Oncology Massage Clinic Intensive

Do you wish you had more confidence in your clinical oncology massage skills, or just a little more experience?

Would you like to be supervised and get feedback while working with an actual oncology client?

Introducing our Oncology Massage Clinic Intensive

A one-day course and clinic for oncology massage therapists

Working with people with cancer can be an amazing calling, and it demands good clinical skills.

Opportunities for oncology massage therapists (OMTs) are growing, but it can be difficult to meet them when you’re feeling a lack of confidence or rusty skills, or you just need more experience.

You might wish you could move more easily through the interview and the clinical thinking inside your head. You might feel fine about the interview, but want fewer nagging concerns about your client’s history popping into your mind during hands-on.

Or you might just need a refresher. Because it’s been a while since you took a basic course.

For more details, and to register, see our Training Schedule. For CE course approvals, check here.

This review and clinic day is focused on three areas:

1. Solid review of basic concepts
2. Supervised hands-on session with an actual client with a cancer history, with instructor support behind you
3. In-class case study work, discussion, and Q&A

We have put together this OMT Clinic Intensive so that you can serve your clients with more confidence and skill.

This course is for you if:

• You need support. You want to check your hands-on work with a seasoned instructor. You want to get your questions answered during a live clinic session.
• You need confidence. You’d like to feel more prepared for your oncology clients, without hesitation or fumbling, to serve them with your hands and heart.
• It’s been a while. You’re not sure what you need, but it’s been a long time since your foundational course, and you’d like to brush up on your skills.
• You’d like to be more efficient. You want to spend less time fumbling with massage contraindications and more time massaging. You want to shorten the “talk to table” time, and make sure you’ve tied up any loose ends before beginning the hands-on session.
• You’d like more time to integrate. You’re scheduled to take our 4-Day Intensive in the Boston area before this clinic, and you want to add on another training day to integrate what you’ve learned and practice with a “real” client.
• You want reinforcement and refreshment. You have taken our 3- or 4-Day Intensive with clinic, perhaps even recently, but you’d like another chance to practice in a supervised clinic.
• You are curious about different perspectives. You have taken a foundational OMT course with another instructor, and you are interested in our approach or perspective in oncology massage. And you’d like that experience without making a 3-or 4-day investment in another basic course.

For more details, and to register, see our Training Schedule. For CE course approvals, check here.

Oncology Massage Clinic Intensive

Support in a training clinic, drilling in the thinking skills.

8.0 CE Hours, NCBTMB Approved. Click here for a list of approvals for this course.

A chance to practice clinical skills on paper and with a real client in a training clinic setting. Supervision and support from seasoned OMT instructors.

We start with a review of concepts. Refresh your understanding of OMT clinical thinking, interview questions to ask, massage pressures.

Then you prepare for your clinic client, with a chance to get your questions answered before they arrive. You prepare on paper, working through your massage plan. Once your client arrives, you receive supervision and feedback during your hands-on session with them, followed by a debrief where you can integrate what you have learned.

After clinic and a break, we work through as many additional case studies on paper that we can fit into the afternoon. Work with a client scenario–as completed client health form–just as though you were in your treatment room. Develop an interview plan and a massage plan on your own, discuss with teachers as a group. Work with another client health form, and so on.

For more details, and to register, see our Training Schedule. For CE course approvals, check here.

For the formal course description, click here:

…or read on, for the details.

How will this help you in your practice?

Here is what you’ll be able to do after completing this course:

1. Pick up a client’s health form and more quickly begin to pick out possible massage precautions.
2. Plan out a thoughtful, efficient, not too draggy interview to tell you how to work with those possible massage precautions.
3. Simplify complex health information by mapping it out in a clear Decision Tree format.
4. Explain massage precautions in a clear, friendly, not too alarmist tone to your client.
5. Develop a massage plan and offer a customized, full-length massage session for a client with cancer or a cancer history.

The goal of this course is stronger, smoother clinical skills at the end of the day. We work toward a more efficient, more relaxed interview and thinking process.

This way you are freed up to focus on your client’s needs, your rapport with your client, and your hands-on care.

