Focus for the period 12 May - 29 May

Practice, practice and more practice - that's what you need at this stage.

Most of you have good technique most of the time. I'm sure you know from the feedback you've had from your tutors & from your peer assessment what your weaknesses are. Make them your focus at this time.

You now have just under two months to get to the level of competency required to pass your final assessment for this course. Remember this is not just competency in massage application. You also need competency in all aspects of the massage process.

I've just posted your most recent peer assessment form to WikiEducator, so be sure that you make use of this.

Focus for the period: 8 - 17 April

Over the period 8 - 17 April what should you be focussing on in your massage?

You should be aiming to

• Give and recieve a minimum of 4-6 massages every week
  
  
• Be peer-assessed on a minimum of one massage each week using the form that is titled
  Preparation for Practical Block 4.
  If you lose your peer assessment form, or wish to print further copies, you can find copies of the forms here.

In your massage treatments you should be considering

• Your massage environment
  
  
• How you prepare yourself for massage
  
  
• The massage process.
• Communication within the massage process
• Attitude - adopting a smile
• Attending
  
• Clear communication
• Seeking feedback

• Applying principles of touch.
  
  
• Feeling for areas of tension, and exploring the boundaries of these areas. Applying principles of deep tissue massage.
  

Focus for the period: 10 March - 6 April

Over the period 10 March - 6 April what should you be focussing on in your massage?

You should be aiming to

• Give and recieve a minimum of 4-6 massages every week
  
  
• Be peer-assessed on a minimum of one massage each week using the form that is titled
  Preparation for Practical Block 3.
  If you lose your peer assessment form, or wish to print further copies, you can find copies of the forms here.

In your massage treatments you should be considering

• The entire massage process.
  It's best if you treat each session as if the person you were treating were a paying client. How would you set up the environment, how would you greet them, how will you pay attention to medical screening, etc. We will be covering this in Fundamentals of Massage (starting this Wednesday) from a different perspective.
  
  
• Which anatomical structures you are massaging
  

Week starting 3/3/08 - Regular practice

Hi all,

By now you should have all been doing some massage at least.
You should probably aim to give and receive at least 4-6 massages a week, so some work needs to be put into networking with your classmates, and lining up those friends who are probably on your case already.

You should also aim to be peer assessed by at least one person every week. It's good if this can be your classmates, as they have a deeper understanding of massage than non-massage people do, however it's also important that you give massages to and receive massages from a range of people.

Your next practical block is looming. Irene'll be taking you all weekend, and we're sure you'll all enjoy the next stage of the journey....

David

OPTM2 Basic Massage
From WikiEducator

Level: 4Credits: 15
Directed Learning hours: 85
Self Directed Learning hours: 65
Total Learning Hours: 150

Contents
1 Aims
2 Pre-requisites
3 Co-requisites
4 Learning Outcomes
5 Content
6 Attendance Requirements
7 Completion requirements
8 Student Reading List
9 Recommended Reading Resources



Aims
This course aims to develop the student’s competency in the practice of relaxation massage to the level required for registration with Massage New Zealand as a certified massage therapist (CMT).

Pre-requisites
None

Co-requisites
OPTM3 Fundamentals of Massage

Learning Outcomes
At the successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
Prepare for massage practice (environment, equipment and self)
Identify client suitability for relaxation massage
Establish informed consent before the application of massage techniques
Select and apply a range of massage techniques for relaxation
Identify the presence of injury or disease through observation of soft-tissue
Identify the presence of disease, injury or dysfunction through palpation of soft-tissue at a basic level

Content
Hygiene
Use of massage equipment and materials
Medical screening
Preparation for massage (environment & practitioner)
Swedish massage techniques – effleurage, petrissage, tapotment, compression, vibration, shaking, friction
Principles of massage therapy
Body-mechanics
Observation and palpation of soft-tissue
Self-care
Attendance Requirements
Students are expected to attend 90% of practical classes. If in the opinion of the programme manager students have a valid reason for non-attendance, their total attendance may be permitted to drop to a minimum of 80%. Non-participation in these classes is treated as non-attendance.
Completion requirements
Students must achieve competency in all assessment tasks for completion of this course. Students attendance and participation must also comply with the attendance requirements of the course.

Student Reading List
Required Reading Resources:
Fritz, S. (2004). Mosby’s fundamentals of therapeutic massage (3rd ed.).
Missouri: Mosby.
Premkumar, K. (2000). Pathology A to Z – A handbook for massage therapists (2nd ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Recommended Reading Resources
The course coordinator may recommend additional reading resources

Course Blog - Basic Massage

This is the course blog for the Otago Polytechnic Massage Therapy Basic Massage course.