Kalamazoo Center for the Healing Arts

Considering Massage as a Career?

The Kalamazoo Center for the Healing Arts has operated West Michigan's largest and most respected School of Massage and Bodywork for more than two decades.

If you're interested in holistic health and love people, our program may be a great match for your career goals. And because we know our students are anxious to start their new lives, we offer continuous enrollment.

To learn more about our program, call for your personal tour with an admissions advisor. These sessions are a great opportunity to sit with us and talk about the rewards and realities of our industry. It's worth the time just to tour our gorgeous facility-the space itself is a calming and healing force.

You won't find another massage school like this in the country!

Philosophy

Healing hands. That's what we aim to create at KCHA's School of Massage and Bodywork.

The best reason to choose our program is to become a better, more true and open person. No amount of training in technique can replace the open heart, sensitive hands and keen awareness that you'll also develop here. Those elements can be difficult to measure, but our students often tell us that they pay off with a happy, thriving client base after graduation, not to mention the satisfaction of a career you're well trained for and truly love.

All of our instructors are skilled massage therapists who are currently practicing their art. That means that you won't just get philosophical book learning, but you'll also be hearing from men and women who live what they're teaching. KCHA instructors are constantly weaving experiences from the therapy room into their lessons, from a situation encountered just days or weeks before, to wisdom developed over many years.

Program Basics

The 600-hour program at KCHA is licensed by the Michigan Department of Education and accredited by the Integrative Massage and Somatic Therapies Accreditation Council. Upon graduation, our students become certified massage therapists.

Students are asked to deeply evaluate their habits and approaches to life, and identify any issues that might stand in the way of a successful practice. Further, all of our classes are presented in the context of holistic health, which serves our graduates well as they build a client base and develop areas of expertise. We also thoroughly train our students in a wide variety of sound business practices, so they're not lost in the professional world once they leave the walls of KCHA. In short, our school is transformative.

We offer flexible scheduling. That means students have time outside of class to maintain a healthy life balance, with ample attention to family, relationships and jobs.

In addition:

• all instruction is presented within a context of holistic health and healing
• courses are taught at KCHA's modern facility in a serene, wooded setting
• class sizes are limited to ensure an excellent student/teacher ratio
• an apprentice program is available
• KCHA's student clinic is run out of our professional services division, giving students hands-on exposure to a high-end operation

Entrance Requirements

We know your life is busy, so we make the application process for our professional training program as painless as possible. Admission requires the following steps, which may be done in any order:

• Complete the Massage as a Profession Workshop, or visit us for a personal introduction to our program
• Submit a completed application
• Enjoy a one-hour session with a full practitioner at KCHA
• Attend an admissions meeting with a member of our admissions staff

Specialty and Graduate Programs

The path to becoming a great massage therapist doesn't end at graduation. In response to demand from our graduates and other practitioners in the community, we've developed a specialty and graduate training program. These courses address growing trends in the profession and incorporate the latest research in massage and bodywork.

Our specialty programs, each 200 hours, include:

Massage for the Chronically Ill, Aging and Dying
There's a special art to caring for clients who are chronically ill or in their final phase of life. Along with classroom work, this program includes a 20-hour externship and research seminar.

Massage for Infants and Children
Our youngest clients are not just miniature versions of adults. They have special challenges and needs that are thoroughly addressed in this program. Certification requires an externship placement in a facility that caters to infants or children.

Natural Remedies
This program covers a wide variety of topics, from spa services to herbology and detox and cleansing. The program ends with a final project with presentation. Optional certification in colon therapy.

Women's Health
Women's bodies are the focus of this unique program, which explores the four phases of a woman's life: the time of awakening (adolescence through the 20s); coming into fullness (30s and 40s); speaking the truth (midlife from 50 through 65); and wisdom from the heart (post-menopause and beyond). Includes an externship at a facility that caters to women.

KCHA's School of Massage and Bodywork also offers a 500-hour graduate program that includes specialized bodywork classes and electives to support your personal interests as a massage therapist.

Contact Us Today!

If you are interested in any of our programs and would like to find out more, please Request Information.