We plan to offer this training one to two times per year. See our Training Schedule for current dates, and to register. For CE course approvals, check here.

Here is the schedule:

Morning – Review of Basic OMT Concepts. You’ll receive some review materials up front, so you can dust them off ahead of time. We’ll start the day with a review of the basics. How to use a Decision Tree to sort through complex cases, to follow a clean visual map of massage guidelines. We will go over the 1-5 massage therapy pressure scale, so you’re prepared to use 1’s and 2’s when necessary. And we’ll take a good look at intake questions, when and how to use them, and which ones to leave out to save time.

Late Morning –  Prepping for the Clinic. You’ll receive your client’s health form and a good hour plus to prepare on paper for the clinic. With instructor support, you’ll create a Decision Tree of massage precautions. You will also develop an interview plan for your session—knowing ahead of time which intake questions to ask and how to use your client’s answers. When you’ve completed your plan, you’ll open up a written care plan for that client, so you can check your work against a written account of all the massage precautions needed, and all the interview questions to ask. Most of you will be paired with a classmate to work in tandem. If so, you’ll meet at lunch with your collaborator and and plan out a session for your shared client.

Mid-Day – Supervised training clinic. At clinic time, you’ll greet your client and carry out an interview and massage session. Your session will be supervised by an instructor who is also available to answer questions, offer any corrections, and give you feedback. Afterward, you’ll make a few notes, no fancy documentation, and you’ll turn in your clinic materials.

Afternoon – Case Study Extravaganza. After clinic, we’ll power through as many case studies as we can fit in the time left. You’ll receive a “paper client” health form, develop a massage and interview plan for the client, then discuss as a group. Then you’ll receive a different case scenario, and repeat. If there is time, yet another case scenario, and so on. By drilling these skills, again and again, they should become more automatic. You can strengthen your clinical thinking and your confidence, too!

You’ll leave the course with stronger interview questions, clinical thinking tools, and reinforcement for your hands-on skills.

When?

Friday, October 19, 2018, 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM

How much?

Tuition: $247 if registered by Friday, September 21, 2018. $347 thereafter.

For more details, and to register, see our Training Schedule. For CE course approvals, check here.

Prerequisite

This course is for massage therapists who have completed a foundational oncology massage course with Tracy Walton & Associates or with another instructor recognized by the Society for Oncology Massage. You must have this level of training or equivalent to participate.

Location

A wonderful classroom at the Elizabeth Grady School of Esthetics and Massage Therapy in the Boston area (Medford, MA). Parking is plentiful.

What to bring?

You will be emailed a Student Packet that will list any massage supplies you will need to bring.

Guarantee

This course is designed to strengthen your clinical skills. We can guarantee a good refresher, and an in-depth experience in the clinic and case studies. Due to the nature of a live training clinic, we cannot guarantee you a specific clinic experience, or level of clinical thinking required for your client. Clients come to our clinic with a range of backgrounds and profiles. Some are in robust health, post-treatment, and others are not. You may be assigned to a client with a relatively simple profile. Our “paper” case studies reflect a range, as well, and you will have the chance to work through more complex case studies on paper.

Expectations

To participate in the training clinic, students are expected to engage fully in the preparation and clinical thinking, to follow instructor directions, and to practice only within the scope of practice specified in the clinic guidelines, including “classical” Swedish massage techniques only. Most students will work in tandem with other students, sharing a clinic client interview and hands-on session, and dividing up the work accordingly. Your flexibility is appreciated during our clinic exercise.

Tuition

Tuition is payable online by credit card or through PayPal. Early registration is strongly recommended. Visit our Training Schedule page to register.

Withdrawal Policy

Once registered for the course, if you withdraw by 7 days prior to the start of the course, you will receive a refund of tuition paid, minus a $50 administrative fee. After that date, there is no refund of tuition.

Questions?

Have more questions about this course? Curious about whether it’s a good fit for you? Send us your questions and thoughts.

For more details, and to register, see our Training Schedule. For CE course approvals, check here.

Course Approvals

Tracy Walton & Associates, LLC is approved by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB) as an approved provider, #283404-00.

For other course approvals, click here.