your massage school and community newsletter ......it. healing involves wholeness, love, meaning and...
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Your Massage School and Community NEWSLETTER
published by the Pittsburgh School of Massage Therapy
This is your newsletter. This newsletter is about you, the Pittsburgh School of
Massage Therapy and our massage community at large. Contribute your stories,
experiences, questions and photographs for the whole community to enjoy.
Send your contribution to me at Kenn@PanaceaInstitute and let me share it with
the world.
FROM THE DIRECTOR’S DESK
There is a lot of confusion concerning license renewal during the Coronavirus
pandemic. Let me clear up some of that confusion with some references from the
Massage Therapy Board.
• As of right now, the Board has NOT extended the license renewal period
beyond January 31.
• For massage therapists who received their initial licenses between February
1, 2019 and January 31, 2021, the 24-hour continuing education requirement is
waived. See
https://www.dos.pa.gov/ProfessionalLicensing/BoardsCommissions/MassageThera
py/Documents/Special Notices/MTSN - CE Waiver for Renewal.pdf.
• For the renewal period that ends January 31, 2021, the Board has suspended
restrictions on distance education for continuing education, allowing all 24 hours of
continuing education required for the renewal period to be done on-line. See
https://www.dos.pa.gov/Documents/2020-03-22-Continuing-Education-
Suspensions.pdf.
The renewal window has been modified to open November 30, 2020, and closes
January 31, 2021. I strongly urge those of you who are licensed to get your
renewal completed early. This pandemic has shown us that waiting until the last
minute can have disastrous implications! Also, as licensed professionals, we are
responsible to be familiar with the information that the board provides, including
announcements, regulations and laws. These are all available on the Massage
Therapy Board website at
https://www.dos.pa.gov/ProfessionalLicensing/BoardsCommissions/MassageThera
py/Pages/default.aspx. Make sure that you keep up with the information presented
on this website.
Stay healthy, stay safe, and stay strong!
David Briggs, Director
UPCOMING EVENTS
BECOME SERENE WITH TIMOTHY’S MEDITATIONS
These meditation sessions will be every Friday morning through December 18. All
will be at 9 a.m.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88406629347?pwd=OFlEcStBNjI0UG9RNW0wT3Bm
WEFVUT09
Meeting ID: 884 0662 9347
Passcode: 984045
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CONTINUING EDUCATION
Following is a list of upcoming Continuing Education workshops that are available
to you. You can still renew your license with credits in on-line workshops.
First, these are the live, on-line workshops. (Following these are the in-class workshops.)
• Saturday, December 5, 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Anatomy of Breath: Deepening your Massage Practice
Timothy Kocher-Hillmer
• Saturday, December 12, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Ethics for the Massage Professional
Kenn Howard
• Thursday, January 7, 6 - 10 p.m.
Ethics for the Massage Professional
Kenn Howard
Now the live, in-class workshops.
• Friday, November 20, 6 - 9 p.m.
AHA Heartsaver Adult CPR/AED
Dave Briggs
• Saturday, December 19, 2 - 5 p.m.
AHA Heartsaver Adult CPR/AED
Dave Briggs
• Sunday, January 10, 2 - 5 p.m.
AHA Heartsaver Adult CPR/AED
Dave Briggs
Please note: Due to the coronavirus, our in-person CPR classes will be offered
with strict Coronavirus Protocols in place. Registration will be limited to 10 people
per class and no one will be admitted to the building without a mask.
All registrations must be done using the links on the school website:
https://www.massageschoolpittsburgh.com
Click on Continuing Education and then click on the particular workshop you
want. This will take you to a description of the course. Click on CLICK HERE
TO REGISTER and this will take you to PayPal.
(The only exception will be if you have a credit due to a cancelled class. In this
case send an email to [email protected] to register.)
See you soon!
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WHAT’S OPEN?
You may have questions about your schedule, about your payments, about school
protocol, or a million other things. These people can answer 99% of your
questions.
Telephone calls are likely to get answered by the staff on Mondays through
Thursdays from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.
The store is open on Mondays and Wednesdays from noon until 6 p.m.. To be safe,
call first to verify.
We will announce changes as they are made.
CONTACTS
You may have questions about your schedule, about your payments, about school
protocol, or a million other things. These people can answer 99% of your
questions.
Dave Briggs, director — [email protected]
Stacey Briggs, accounting — [email protected]
Mara Adams, records — [email protected]
Kenn Howard, newsletter — [email protected]
COVID CORNER
As we all know by opening our eyes and looking around, a lot of information, and
misinformation remains, concerning COVID-19. As massage therapists, it has
been a challenge to sort through this information to see how we might continue to
practice our profession while keeping our clients, and ourselves, safe. As members
of society, we also want to do our best in our practices, to reduce any risk to the
general public.
Elizabeth M Erbrecht, LMT, BA, EOLD, is our primary Pathology instructor and
has been diligent in tracking the movement of COVID-19. Here is this issue’s
contribution to Covid Corner, reminders of what to do to inhibit the spread of
COVID germs.
