is going to like your style of massage but as long as a person is receiving a massage and the benefits of it he/she is good! Also remember, massage isn't just about the massage, you create a relationship ...

Valerie Ames Graduated from Adrian School of Massage Class 04 and is just starting her practice. Congratulations Valerie. We look forward to watching you succeed and achieve your goals. Q: What is your education and work history?  I graduated from Onsted High School and quickly found and enrolled at Adrian School of Massage. I worked at a waitress through school and I am now awaiting the last steps in my licensure to begin practicing massage professionally. Q: What led you to Adrian School of Massage?  I wanted to experience something new and work helping others.  Q: What are your plans for you professional practice? I plan on working in a chiropractors office or along side other health care professionals. My ultimate goal is to one day own my own practice.  Q: What is your favorite modality and is there a certain demographic you would really like to work with? I REALLY enjoyed reflexology and I want to work with ALL the people!  Q: What was ...

Adrian School of massage founder, director and instructor Christy Gagneur recently attended the Schools Summit hosted by the American Massage Therapy Association. This summit brings massage school owners, teachers, exhibitors and AMTA leadership together to share and learn more about the current state of the massage therapy profession. The AMTA also provides the schools with a Yearly Massage Profession Research Report. This report provides data on the state of the massage profession by way of Consumer survey, Therapist Survey and survey of Massage Schools supplemented by U.S. Government statistics and information found in industry/business publications. This report is currently only available to schools whom attended the summit but it is FULL of really exciting information! We thought we would share of few of the exciting highlights with you! Who is going into the field? Massage therapists are predominately female and this trend has followed through 2017 with 78% of the...

I DID IT!!!!!       I passed my MBLEx 6 days ago.  This is what you spend a year working up to. There is lot of weighing on this exam because you can't practice the skills you have acquired from your certification program until after you've passed the MBLEx and received your license. If that isn't enough to give you a some anxiety maybe this will...the fee to take the exam is an investment that makes passing the first time around a huge priority to a student's bank account.  Last but not least, the fear of the unknown it honestly what gave me the MOST anxiety. I am a prep and plan kinda gal.  So like anything else, I started trying to find as much information on this exam process as possible so I didn't feel completely out of my element test day.  Because this is still a fairly new licensing exam, there isn't much information available for the anxious test taker to look up.      Before panic sets in I have great news, I am here to kno...

        We are just getting back to class after a week off for Christmas. Spending that time with family and friends was a nice recharge for a student's batteries.  Getting back on routine can be hard after taking a week off.  That is until you take a look at your class schedule and see you are starting the sports massage unit! If you haven't been following the blog, you may not know one of the experiences that sparked my interest in massage therapy, was working with my high school's athletic trainer from 8th grade through my senior year.  I learned so much about the body and how it works in prime function.  I also learned that I am one of those people who get strangely excited his gross and gory injury.        After specific training I was assisting with game prep and working the sidelines for our high school athletes by taping injured ankles or wrists for our basketball players, running ice baths for our runners shin splints...

     In the famous words of Christy, "It's in so much love" that we have given the title of ASM Resident Mom to Ms. Kendra Brion <3 She is not even close to being old enough to actually be my mom, so this isn't a sly crack at her age ;-)  This title has been earned by the way she nurtures and cares for all the students at Adrian School of Massage.          Whether its being the first smiling face that greets you as you enter the school, or feeding your heart and soul with words of encouragement as you work in student clinic.  Kendra shows her mothering nature by sharing her knowledge and experience teaching in class.  But it's perhaps best seen as she lovingly smiles in silence as you eat her crackers saying "there is no name on these, guess they're mine now!" because she knows you aren't feeling well.      Kendra is always around and usually available, as all good mothers are. She is so genuinely sweet and k...

       WHEW!   It has been far to long since I posted.  As previously discussed, the world seems to have taken the news that I am now a student as an opportunity to throw my personal life every curve ball possible.  On top of....life, we have run smack dab into the middle of holiday season! I'm not complaining, I love Thanksgiving and Christmas! Add the fact that the two only a few weeks apart, sprinkle in a couple family birthday celebrations and BOOM two months will just fly by.        The problem is as a student, we are in one of the more intense classes.  NMT (neuromuscular therapy) is a wonderful tool to have and isn't offered by all massage school's.  While I am thankful for the opportunity to learn this modality, it is a lot to take in.  We also have started working on writing our own Case Report.  We have known this day was coming since the very beginning and I am very excited and interested in my t...

    It has been eight months....EIGHT months since I started this journey at ASM enrolling with Class 04.  Much like my wedding day, the day I gave birth to our sons, and many other important days in my life; it feels like time has gone so fast and yet like it all began so long ago.  Class 04 students are officially the seniors now that the school has welcomed Class 05.  A new group of people glowing with excitement and promise to be awesome massage therapists. I look at them and see myself, excited and slightly terrified to start this new season of life.     I have had the opportunity to spend some time with these new students serving as a TA (teaching assistant).  I found the TAs in our class very comforting. They knew what we were feeling and would give us their honest opinion on what we were in for along with other tips and tricks they learned along the way ;-) They were also just pretty cool people to get to know <3 I had hoped I would h...

