Massage therapy courses

Visas, Permits, Passports and Naturalization
1
Wasn't sure where to post this - it seemed most relevant here.

I am researching massage therapy courses in Montreux area and oh my god they are sooooo expensive!!!! for 150 hours, sfr6000!!! Does anyone know of either any cheaper options or if I can get some kind of funding or grant to do a course? (I have swiss nationality)

And the most pressing question i have in regards to this, is is it possible to do an apprentissage/formation/on job training for this?? Would a qualified massage therapist or a spa be will to take someone on who would learn as they go? Or am I just dreaming

Thanks for any info and input!!

2
I would also like to find cheap massage training (english or french).

3
All the courses I seem to find are in German, I'm sure French would not be a problem in the French speaking part of Switzerland. Have a look at www.suche.ch I've only put "massagekurse" in the search box and a lot of schools came up. I'm looking for one in English, with no luck so far. Please let me know if you find a massage course in English, in or close to Zürich.

4
Found a full time 2 year course in Zürich for over 30'000. These courses seem to be very expensive but you shouldn't have a problem finding a job.

Link to the school

http://www.massein.ch/massageschule/...ausbildung.php

Good luck finding a course!

5
did you find something ?

I consider to give a change to my work and massage therapy is something I'm interested in.

6
A friend of mine is also searching for massage therapy courses in English, in Geneva or Vaud. Since everything is in French, she hasn't even bothered to go and check the fee etc. However, the fees do seem quite steep. She is looking at doing something from UK, US or even India or Thailand. However I wonder if that would be be acceptable by ASCA (the association which approves you so that your fees can be charged to the Insurers by your clients). Any thoughts?

7
I am qualified for Holistic Massage, Aromatherapy and Indian Head Massage - all from the UK. I have no idea if I can practice here but will start to do research once I get my permit. I have to admit the UK courses were a bit superficial and would love to do a proper degree course like they do in America. There are so many courses out there, with a huge variation in cost and duration that it is a minefield. I took the approach that I would do a course that I could afford and that would give me a qualification so that I could start practising. After that I did lots of professional development courses to add to my knowledge and went to Uni for aromatherapy. I still feel like I need to learn so much more about massage (remedial, sports, etc...) but thanks to the university experience I do feel very confident about the aromatherapy. So I guess my advice is - do the expensive 4 year course if you have the time and money - it will help you to achieve your best as a therapist - both with the physical aspects and the confidence. If you can't afford the time and money - then you should be prepared to be a bit disapointed in the 'short' courses but reasuure yourself that you can always top this up with books, dvd's and additional courses.

There are courses in the UK (mainly run by ITEC) where you can go for one weekend a month for 6 months and get your basic massage qualification. You will need Anatomy and Physiology which can be done at a college or by distance learning. If you want any info/advice on these - ust ask.

If anyone wants to learn massage for personal use only - I'd be happy to teach you a basic routine. Would've been great for valentines day!!!

8
Thanks for this!! I found the ASCA website

http://www.asca.ch/Home.aspx

There is a link on the left for schools - if you are looking for a course this would be a good place to start (if you haven't looked here already). Now I just need to learn german and/or improve my italian..........

9
Suzybg, thanks. I should have given you the ASCA site myself. There are list of schools there but they are all either in German or French or Italian.

My friend is actually trying to get in touch with ASCA to find out if they would accept qualifications from other countries.

10
You might get some information about courses, certificates, etc.from the ladies at "mains des bains" / bains-des-paquis in Geneva. http://www.bains-des-paquis.ch/pages..._page.php?id=3

They all seemed to have a different background. One of them went also to Bangkok for some courses. (The ladies might have changed though, as I haven't been back there since 2006.... sorry oldish news/info)

They have classes at WatPo ( http://www.watpomassage.com/2009/index.php?lang=en , which seem to be great and reasonably priced.

5 weeks in Bangkok, incl. course fee, will still be cheaper than any courses in CH....

But I think that the one you found for 6'000 Fr./150 hours will probably be the cheapest one you'll be able to find in CH. And if you break it down ... it will be 40 Fr. per hour... which seems surprisingly cheap(ish).

11
hi, i wanted to practice massage in siwtzerland. is it regulated? do you need a specific qualification or certificate? where do you get your insurance? i would appreciate if you would tell me who i should contact or i need to join an organisation. many thanks!

