Pediatric Massage Therapy

with Marybetts Sinclair

Saturday & Sunday, February 28 – March 1, 2015
9am-5pm
$250 ($100 deposit)
14 CE’s

**THIS WORKSHOP IS NOW CLOSED.**

**10% discount for TLC students/grads**

Many massage practitioners who are comfortable massaging adults would also like to attain that same level of comfort with children. This class enables them to do just that, by learning how to make massage fun, relaxing and effective for children. In this pediatric massage class, we discuss the growth and development of children, how childhood events such as birth and injuries can affect the child’s body, and how these events can initiate musculoskeletal pain and restriction later in life. Students then learn how to engage and hold children’s interest during massage sessions, how to perform a basic pediatric massage routine and finally, the art of tailoring it to individual children.

This class involves lecture, discussion, practice, and supervised hands-on clinics with children and parents.  Participants will need to bring a child (with parents’ permission) on Saturday afternoon and on Sunday afternoon for this exciting clinic.  Call the school for more information on the clinics (512-374-9222).

Learning objectives:

  • Students will understand how the growth and development of children is related to massage therapy.
  • Students will understand how childhood events such as birth and injuries can affect a child’s musculoskeletal system.
  • Students will  perform all the steps of a complete pediatric massage.
  • Students will demonstrate the ability to keep and hold a child’s interest while he/she is receiving a massage treatment.
  • Students will  perform step-by-step procedures for hydrotherapy treatments with children.
  • Students will be able to perform specific combinations of massage techniques and hydrotherapy treatments for specific pediatric injuries and conditions.
  • Students will be able to perform all the steps of a complete pediatric massage.
  • Students will be get actual hands-on practice in this workshop which will greatly bolster their confidence in working this all-important group of people.

Mary Betts Sinclair is the author of three important and unique books in the massage therapy field:  Massage for Healthier Children, Pediatric massage Therapy and Modern Hydrotherapy for the Massage Therapist.  She has been a massage therapist for 37 years, and an Emergency Medical Technician during 8 of those years as well.  Marybetts taught her first Swedish massage class in 1975, first infant massage class in 1983 and first pediatric massage class in 1991.  She has teaches massage at the Oregon School of Massage in Portland and the Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis, Oregon, in community colleges, hospitals, and a wide variety of community organizations such as the Oregon Medical Foster Parent Association, WIC, and the Parent Enhancement Program for teen parents. She has also been fortunate to teach pediatric massage at many special programs for children with disabilities, including programs at local schools and therapy centers, institutes for neurodevelopmental therapy, and at special clinics in both Mexico and Ecuador.

All of Marybetts’ teaching and massage-related work, whether it be giving massages, doing research for her books, writing about massage or giving classes, is informed first and foremost by her experience as a working massage therapist. For example, it was not until she had been practicing massage for at least a decade that she began to understand how many of her clients had musculoskeletal issues that had begun in childhood, and therefore, how valuable pediatric massage could be.

Marybetts is particularly interested in teaching the use of simple, effective and non-toxic healing methods – including  massage and hydrotherapy – to not only promote health and wellness but to cope with specific problems. She is interested in scientific research that bears on this topic, and believes that hardheaded science can complement heartfelt compassion and intuition. Her books blend thousands of hours of meticulous research with the wisdom of a long-term massage practitioner.