About the program
GCC's Massage Therapy Certificate Program combines a high standard of technical training in massage therapy with a foundation in professional development, with options for full-time day, part-time day, or evening study in a 765-hour, 40-credit curriculum leading to a Massage Therapy Certificate. Our COMTA-accredited program emphasizes ethics, clinical assessment, critical thinking and entrepreneurship and prepares you for the massage and bodywork national certification exam and Massachusetts state licensure. Depending upon your choice of full- or part-time study, the program can be completed in as little as 10 months or two years.
The
decision to pursue a career in massage therapy is one in which the student
must also prepare for the professional demands of the field. Issues
of diversity, values clarification, attitudes, and beliefs become important
in training the student for the responsibility of becoming a health care
practitioner. All students and teachers take
pride in progress that each individual makes over the course of the program
as technique develops and as acceptance and confidence unfold. The
program creates an educational environment which is supportive of adult
learners. Faculty members
are highly skilled health professionals who bring many years of practical
experience in massage, EMT, Neuromuscular therapy, and Feldenkrais movement
to their teaching. Students acquire the scientific
knowledge and the therapeutic skills necessary for entry- to mid-level employment
in the massage field. Graduates are prepared
for a wide range of job opportunities which could lead to positions in
health and wellness centers, spas, adjunctive work with chiropractors,
athletic trainers, sports teams, geriatric settings, acute and chronic
care treatment facilities, and private practice.
History
The Stillpoint Center for the Healing Arts was
founded in Amherst, MA in
1980. Stillpoint was incorporated in 1982 and
received non-profit status in July 1984. The
school moved to Hatfield in 1986 and merged with Greenfield Community
College’s Division of Health Occupations in 1998
and is now known as the Massage Therapy Certificate Program at Greenfield Community
College. The
school was licensed by the MA State Board of Education as a vocational
training school from 1982-1998. It was also
accredited by Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of
Technology (ACCSCT) from 1997 to 1998 and operated as an AMTA approved
school until 1998. Currently the program operates
as part of the Division of Health Occupations at GCC, which is accredited by New England Association of Schools
and Colleges (NEASC). The school has been a
member of the American Massage Therapy Association of the Council of Schools
since 1982 and is accredited by the Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation
(COMTA). We are
proud of our almost 800 graduates who practice throughout the US and Australia. We
have had our tenth graduation class at GCC and start our twenty-eighth
year with the class of 2008.
