KIN 101 and 102 – This 108-hour course is divided into two units as the students divedeep into studying movement. At the end of the two units, students will have a thorough understanding of the skeletal and muscular systems with lectures as well as hands-on palpation.

I. The first unit will introduce the students to the joints of the body, the
planes of movements, and the bony landmarks that massage therapists
use on a daily basis when giving a massage.

II. The second unit will guide the students through an in-depth study of the
muscles of the body and how the body moves

APY 101 and 102 – This 102-hour course will study the functions of the internal and external systems of the body. This course will be divided into two units. At the end of the two units, students will have a basic understanding of the human body’s systems and how they relate to as a massage therapist.

I. The first unit will focus on the integumentary, skeletal, nervous, muscular
and myofascial systems. Students will learn the basics of each system
and how they relate to their career as a massage therapist.

II. The second unit will continue the study of the body. Students will study
the endocrine, cardiovascular, lymphatic, respiratory, digestive, urinary
and reproductive systems of the body.

This 12-hour class will introduce students to the laws that LMBT’s must abide by. We will explore the North Carolina Board of Massage and Bodywork Therapy’s website to find the laws put into place by the state of North Carolina. The students will also study how the NCBMBT, FSMTB and other agencies are relevant to their profession.

In this 27-classroom hour course, students will learn why therapeutic touch is important and how to serve clients that have various values, expectations, and histories. Students will be able to describe the ways that psychological defenses create physical tension and, as a result, be better prepared to serve clients as these defenses are broken down.
Students will learn how to support clients during emotional release and why working with mental health professionals can serve the clients’ best interest.

This 21-hour course provides students with the foundational knowledge in professional ethics for massage therapists. Students will discuss the complications that arise from power differentials, the importance of boundaries as well as ethics in multiple settings.
This course will also cover the relationship of personal ethics to professional ethics and discuss the line between what is considered ethical and what is moral.

This 15-hour course will introduce students to the world of business. Students will study business through the lenses of a massage therapist and the different roles and responsibilities they may encounter in their career. They will be introduced to common terms, theories and concepts such as marketing, accounting and realizing service costs.

PAT 101
Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease. This 45-hour class will
prepare the students to understand and identify a variety of medical conditions, as well as recognize any contraindications that they may come across.
   

IMT 101

This 12-class hour introduction course prepares the student for the program coursework by covering the History of Massage, self-care/body mechanics, standards of practice and the tools needed for a career in massage therapy.

This 69-classroom hour course introduces the students to the seven massage techniques and their variants. The students will focus on learning to apply the technical aspects of massage therapy, while simultaneously learning effective body mechanics.
Students will also gain an understanding of the physiological results of each technique.
The class is divided into 23 hours of lecture and 46 hours of direct hands-on practice.

This 84-hour course will introduce the students to a variety of massage modalities.

Dubbed as the “fun” class, the students get a break from the rigorous techniques class and get to see how the combined techniques they learned create a modality. The course is broken into seven units and each unit focuses on one major modality.

Students will be learning about pregnancy massage, eastern modalities, reflexology, hydrotherapy, manual lymphatic drainage, myofascial release, and scar tissue management.

The sports massage class is a 27 hour course that teaches the students the art and science of working with athletes. Taking techniques that were learned at the beginning of the program, the students will learn how they differ to achieve the goal of readying the body for athletic performance. Students will learn the difference between pre and post event massage as well as the limits of this modality.

This 78-hour course will dive deep into the theory of medical massage. The students will learn how each scientific discovery led doctors to a better understanding of how manual therapy affects the human body and how we use that knowledge today. Learning how to
evaluate each layer of tissue, will be able to treat the source of the pain, not just the symptoms. Using the same medical evaluation methods that the medical community uses, the students will be able to design specific treatment plans that are based on science alone. Combining their knowledge from the previous classes and what they learn here, the students will finish the course by completing a case study and seeing their knowledge put to work firsthand.

Drawing from their knowledge gained from KIN and APY, students will explore the various ways muscles contract and relax in this 25-hour course. This course will then introduce the students to various muscle energy techniques such as PIR, PNF and passive stretching. They will be able to distinguish each technique and be able to appropriately apply each based on the client’s condition.

1. Massage Therapy Fundamentals (330)
a. KIN 101 Kinesiology 1 (33)
b. KIN 102 Kinesiology 2 (75)
c. APY 101 Anatomy and Physiology (51)
d. APY 102 Anatomy and Physiology (51)
e. PAT 101 Pathology (45)
f. LAW 101 NC Laws and Rules (12)
g. PSY 101 Somatic Psychology (27)
h. ETH 101 Ethics (21)
i. BUS 101 Business (15

2. Massage Theory Application (295)
a. IMT 101 Introduction to Massage/History of Massage (12)
b. MTT 101 Massage techniques (69)
c. AMT 101 Hands on Application of Massage Modalities (84)
d. AMT 201 Hands on Application of Sports Massage (27
e. AMT 301 Hands on Application of Medical Massage (78)
f. AMT 401 Hands on Application of Muscle Energy Techniques (25)

3. CLI 101 Clinicals (125)