As we watch the number of Covid-19 cases increase across the United States and
the world, we need to start preparing for a possible shutdown. We know from last
spring that things happen quickly. So if you have not begun a dialog with your
clients and/or employers, and if you haven’t made plans for a potential shutdown,
now would be the time to start the conversation. What will be your protocol with
your clients if the area where you live goes into mandatory quarantine? With the
holidays quickly approaching, the number of infections are only expected to
increase. Please continue to be safe and stringent about the protocol with each
client.
WHAT DO YOU TEACH?
I have to admit, I don’t remember everything I was taught in the classroom. My
brain is not big enough. So I decided to ask our instructors to give us a bite-size
description of their class. Hopefully I can then be as smart as I once was. So can
you.
Sharon Parisi - Student Clinic
Or as I like to think of it, the Pittsburgh School of Massage Therapy’s Successful,
And Not At All Scary Student Clinic.
When Jan Dreher or I cover the material in the preparation class for this part of our
curriculum, we like to say, “It’s called the ‘Student Intern Clinic,’ and the first
word is the most important one.”
Whereas our Swedish Massage course is a bit longer than those of most schools,
our clinic is actually shorter. Many programs call for at least 100 hours of clinic
time. Ours is 28 hours.
How does this work? Our clinic is an extension of the classroom. Six shifts
totaling 28 hours provides the opportunity for students to use their classroom skills
in a supportive environment with the intention to “learn, explore and apply.” This
is so much more than just “doing.” Given the full rosters and waiting list for our
clientele, we must be doing something right.
Clinic supervisor Kim Beadling says it best. “Student Clinic is an amazing
experience that will take your confidence to a new level.
“Until this point, most students have practiced their massage skills on friends,
family, neighbors, significant others and acquaintances. The majority of clinic
clients come from the public at large. A smaller percentage of PSMT graduates
and current students make up the rest. If I lived closer, I'd be on the table all the
time!
“Most students are a little nervous on their first day, but the jitters quickly
disappear! Many students have told me they wish clinic was longer!
“Take advantage of scheduling a massage for yourself in our clinic! It's a
wonderful opportunity to receive a great massage from students who are close to
graduating.”
IMAGES OF US
MUSINGS FROM KENN
Kenn Howard
Healing
11 19 20
Levels of trust in this country — in our institutions, in our politics and in one
another — are in precipitous decline. Falling trust in institutions is bad
enough; it’s when people lose faith in each other that societies really begin to fall
apart.
—David Brooks, contributing writer at The Atlantic, columnist for The New York
Times
Have you lost faith in others? Do we no longer trust each other? Are more people
annoying you? Are you amazed at how many dumb people there are?
Is there a path to civility? Can we lift ourselves from this foggy miasma of
selfishness and disrespect? Who could perform such a feat?
Ahh, that would be us.
We are the ones to change this trend of dubious opinion, the ones to promote an
honorable life, to inject energy and optimism into our everyday experience. We are
the ones to exhibit tolerance, understanding, trust, joy.
We? Yep. You and me. Massage therapists.
Why us? It is our unique permission to do things with other people no one else
does. And we do it in a way that is uniquely ours. That permission is the key, the
opening that we can slip through to make contact, to communicate, to appreciate, to
understand.
Some of you have heard me say, particularly in my Ethics groups, “Where else do
you spend a little time with a stranger who reveals some of their most private
thoughts.” Or, “Where else do you meet someone and in the first ten minutes, you
have all their clothes off.”
We massage therapists are focused on healing, however we want to define
it. Healing involves wholeness, love, meaning and purpose, trust, acceptance, the
transcendence of suffering. Healing has been defined as “getting better,” and who
wouldn’t welcome the opportunity to get better!
When we say to someone, “Take off your clothes,” or “Let me touch you,” we are
asking for their trust. We are saying, “Let me minister to you. Give yourself to me
for this hour and let me make an intimate connection with you.” Intimacy heals.
I think my first encounter in healing, other than parental hugs, was a stop at Carvel
for an ice cream on the way home from the community swimming pool. Now, it’s
massage. And trust me, there is very little in the world more healing than Carvel in
a cone, or a massage. Ice cream and massage heal.
In Hebrew, there is the phrase, “Tikkun Olam.” It translates to "Repairing the
World.” It is a phrase many Jews use to signify social policy designed to lift up
others, especially those at a disadvantage. But larger, it represents human
responsibility for fixing what is wrong with the world. Intention heals.
Let us move more toward trust. Let us act with civility. Forego selfishness. Rise
up, rise above. Engage in healing. Tikkun Olam heals.
Who could perform such a feat?
We could. Yep. You and me. Massage therapists.
Our Mission
The Pittsburgh School of Massage Therapy is a student centered organization
committed to promoting the art, science and profession of Massage Therapy through
excellence in education and training.
(800) 860-1114 | www.pghschmass.com
3600 Laketon Rd | Pittsburgh | PA 15235
Pittsburgh School of Massage Therapy · 3600 Laketon Road · Pittsburgh · Pennsylvania · PA 15235
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