12
Hi, I'm a trained massage practitioner from Bern. I try to answer some questions that came up in this thread.

Massage trainings:

There is one title - "Medizinischer Masseur mit eidgenössischem Fachausweis (FA)" - which is regulated by Swiss Federal law, AFAIK. Trainings to get this title are 2 - 4 year full or partial time and very expensive (CHF 30'000.- upwards)

And then there are many schools that offer shorter courses and trainings.

Migros Klubschule (école-club Migros), available all over Switzerland, offers several massage courses and trainings.

Some massage schools are listed at gesund.ch -> Schulen

At "The Center" - European Institute of Esalen Massage in Zürich , the courses are in German, but if there are students who only speak English, they will organize someone who translates. The introduction weekend is 17 hours at CHF 450.-, the ground training is 206 hours at CHF 4'200.-. If you want to get their diploma, you also have to take 1 anatomy weekend (CHF 550.-), plus a couple of professional massages, so that sums up to about CHF 6'000.- for everything.

(I did this training a few years ago and really can recommend it.)

Regulation:

It depends on the canton's laws (Gesundheitsgesetz, Gesundheitsverordnung) what methods are regulated. In the canton of Bern, for instance, there is a list of regulated professions (like physician, dentist, chiropractor, physiotherapist) for which you have to get a licence (Berufsausübungsbewilligung). All other professions (including massage) are not regulated, i.e. you are free to practice.

Organisations:

As a masseur, you don't have to be member of an organisation (association, Berufsverband).

There is the general Schweizerischer Verband für Berufs-Masseure (SVBM) .

Some specific massage methods also have their own organisation.

Membership in an organisation can have benefits (i.e. special offers for insurances), but may also have some constraints associated, i.e. compulsory number of hours of continous education every year, obligation to get an insurance, etc.

Insurance:

It's a good idea to get a liability insurance (Berufs-Haftpflichtversicherung).

All big companies have them, just ask for a quote.

Ask an insurance specialist or fiduciary in order to know what other insurances are advisable in your personal situation.

I hope this helps!

Cheers, Thomas

P.S. No guarantee for correctness or completeness! IANAL (I am not a lawyer)!

If in doubt, ask a lawyer who is familiar with your local health laws!

13
I might be able to help friends from Holland with starting massage courses in Zurich and the course will be of course! in English.

We might try doing itroductory workshops frist and then if it goes well go for full time courses.

If any of you will be interested please PM me for more info. The more people will be interested the easier and faster it will be to organize it and we are actually thinking of dedicating this course for expats as we don't speak German and I belive there should be high intersted in professional massage courses with English speaking instructors. I was also looking for courses in English in Zurich and it is hard to do one if you speak no German.

14
If you have time and money you can always try HCD in Dublin. They are great, extremely professional and teach well. They hold short term courses but I think it is necessary to fly back and forth a few times. For example, deep tissue back neck and shoulders massage or pregnancy massage workshop takes place on 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th of February so it sucks and if you count in flight costs it gets really expensive.

Anyway it's good to know them and consider this option.

Look up this website: www.hcd.ie . It is probably one of the best massage colleges in Ireland and they have really good teachers.

15
I found this recently: www.medios-seminare.de . They have short courses and seminars in Frankfurt. It is in German but hopefully they can be flexible as it is only 1-2 days training so I hope for some translation or getting materials from them before the course. It's not too far if one lives in Zurich or nearby and I think of going there once to check it out. If anyone is interested in joining in please let me know.

16
IMO - If you can take the courses across the border in Germany or France, just do it. Will cost way less.

17
Do you have any link?

18
[/QUOTE]At "The Center" - European Institute of Esalen Massage in Zürich , the courses are in German, but if there are students who only speak English, they will organize someone who translates. [/QUOTE]

This is very useful post. Thanks a million for the information

Not only they can translate if you speak only English but there is a native English speaker (american) on board and he runs his courses in English only. What a surprise! ))

This is the main language and they translate to German if needed. I spoke to him on the phone today and he seems really reasonable, knowledgeable and experienced. I will do the "whiplash, migraine and neck tension" workshop with him. It's level 1 in May. If you go to Esalen website look for Currie Prescott.

If you are interested in this (or any other of courses run by him) and you don't live in Zurich but would like to come here and participate, please contact me and I will be happy to go to the course with you and offer the accommodation in Zug for the time of the training. It is not a problem at all. The ticket to Zurich costs 14chf and it takes 30min.

19
how did I miss such a great post sorry

20
Never really looked for one... I know someone who was considering:

http://www.paracelsus.de/

but the must be others as well. It also depends on the program and the locations, I guess...