Who should teach me to rub people the right way?

August 17, 2011 11:38 AM

I'm thinking about training as a massage therapist. Local options seem to boil down to Soma or Cortiva Institute, and I need help choosing!

I'm in Chicago, but I'm interested in hearing from people who have received training (or know someone who has) from either organization, regardless of location. Thanks!

posted by longtime_lurker to education (3 answers total)

A good friend of mine had an excellent experience with Cortiva in Boston. It's a rigorous program and she found a great job right after she finished. I don't know anything about Soma, and I hope you get more answers that help you compare the two, but when I remember the practice massages I received while she was training it only seems right to plug Cortiva. :)
posted by in a dark glassly at 11:55 AM on August 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

Check out the New School for Massage, Bodywork, and Healing. Great people, small classes and has more of a spiritual center rather than a medical one. I went there, I loved it!
posted by katypickle at 12:01 PM on August 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

I actually go to Cortiva in Illinois--about to graduate. I'm not at the Chicago campus though, I'm at one of the suburban locations.
I was also torn between Soma and Cortiva and expressed interest towards both. Soma just kept sending me generic e-mails (and still is) but Cortiva actually called me the next day and scheduled a tour.
I really feel like I'm getting a great education. I honestly thought it would be easy with some hands on classes and a bit of theory, but it's surprisingly thorough with some of the anatomy and pathology classes verging on pre-med.
The class size at the Loop campus is large (20-30), so getting 1-on-1 time with an instructor is a bit difficult. Out in the burbs though we have around 10 people and this really gives us an opportunity to grow.
There are awesome teachers and there are not so awesome teachers, but even then they have years of massage experience and have very useful insights into the field.
Out in the real world Cortiva has a really great reputation for excellence and knowledge--however, one of the weakness is a lack of experience in re-booking clients. From what I've heard they're trying to incorporate this into the curriculum.

I'd be happy to answer any other questions you have.
posted by simplethings at 2:11 AM on August 18, 2011