    What is Cancer? Cancer is when a normal body cell mutates and replicates uncontrollably.  The oncogene is the gene that has been given credit f or  in certain circumstances, transforming a cell into a tumor cell.  Thus the oncology unit at ASM that educates  it's students on the pathology of cancer and appropriate manual practices for these patients.    Recent studies show that c ancer will affect 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women  in the United States.  That is a large population so chances are very high, that as massage therapists we will work with someone with a cancer history or in treatment for cancer.  That is why it is so important for us to know how to safely and effectively work with these clients.       Information on how to work with this demographic has changed so much in just the last decade! Years ago massage therapists were told not to do bodywork on cancer patients in fear it would accelerate the ...

    YOU are our hero!  You were with us as we made the decision to go back to school. You supported our dreams and agreed to take this journey with us. We see you, love you and appreciate you <3     We are half way through our one year program. It has been awesome and hectic. I am enjoying my time with everyone at ASM. I'm learning so much and really getting a lot out of the process.  I look forward to applying all I will have learned into my daily life as a massage therapist.  With that being said. I'm exhausted!        As mentioned before, massage is most frequently a second career so most of the students are working all day and in class three evenings a weeks. I am also in student clinic, so I am spending time at the school giving massage on top of classroom hours.  When I'm not in the classroom or clinic I am studying....or trying to.  Because I also have kids to care for, laundry to get done, dinner to ge...

    Ask any student what word sends fear straight through their bones and they will tell you mid-terms....and that is only because they haven't made it to finals yet. Any time you are asked to regurgitate everything you have learned in one shot you are apt to turn into a puddle of nerves. Especially in a unit like skeletal/muscular anatomy. It's a LOT of information in such a short amount of time. I was worried in effort to cram the new information in I had to be loosing previously learned information out the other side of my brain.      We were told that the written portion of our test would include the bones, muscles, origin/insertion and other facts we have covered in the unit. We would also be partnered up for a manual portion where we would draw muscles out of a hat and locate them on our partner and demonstrate the action they perform. While the manual portion scared me the most I can appreciate that this is a huge part of what our daily lives as massage ...

     Here it is, the class we have been hearing about since day one!  "Just wait until you get to Skeletal/Muscular Anatomy!" "No, THAT isn't a muscle test, you haven't seen anything yet!" "Only a few of us passed that quiz" "start studying the muscle origins and insertions NOW!".  The senior class has knowingly or not scared the crap out of us!     So our first day rolls around and just walking in the door you could smell the fear ;-) We had previously had the pleasure of meeting our instructor Kathy Davis as a substitute for our A&P class. It was nice having a sense of who she was and her teaching style from that preview. She also has the unique experience of being a teacher and student at the school! So she knows first hand what we are all going through. With that, she started right out explaining the importance of all this information in our career.  The requirement of this knowledge is something we will need and use daily, not j...

    By now you know I am a nervous Nelly and my own worst critic.  I regret to inform you that going into my first day of clinic was no different. I asked a million questions, looked and reviewed the schedule 100 times, thought through my client intake, massage routines and SOAP note procedures YET I was still so antsy I got very little sleep the night before.     Before even attempting to lay down for the night I reviewed the student clinic dress code. I wore my black athletic pants and Adrian School of massage t-shirt. Since I live in flip flops all summer I made sure I dug out a pair of socks and set out my tennis shoes. CHECK! Next I packed my bag for the day. I needed my massage products, product holster, and bolster. For clinic we use linens provided by the school so my sheets got the day off CHECK! I packed a second bag with a bottle of water, a snack, my computer (should I get some down time I could blog;-) and my notebook in case I needed a quick remin...

    Tis the season. The weather has slowly but surely changed to beautifully sunny skies. No better feeling (other than a massage) when your skin is soaking up the sun and just when you feel you are getting to warm... splashing in to a cool pool of water. How many years did we LIVE for the last day of school so we could spend the next couple months playing the day away with friends. My kids had their last day of school last week.  I was caught up in the excitement with them until class time rolled around and I said, "ok boys, mommy is headed to school come give me kisses" "SCHOOL mommy it's summer!" I am LOVING massage school and once I get there it's a good time but it does make it harder to get out that door in summer.     BUT we are grown ups and have responsibilities we made a commitment and there is SO much to do. By now we have reached the end of our Swedish unit! The Swedish exam, like all exams...sounds  a little scary. You are taken into a massage...

  Practice hours are, understandably, a large part of your schooling. We have already discussed getting over the awkward phase of working on your classmates. The 30 hours of practice you will do on your friends and family. Now we have worked our way up the food chain ;-) to the professionals. As part of the program at the Adrian School of massage you be giving 6 hours per trimester of massage on professionals. These are either your instructors, or those that have passed through the halls before us and graduated from ASM.     Does the thought of putting your new found skills to work on the body of practicing professionals make the butterflies in your belly dance? Or is it just me? I mean, we have learned I'm an anxious person with a touch of perfectionism. If that is even a word. SO before setting up these meetings you better believe I formulated a mental check list.       #1 What is Expected? There are paper your professional will be filling out for you ...

    Are you the person who can't keep scrolling when you see the videos of black heads wiggling their way out of a pore? Puss filled abscesses exploding after a slight push? Do you get a strangely satisfying sensation from pulling the burnt layers of your skin off after a sunburn? It's gross stuff but you just CAN'T look away right! Well I have great news for you.... you will LOVE your pathology unit.     Pathology is the study of disease, their causes and how they affect the body. As massage therapists we need to know enough about these conditions so we can keep our clients safe by not exacerbating the condition. As well as keeping ourselves safe from catching contagious conditions. Before we can go any further, you will need a quick vocabulary lesson.   Contraindicated : Describing an intervention that may have a negative outcome in a given condition Indication : The basis for an intervention that is likely to have a positive outcome in a given condition ...